Centering the Dignity of L.A.鈥檚 Unhoused

Feb 15, 2024

California鈥檚 recent rainstorms, triggered by an 鈥�,鈥� dumped record-breaking amounts of rainfall onto the West Coast, imperiling the . In Los Angeles, which has one of the in the United States, city and county officials to ensure there were enough shelters. are on the horizon.

In a city that will continue to see the impacts of climate change even while preparing to host the , eviction attorney Ysabel Jurado has firsthand experience on tackling housing and homelessness. Jurado, who is a for Los Angeles City Council District 14, spoke with 大象传媒 Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on 大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about her solutions centering the dignity of the unhoused.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.