Hood Digest

Hood Digest has been away for a bit and we missed you so much!! We know times are intense and we hope the Hood Digest podcast will keep you a little company as you quarantine in your living room and keep your loved ones healthy! We are happy to come back with a new episode to continue our discussion on immigration. Our guest is Xiomara Corpeño (http://stproject.org/xmy_directory/xiomara-corpeno/) - a veteran organizer and badass immigrant rights pioneer. Xiomara worked at CHIRLA and helped organize some of the largest immigrants rights marches this country has ever seen - 1 Million people!  Xiomara talks about the evolution of the immigrant rights movement: its history & current state; the need to acknowledge anti-Black, anti-indigenous, anti-Central American, and anti-trans issues in the movement; AND most importantly, the importance of unity, struggle, and organizing!!! Xiomara was born to Salvadoran and Honduran parents and was raised in Los Angeles. Xiomara began her activism while a student at UC Riversi

We dive deeper into the issue of immigration by diving into the history of Central American migration to the United States and how it ties to the hood. We learn about the political, economic, and personal reasons why Brown people leave their native countries in search of better life options.  ABOUT OUR GUEST Dr. Alejandro Villalpando, Ph.D. is a professor at California State University, Los Angeles. His focus is on Central American studies, Central American diaspora, racism and state violence, neoliberalism, immigration, U.S. militarism, and imperialism. ALL THE FUN stuff that comes along with being an educated Brown man. BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS Gary Webb - Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion (https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Alliance-Contras-Cocaine-Explosion/dp/1888363932/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_0/146-7500022-2745210?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1888363932&pd_rd_r=8810d953-5117-421c-a6c6-4fbfbf79578c&pd_rd_w=yS7ye&pd_rd_wg=l9Jw0&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=QS3K2TM1ETFN495

We launch our series on immigration. LaMikia and Elmer share their personal stories of their families immigrating to the US and how this has shaped their lives, values, and views.  We hope you enjoy!

Public education is at the top of everyone's minds today! The teachers strike had everyone in Los Angeles in their feelings - including us.  Listen to the episode to hear about a social media flare-up between UTLA and Hood Digest. We set the record straight on some things! Our guest is LAUSD Board President Mónica García who blessed us all with her wisdom about LA Unified's advances towards education justice and properly serving our students - the ones that are often neglected, underserved and taken for granted! Monica breaks down the relationship between California's defunding of public education and how it impacts politics at LAUSD! ABOUT OUR GUEST Mónica García proudly represents Board District 2 in the Los Angeles Unified School District where she has galvanized the L.A. Unified school community to take aggressive action to reach 100% graduation and break the cycle of poverty by ensuring that every child can read, write, think, and believe. Since her election to the Board in June 2006, Ms. García an

Public education is on the top of everyone's minds today! Especially in Los Angeles where the teachers' strike has everyone talking about school finances and the need to make it rain on schools. We continue our conversation on the importance of public education for our communities - a topic that is critical to our survival and incredibly political. Our guest is Dr. Manuel Pastor who knows everything there is to know about California's politics, race, demographics and social justice movements! Dr. Pastor breaks down California's defunding of public education and the subsequent fall of LAUSD from one of the best school districts in the nation to one that is on the brink of financial insolvency. A reality that is knocking on the doors of many districts across the state! ABOUT OUR GUEST Dr. Manuel Pastor is a Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He currently directs the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC and USC's

We continue our conversation on the importance of public education for our communities - a topic that is critical to our survival and incredibly political. Our guest is Dr. Pedro Noguera who drops heavy jewels about the importance of investing in public education, holding elected officials and other leaders accountable for investing in education, the meaning of equity, and why the LA teachers strike has the right aim but the wrong target. ABOUT OUR GUEST Dr. Perdro Noguera is the Director, Center for the Transformation of Schools Pedro Noguera is a Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. His research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions, as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts. He is the author of twelve books and he has published over 200 articles and monographs. We recommend you check out these titles: 1.Creating the Opportunity to Learn: Mov

