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The Bloc Power Hour with Sarah Harris is a weekly conversation at the intersection of business, culture, and community, exploring how collective action builds economic mobility and lasting power. Hosted by Sarah Harris, the show features entrepreneurs, executives, creatives, and civic leaders sharing real-world insights and strategies that turn ideas into impact. More than a conversation, The Bloc Power Hour is a mic-to-movement—amplifying voices, advancing opportunity, and activating communities through intentional dialogue.
Host Description – Sarah Harris
Sarah Harris is the President & CEO of the Black Business Association (BBA) and a longtime business leader, media publisher, and economic-development advocate in Los Angeles. Known for bridging business, policy, and storytelling, Sarah brings decades of experience championing entrepreneurs, building partnerships, and advancing equity through collective action. On The Bloc Power Hour, she uses the mic to spark conversations that inform, inspire, and move communities from insight to action.
Yeah. Sarah Harris. Turn the mic up. Turn the power up. Welcome to the block.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the block power hour. I am your host, Sarah Harris. So glad to bring to you another amazing show, which is presented by Elevate Media Collective, a media division of the Black Business Association. And we thank our sponsor, US Bank for continuing to support the advancement of underserved small businesses to empowering them with access to capital and business support services. We invite you to also be a contributor and donor and supporter of this show, visit the BBA at b b a l a dot org.
Speaker 2:Again, bbala.org. And also follow us at block power hour, and that's b l o c, on Instagram and other social media platforms for our podcast. So today's show on the block power hour, we welcome one of California's leading voices on labor, workforce development, and economic equity. State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas. She represents California's 28th Senate District and serves as chair of the Senate Labor, Public Employment, and Retirement Committee.
Speaker 2:From her early work organizing workers through the historic justice for janitors campaign to co founding the nationally recognized Los Angeles Black Worker Center. Senator Smallwood-Cuevas has dedicated her career to ensuring that working people have access to opportunity, dignity, and economic mobility. Today, she is helping shape conversations around artificial intelligence, workforce development, major sporting events, and preserving cultural legacy in South LA. So get ready for a great conversation, a wonderful discussion with the amazing Senator Lola Smallwood -Cuevas on the future of work, economic opportunity, and what it takes to ensure that communities across Los Angeles not only in participating in, but help lead the next era of growth. Welcome, Senator.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, Sarah Harris. I'm so excited to be here on the Block Power Hour. It is exciting to be with you. So proud of this amazing program and this awesome studio here at KABC. I bring in share greetings from the mighty 28th District.
Speaker 3:Very proud to represent this, which I always say is the most dynamic and diverse district in the state of California.
Speaker 2:Say you are my senator, so thank you.
Speaker 3:Well, and it's my absolute honor. I represent Culver City, South Central Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Downtown LA, a little bit of Vernon, our industrial side of the district. 1,000,000 souls strong.
Speaker 2:That's a lot of representation right there.
Speaker 3:It is. But I wanna say it is the best district to represent because we are, I would say, the most exemplary of what the state should and can be. We have some of the most vulnerable populations in our district. We have some of the wealthiest communities in in our district, and we operate. And I use the collective we because no matter where I am in the district, we operate out of equity.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Whether you're on the West Side of the district or the South Side of this district, folks wanna make sure that their families are cared for.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:They wanna make sure that their neighborhoods are safe. And by safe, we mean real parks, you know, real ability to afford your housing. Most definitely. Ability to have a business to save and produce wealth for your next generation Mhmm. These are all things that are important to communities across the 28th District.
Speaker 3:So I'm so honored to represent this district because everyday folks like you
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:And your role are setting the example and the bar for what we can achieve and how we should be working together to achieve those goals that will make a difference, not just in the lives of, you know, your family or your community or your business, but for the state of California overall. So very, very proud to represent the 28th District.
Speaker 2:Well, it's been such a pleasure to interact with you in different events and situations for the different work and things that we are doing. So I've just been delighted and appreciative of your work that you are doing, But I would like for people to kind of understand who is Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, right? Kind of tell us a bit about your personal journey that led you into this space right now.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, I'm the daughter of Beverly Smallwood, I have to start there. A hardworking single mom, had me at 17, ended up going to nursing school, putting herself through nursing school after being a home care worker Mhmm. For many years and saw joining the military, like so many of our families, as a way to do better and to raise a daughter and to live a life of dignity. And, you know, we traveled from New Jersey to California. So I'm an adopted daughter of California.
