AfroLA wins big at SoCal Journalism Awards

Whew, chile! Things went from “Yay sunshine!” to “Ain’t enough fans…” in nothing-flat this summer. At least those extra rays are a great vitamin D boost, right? (But seriously, stay safe in the heat.)

It’s been a minute since we hit send on a newsletter, so let’s get right to it.

TL;DR … WE WON 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆

In our last newsletter, we shared that AfroLA was made finalist for eight SoCal Journalism Awards from the Los Angeles Press Club. Well, we brought home three first place wins as well as second and third place awards.

Congratulations to Eliza Partika, Ethan Ward and Shawntel Johnson. Check out the specific awards we won (with links to the work).

There were more than 2,300 entries submitted this year from (mostly) bigger, more resourced, and more established newsrooms. So, this is a really big deal for us.

New investigative series: Water and Power

The first installments of our investigation into the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is centered around communities 300 miles from L.A., but is very much a local story.

LADWP owns almost as much land in rural Inyo County, five hours north, as the entire size of the City of LA. itself. Why? To quench Los Angeles’s thirst. Water from the Owens Valley makes up about 30% of L.A.’s water supply. LADWP has owned land in the valley for decades and fights over water aren’t new (water wars in this area are loosely depicted in the 1974 blockbuster Chinatown).

But, residents, business owners, and some municipal leaders in this rural region say LADWP’s landownership in the valley has taken on a new, and crippling, dimension in recent years. There’s feed store owner Mike Allen who can't retire to Montana with his wife, who left seven years ago, because he can't sell his business. And Tamara Cohen, whose backyard was seized by LADWP.

And you’d better hope you don’t need a life flight out of the Owens Valley because those LADWP leases are also standing in the way of critical repairs at the area’s airports.

That unbecoming moment

By now you’ve heard about former President Donald Trump’s interview with the National Association of Black Journalists. You know, the one where he suggested Vice President Kamala Harris suddenly “became a Black person” recently. It spawned a viral meme where everyone shares the moment they “became Black.”

Community contributor Peter Dreier offers up a sampling of topics and questions that reporters might consider going forward to more forcefully confront Trump with the realities of life for Black Americans, his views about race, and his policy positions on issues that impact Black communities.

Enjoy reading these and we’ll catch up with you in a couple weeks. (Like, for real, we mean it this time.)

Laters, y’all

WHAT’S NEW, WHAT’S NEXT?

Here’s what we’ve been up to, in a note from our executive director Dana Amihere.

We’ve had a LOT of great stories since our last edition of The Breakdown. No worries if you missed things. We’re going to feature these pieces along with newer content in the coming weeks.

For now, I’d like to introduce you to our summer 2024 interns.

Patricia Romero is a climate and sustainability intern and a paralegal student at West Los Angeles College. Patricia is a passionate activist for climate change because she understands the future needs her to be the change and an example for her daughters. Her main project has been coordinating an upcoming AfroLA event, a sustainability fair for South L.A. elementary schoolers this fall.

Wajiha Moin is a UI/UX design intern working on DigInThere, a free tool to capture reader attention and reward it being produced and piloted by AfroLA. She attends Barnard College, Columbia University, studying computational biology. Wajiha is deeply passionate about projects that explore the fields of technology and healthcare, but has thrived applying her accessible design skills to journalism.

WILL YOU BE A SUSTAINING MEMBER?

You might be wondering why you haven’t heard from us in so long. (Or maybe you’ve enjoyed an inbox reprieve, dunno.) AfroLA is out here doing HUGE things, but we are struggling to stay afloat. We are literally surviving grant to grant as Big Philanthropy hasn’t been a viable option so far.

We have secured two substantial project-specific grants for $20,000 each through participation in two cohorts, including a sustainability audit (yes, ironic). We are putting in the hard work to earn money on our own and to implement business practices that will keep us around for the long haul. That being said, things are still pretty rough.

I don’t always want to harp on finances, but this is a reality that is always top of mind to ensure folks are always compensated fairly or their effort, time and energy. Our median age at AfroLA is 19 or 20, and everybody has a job other than AfroLA (even me), and most of these people are students or recent grads. We are all here because we believe in the work and the mission. But love don’t pay the bills.

Even these large sums aren’t enough to cover operational expenses and fund our really ambitious reporting (like our Water and Power series) and initiatives that center students and community (including our teen book club and recently concluded Next Door environmental justice art exhibit). And, not to forget our Election 2024 coverage which we are going at full force in the lead up to November. (Check out our elections mission statement.)

Here’s the bottomline: We need more steady streams of funding, which means we need your help. We need more recurring donors to help us bring in revenue we can rely on every month. If you’re already a sustaining member who makes a monthly donation, we’d ask if you’d consider giving an extra $5 or $10 a month. If that’s not feasible, would you consider a bigger one-time donation in addition to your monthly contribution?

We’re grateful for everyone who was able to make a contribution, no matter what the amount. But, we making a second pass with the collection plate in these rough times. If you’re able to help, please help support us.

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