Central City East : Downtown Los Angeles

*With ""Gentrification"" heating up, the LA CANgress newsletter says that the reason for all of the attention being placed on the conditions of the mentally ill and the children has to do with racism being alive and well Downtown.

What LA CAN reads in these mass media articles, as we look deeper, are the
messages that support gentrification: 1) Racism is alive and kicking in downtown Los
Angeles, through the vilification of an entire community based on often unfounded
stereotypes; 2) Fear of Black men threatens the success of business ventures, such as
trying to sell and rent luxury housing; and 3) Wealthy people simply will not pay for
million dollar properties with poor Black folks living too close to them, so there must
be a justification for moving them out.

*LA CAN is also in the process of opening up a hotspot at thier office for those who want to use the interent at the LA CAN CAFE

*Jerry Sullivan over at the GArment and Citizen continues to delve into the issues of the recent Introduction of Legislation by Gil Cedillo. And has pictures of the showdown between the CCA and members of Downtown looking to clean up the streets not Gentrify the streets.

* The Downtown News also writes an article on the subject. Chris Coates goes into even more detail about the legislation being proposed by Gl Cedillo. While the Executive Director of the Lamp gives her two cents on the subject.

Despite those assurances, the additional courts and penalties don't sit well with Casey Horan, executive director for the Skid Row social service provider Lamp Community. She said that increasing penalties will result in more homeless people being sent to jail. "Criminalization is counterproductive," she said. Instead, she advocates more affordable housing, additional shelters and an increase in supportive services.

"We really and unanimously want to revitalize this community. We share that," she said. "But we know that increasing criminalization is not the answer."

I will be writing on this subject in more detail this next week.

* ON some positive news other than the LA CAN CAFE , Skid Row is getting two million dollars.

The California Endowment has awarded $2 million to the Corporation for Supportive Housing to create 900 residential units for the homeless in California. Skid Row's portion of the grant will fund 500 to 600 units, while the remainder will go up in a similar effort in the San Francisco Bay Area. The project is expected to be complete in 2008.