Speaker 3:I'm an adopted daughter of
Speaker 2:Many are. Yes. Many many are.
Speaker 3:But very proud of being an adopted daughter of South Los Angeles because I grew up politically, I would say, in South Los Angeles. I had the opportunity to work initially as a reporter. I worked at the Long Beach Press Telegram and covered communities on the South Side Of LA County, but lived in Los Angeles. And I wanna say it gave me the opportunity to join and be a part of union organizing because Los Angeles, in particular, is sort of the cradle of worker organizing revival. A lot of workers are building unions and fighting for dignity and respect on the job.
Speaker 3:And as a reporter, I was in the newspaper guild and had to fight to keep my job. Right. So I understood that experience and coming out of journalism and landing as a researcher for SEIU, which was starting the security organizing campaign, I had the opportunity to meet men and women in South LA in particular because a lot of our young men work industry of private security. And at the time, they didn't have any health insurance. They were earning minimum wages after working in the industry for fifteen, twenty years.
Speaker 3:And I saw how they stood up to change the conditions for themselves, but really for any worker that would come into that sector to have a living wage, to have benefits for themselves and for their families, to be able to afford to live in Los Angeles. And for me, union organizing, I saw, you know, it reminded me of my mother of how she had to fight and make those kinds of choices and decisions. And through the organizing, we were able to bring on 4,000 security officers who were able to form their own union, the largest organizing of black men since the sleeping car porters. And that happened right here in South LA leading that, and it was a community effort. I left that campaign and went to work at the UCLA Labor Center where I worked for almost twenty years building different forms of union and worker organizing.
Speaker 3:And one of those experiments was looking at community based worker education training Mhmm. And campaigns to demand good jobs for our community. And that's where the LA Black Worker Center idea
Speaker 2:Therefore, that's where it came up. Okay.
Speaker 3:That's where it came about. And it was really workers and faith leaders. It was union organizers and university researchers, legal advocates coming together and saying, our community has a long history of organizing for justice and workers are a big part of that. Right. So I was really excited to be a part of establishing the LA Black Workers Center, which went on to be a model for 17 black worker centers across the country that are doing similar work all across the country, raising standards for black working families.
Speaker 2:So it seems like you rooted your life in the core of what people have on their minds and what's important to them, which is our livelihoods, right? Being able to have, again, the dignity and affordable life to live in terms of in peace and in happiness and of course the pursuit of what we all are aiming for. And so with that, now you said I could do better. I can make better moves by becoming Senator. What was your transition from that work to becoming Senator?
Speaker 3:Well, I think it was an evolution of movement, quite honestly. Having had the opportunity to work with so many different organizations, work on a number of campaigns, whether it was fighting for the minimum wage so that workers had a $15 minimum wage here, or whether it was establishing the first civil rights office for the city of Los Angeles through all of the organizing that we did at the Black Workers Center to helping to create the very first union agreement for the LA Metro, which was the first Metropolitan Transit Institute that had a wall to wall project labor agreement, meaning that those jobs to construct the rail system would be good jobs and proud to be a part of a coalition that said, and everyone should have access to those jobs, including black construction workers, including women, and creating one of the first community benefits agreements that would guarantee that. So, you know, I say that being a state senator is an evolution of all of that work and what, you know, John Lewis calls good trouble. Mhmm. And looking at how do we take and that's why I'm so proud to represent this district because a lot of the experimentation, the organization, the new ideas, the new strategies, the new business models come from this region.
Speaker 3:And so how do we take that to the state capital and apply some of the things that we know work?
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:How do we apply those on a larger scale? And how do we ensure that whether we are investing in infrastructure, whether we're investing in health care
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Whether we're investing in education, that we're doing it in a way that obviously makes those services stronger for communities, but we're also ensuring that every community has fair access to that.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a great segue into the next segment that we have, where we're going to get into some more of those things on what you're talking about on how to make life better and better working environments as we move forward. So we're definitely gonna be talking about workforce AI and the future economy, which is really now. This is the block power hour. I'm your host, Sarah Harris, and we will be right back.
Speaker 1:This is the block power
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the block power hour. I am your host, Sarah Harris, and it is so wonderful to have state senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas in the studio. Can you believe it?
