Ten city landmarks will light up in a mosaic of colors Friday evening to mark the fourth anniversary of the award-winning hate crime prevention campaign LA For All.<\/p>\n
After sunset, landmarks such as City Hall, U.S. Bank Tower, Union Station, the L.A. Zoo and the Port of Los Angeles Clock Tower will be illuminated to celebrate the city\u2019s diversity.<\/p>\n
During a morning ceremony at Van Nuys City Hall, officials highlighted this year\u2019s theme, \u201cI Belong, You Belong, We Belong,\u201d and outlined efforts to support immigrants and educate Angelenos about their rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are here and we\u2019re coming together to send a clear message and an urgent message \u2014 one that communities desperately need to hear, and that is: We all belong,\u201d Abigail Marquez, general manager of the Community Investment for Families Department, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere some seek to exclude and call out our immigrant communities, we are calling them in with compassion, respect and the full backing of our city. We belong is more than a campaign. It is a commitment to the city of Los Angeles to stand with our immigrant communities and ensure that every resident knows how to access essential city services regardless of their immigration status,\u201d Marquez added.<\/p>\n
Since the start of federal immigration raids began in June, the Civil Rights Department and CIFD partnered to provide tools, knowledge and support to immigrants in the city. They\u2019ve also partnered with other city departments, launching Know Your Rights campaigns and conducting workshops on topics such as family preparedness plans, housing and tenants rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard of so many horrific violations to tenants\u2019 protections. Just last week, one of our service providers \u2014 and this is not an exaggeration \u2014 a tenant was evicted at gunpoint from their landlord,\u201d Marquez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have heard stories where landlords are creating these fake ICE letterheads, and they\u2019re evicting people. Not knowing their rights is a real challenge because they don\u2019t know what recourses they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Civil Rights Department Executive Capri Maddox encouraged residents who may have had their rights violated to reach out to staff and file a civil complaint with them. The department is handling such cases, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people aren\u2019t feeling like they\u2019re living in Los Angeles, or feel included or where they belong,\u201d Maddox said. \u201cWe want to be intentional and to send a strong message that we are here for you. We are united.\u201d<\/p>\n
City Council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Adrin Nazarian participated in the event and showed their support for the campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we have this slogan that `LA is For Everyone,\u2019 I believe that it reflects the spirit of the city itself, and it\u2019s what makes Los Angeles so special and different from many parts of the country,\u201d Soto-Martinez said.<\/p>\n
Nazarian added, \u201cWe\u2019re all created equal, whether your family came here generations ago or just yesterday. In Los Angeles, everyone is a human being, and everyone deserves to be treated with dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Civil Rights Department launched its award-winning LA For All initiative in 2021 as a way to address an alarming rise in hate crimes at the time. In June, city officials launched its \u201cJust Say Hello\u201d campaign, the latest phase of the initiative.<\/p>\n
Residents and visitors will see signage and other messages throughout city departments, facilities, transit and vehicles promoting compassion and connection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ten city landmarks will light up in a mosaic of colors Friday evening to mark the fourth anniversary…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":259050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[4231,18485,1582,276,12088,46253,2961,224,5337],"class_list":{"0":"post-259049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-angeles","9":"tag-anniversary","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-campaign","13":"tag-celebrates","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-losangeles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}