Volume 1 | February 13, 2021
Dear Los Angeles,

Welcome to the first-ever newsletter of Los Angeles' Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department, also known as LA Civil Rights. We're glad you're here! As our department grows, we hope to use this letter to keep you up-to-date on everything we do - from community engagement to upward mobility programming, civil rights enforcement to hate crime prevention, and much, much more.

2020 gave us a lot of challenges and many difficult truths. Our world was shuttered by a novel coronavirus, our lives upended by closed schools and lost jobs, and the reality of racial injustice in America was made painfully clear in 8 minutes and 46 seconds of brutality. In many ways, this past year has not changed our world, but exposed the inequities that existed just beneath the surface.

But 2020 also showed us the seeds of hope. We witnessed unprecedented solidarity marching for change. We united among common themes of justice and equity. And Los Angeles created the Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department, the first City Department focused on reducing discrimination, building equity, and supporting diversity and empowerment across Los Angeles. We have already led on equity programming and hosted community empowerment events in our first few months, and we look forward to announcing new programs and initiatives soon.

Now is our chance to strengthen Los Angeles' diversity, equity, and upward mobility. Now is our chance to address discrimination through investigation and enforcement of Civil and Human Rights Law. Now is our chance to be intentional about building a Los Angeles that everyone can call home.

We are a new kind of department for the City of Los Angeles - and we are so grateful to be on this journey with you. Learn more about our department here.

Special thanks to our community partners, commissioners, City Councilmembers and Mayor who helped make LA Civil Rights a reality. We've already done so much together - and we look forward to much more.



- Capri Maddox
Executive Director,
Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department
Happy Black History Month!
LA Civil Rights is celebrating Black History Month all month long with our series #BlackLAHistory - an exploration of the Black leaders past and present shaping Los Angeles. Form athletes to academics, civic leaders to poets and artists, Black Angelenos have made Los Angeles the dynamic and vibrant city that it is today. Follow the series on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and send us your own submissions with the hashtag #BlackLAHistory @lacivilrights!
UPCOMING EVENTS
African American Equity in Media:
A live roundtable discussion
LA Civil Rights presents a Black History Month event: African American Equity in Media, a live discussion with African American journalists from the LA Times, LA Sentinel and NBC Los Angeles on February 23 at 12:00 PM.

This roundtable discussion, hosted by Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department (LA Civil Rights) and moderated by Executive Director Capri Maddox, will bring together reporters, editors, and journalists to engage in a meaningful discussion on African American representation in newsrooms and news coverage, the history and future of diversity in Los Angeles news media, and the landscape of media industries following a year of racial reckoning, rising threats from white supremacist groups, and the inauguration of a new President and the first Black woman Vice President. The roundtable will identify needed actions to address discrimination through the lens of journalism and media, and be streamed live online at facebook.com/lacivilrights.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COVID-19 Webinar for LA Immigrants
LA Civil Rights is committed to connecting all our communities with the resources they need to stay safe, healthy and empowered. Last month, we hosted Reaching LA City Immigrants: Responses and Resources During the COVID-19 pandemic with Councilmember Gil Cedillo, LA Public Health, the Office of Immigrant Affairs and more. This webinar spoke directly to hundreds of immigrant community service providers, empowering these trusted organizations with the information and resources they need to serve LA's immigrant communities. We had hundreds of participants on Zoom, Facebook and Channel 35 - and have assembled all the information shared, as well as a recording of the meeting, on our website.