Speaker 3:So excited to be here. And I love your theme song, by the way.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Keeping the energy in the house.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:All right. We're gonna dive into some of the work that you're doing. Amazing work to propel workforce development forward and making sure that there is a space and a place for everyone in the future economy, which is really now, right? And so part of the stem from, you have a bill SB three sixty six on artificial intelligence, and you mentioned the, UCLA Labor Center, and so they're part of having some research on workers, job quality, worker well-being, and state revenues. And so you've really invested into this space and making sure that we're not left behind, decreasing gaps and whatnot.
Speaker 2:So give me your vision in terms of AI transforming virtually every industry. What concerns you most and what is your aim in terms of correcting that?
Speaker 3:So one thing I have to say is our point of departure into this conversation of AI. I think South LA has a very interesting story to tell in terms of our point of departure. So South LA was the industrial muscle of California. It was one of the places where we built cars. I think South LA was second behind Detroit in the building of cars.
Speaker 3:And we know that in the transition of the economy, over 250,000 industrial businesses shut down in South LA, and it resulted in a devastating blow particularly to workers. So we went from a highly unionized industrial town.
Speaker 2:Because we see empty warehouses everywhere, our industrial places.
Speaker 3:Well, and I'm saying that that transition of the economy costs us good jobs, jobs that have built a lot of our middle class neighborhoods, you know, Compton, South LA, and there was no plan. And those jobs then shifted into service work. And it took us almost thirty years to get to a $15 minimum wage in a community where there had been, you know, family sustaining wages through that transition. So I tell that story because as we think about AI, this is another transition. So we're now going from a service economy into a digital artificial intelligence technology driven economy.
Speaker 3:And so if South LA has not recovered from the first transition, how are we going to now enter into this transition into AI? And so I think it's important for California to understand and to look at communities like South LA and ask the questions, who is going to benefit from this new technology? How do we ensure that we bring and integrate this technology into the workforce in a way that doesn't dehumanize our workforce? And how do we ensure that we're creating the jobs of the future that can actually complement this new technology? Meaning that we're not displacing workers with this technology, but we're looking at ways to upskill workers to be able to be fairly integrated with this technology.
Speaker 3:And those are the questions that we're wrestling with. So my bill, and I have to say, unfortunately, my bill was not able to move forward. I had two bills this session on AI, one was three sixty six, which was to say, if we replace workers who provide for the state the most stable revenue source through income tax, if we replace those workers with machines that don't actually pay income tax, they don't buy things, so they don't create sales
Speaker 2:tax. Right.
Speaker 3:These are the things that actually sustain the servicing of our state, whether it's
Speaker 2:You roads talk or bottom When you talk bottom line, people listen, they perk up.
Speaker 3:That's right. And so it's not just that we we obviously want workers to work, we want workers to have dignity and respect, but it's also our civilization. Our society is designed for us to be in a collaborative economy where workers are giving back to the budget and the budget sustains all of us. And so then how do we sustain ourselves then if workers are eliminated from the workforce? And then the other bill I had was focused on surveillance.
Speaker 3:You know, there is a lot of technology that is in the workplace and as workers, we don't know what cameras, what passes. Some of the surveillance is so sophisticated, it can determine our heart rate. It determines, you know, our speech patterns and what could that mean for a worker who maybe has a certain accent and the machine is not reading it well. And then suddenly they're fired because the machine is saying, their speech is not up to par. These are the things where we don't think about the ways that the technology is being used to monitor, track and surveil our workers.
Speaker 3:And we think every worker should know that, that information should be disclosed to us and to customers. And so, you know, these are some of the bills that we've been working on to begin to answer some of the hard questions about what is this technology? How are we integrating it into the workforce? And how does it become a benefit? I have to say we are not there yet, we're nowhere near.
Speaker 3:The governor put out this year an executive order that sort of lays out his vision of all the unfinished business of AI and what direction he thinks the state should go in. Certainly the new governor will have ideas as well. And in the legislature, we have 120 members and we all have the different opinions about this technology. And so this is going to be, I think, the most important discussion to impact business Undoubtedly. And the workforce that we are going to have.
Speaker 3:It's something that we need the community to be paying close attention to. And we need to remember lessons learned about these economic transitions and make sure that we are putting the workers first. When workers do well, our communities do well. And so I think for me, that's the overarching goal of how to look at AI. I listen to unions, I listen to my community organizations that are closely watching this technology.
Speaker 3:I see this as a bottom up co governance model where we have to define how this technology should be used and that that becomes the policy that really dictates and regulates this technology in our day to day workplace.