Public education is incredibly important for our communities - it's also incredibly controversial. We kick off our next series to dissect the history of public education and the fight for education justice. The series, entitled "Nature of The Threat", will explore various issues impacting the quality of education that children are receiving - quality that is inconsistent, inequitable, and outright unjust in some neighborhoods. We will discuss school reform efforts, school funding, teacher quality, teacher strike, charters, and that delicious coffee cake they used to serve in the school cafeteria. Send us questions you want us to explore by emailing us at thehooddigest@gmail.com or slide in our DMs on IG: @hood_digest, Twitter: @hood_digest, or FB: @thehooddigest Love, The Grand Supreme Chapin & Profesora Panamena

Voting season is upon us again! And voting is important, but do you know who & what to vote for? More importantly, do you know why voting is a life and death matter? Think we are being too dramatic? Listen to the episode and find out. Our guest is Saul Sarabia, JD. He's very smart! He drops jewels about the bloody journey that Black & Brown people have been on. A journey that has led us into voting booths, elected offices, and building political power. This is our last episode in the Black Love, Brown Pride Series and one of the most powerful topics! Connect with Saul Sarabia here: https://about.me/saulsarabia Book Recommended: Manifest Destinies, Second Edition: The Making of the Mexican American Race by Laura E. Gomez - https://www.amazon.com/Manifest-Destinies-Second-Mexican-American/dp/1479894281/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0/141-0176202-8906203?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FMGAR4N4R16SHVG7A727

We continue our Black Love, Brown Pride Series by discussing the mass incarceration the ways it harms African American & Latino families and communities. Our guest is Ivette Alé, Statewide Co-Coordinator of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a statewide coalition working to shift money away from prisons towards human services.  Ivette talks about the history of prisons in America and how California wastes $11 Billion on keeping people caged when it could be investing in uplifting our communities.  We also discuss a partnership between Hood Digest and CURB. Together, we created a hood glossary to change the way we speak about people who are caught up in the system of mass incarceration.  When she is not working to close prisons, Ivette goes by the monicker Dj Izla and organizes Movement Dance Spaces and leads a collective called Azucar, a platform for Black & Brown queer artists that throw radical dance spaces all over the world.    Please send us your own stories by email to

We continue our Black Love, Brown Pride Series by discussing organizing in the era of high profile police killings of unarmed African Americans and other people of color. Our guest is Dr. Melina Abdullah, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Department of Pan-African Studies at Cal State Los Angeles and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Los Angeles.  Dr. Abdullah talks about the history of Black Lives Matter and how it has evolved into an international movement with 40 chapters worldwide. She shares her insights about killer police, the District Attorney who refuses to prosecute officers that murder innocent people, and the resistance. We also bring you stories from our listeners who sent us their personal experiences of Black/Brown relations including tensions and love. Please send us your own stories by email to thehooddigest@gmail.com and we may read your story as part of our series! Read the stories here: http://www.thehooddigest.com/category/stay-woke/ Connect with Black Lives Matter Los A

**Episode 3: Black Love, Brown Pride Chapter 1** We kick off this series discussing Black/Brown relations including tensions and love. We open up with our experiences with racial tensions and life-changing experiences. Please send us your own by email thehooddigest@gmail.com and we may read your story as part of our series!    Meet Rob & Emilee McGowan who provide personal and professional services in the areas of relationship coaching, life coaching, personal development, executive coaching, and team building. You can find them here:  http://divingwithin2016.wixsite.com/alchemy @DivingWithinLLC Call (310) 870-3743

Episode 2: We talk about Teach For America in Los Angeles, we discuss giving back to the community with Let's Give, and the need to address tensions between Mexicans, Central Americans & our haters!

Hood Digest Podcast Debut. On this episode, you'll get to meet co-hosts Elmer G. Roldan (@grand.supreme.chapin) and Lamikia Castillo (@lamikia.castillo). Elmer and LaMikia talk to LA City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson about recreational marijuana and ways in which LA City aims to reverse the racist War on Drugs. The Councilmember will discuss where you can sell and buy cannabis and how the city aims to generate revenues from the legal sales of marijuana. LaMikia and her husband Daniel win a brand new car. Learn how they got the new whip.