Speaker 2:I'm seeing also too in terms of AI and as well as when you bring in higher education and the effects on that and they're talking about what's the ROI on when you're paying so much and they're eliminating entry point job levels to once you get out of college, it's do not guarantee to get as you usually were. So it's just disrupting a whole landscape of different things that we need to think about
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and work absolutely.
Speaker 2:Okay, so with that, for me, we've discussed before about cross sector collaborations and partnerships and the things that we can do together from our community colleges to organizations like the Black Business Association and other types of groups that work on this. How do you feel that cross collaborations can help?
Speaker 3:It has to be the main solution, I think, for any of the major issues that we're facing, but for this issue of technology in particular. Why? Because as you mentioned, politics is not an individual business. We are responsible for the stewardship of our communities. We are responsible for making sure that the decisions that we make and any unintended consequences are thought about in advance.
Speaker 3:And you can't do that as an individual, you need to talk to the experts. And I say, you are a small business expert. So you are the person that I would go to to talk about, well, what is the impact of this bill or this issue or this technology on your business? And that will inform the decisions that get made in terms of what policies that I support or not support in the state capital. I call that co governance is another way of saying collaboration.
Speaker 3:It's essential as a policymaker, as a community leader, that it's about the we. On any given day, there are thousands of topics. I will go from my first committee is business and professions where we do all of the state licensing. And so I will be talking to the licensing board for pest control, for example. And then in the next meeting, I'm going off to health and we're talking about should health insurance be able to fund things like GLP medication and should that be required for all insurance plans to make that available to, you know, the next meeting talking about climate change and what's happening with hydrogen.
Speaker 3:These are things that are, you know, that are
Speaker 2:these our communications amongst different sectors and what we're doing. Absolutely. How can we, you know, build on each other's findings or successes or even failures just like to research and discover what went wrong or whatever.
Speaker 3:That's right. And in your sector, have that knowledge of being on the ground and also are most impacted by whatever these issues are that are directly facing your sector. And so I think it's very important in this role to have an open channel of conversation. I have a district offices in Expo Park, I have a great staff there where, you know, I have 1,000,000 constituents, but only 13 staff members. So it's the math isn't Small but mighty.
Speaker 3:Small but mighty, but really the team understands how important it is for us to have lines of communication via email, you know, getting on our newsletter, following us on social media. This is how we co govern together.
Speaker 2:So we have so much more to talk about. When we come back, we will get more into, other things related to major games, to procurement, and other economic opportunities. This is the block power hour. I'm your host, Sarah Harris. Welcome back to the block power hour.
Speaker 2:I'm your host, Sarah Harris, and I'm so elated to have state senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas in the studio. Thank you so much for being with us today. And if you are enjoying our conversations here like I know you are, the Block Power Hour has become your go to. So we will also love your support. You can go to bbala.org to learn more information about becoming a sponsor or donating.
Speaker 2:You can donate. Again, that's bbala.org. So now we are continuing our conversation. It is rooted workforce development. And part of that is regarding the major games that are coming around that, will be here like tomorrow.
Speaker 2:It seems like it's gonna be no time. So you recently had convened a workforce and procurement symposium. Tell us the key takeaways that you experienced from that.
Speaker 3:Well, one, it is around the corner and two, we are going to have to make the opportunity. And when I say that, you know, LA twenty eight is poised to put together an extraordinary event here in LA, but LA does extraordinary things every day. And we know in order for our communities, our small businesses to fully participate, we've got to create for ourselves our goal of making sure we're building the relationships that we're bringing LA twenty eight to the table and that we're holding them accountable to ensuring that everyone, no matter what part of the region you're from, that you're able to fully participate, whether it's residents being able to afford the tickets for events to small businesses, being able to take full advantage of the procurement opportunity, they're gonna spend $7,000,000,000. So if you're gonna spend $7,000,000,000, we want some of those dollars to stay right here
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 3:In in the 28th District. And so the procurement was really to hear LA 20 Eight's plan Mhmm. And to also hear from the partners, the county and the city that are working very closely with LA Twenty Eight to ensure that our businesses are prepared and are on the radar of LA twenty eight. We started with a reception and we brought LA twenty eight leaders to a reception with small businesses so they get a chance to talk to them one on one. And then after we had a two hour symposium and presentation talking about the local priority that we wanna see local businesses prioritize, The city talked about the agreements with LA twenty eight to ensure that 75% of contracts are going to local businesses and all of the certification that needs to happen either through the chamber, through associations, through the city of LA to make sure our businesses get certified and that we're on the list to support all of the needs, of LA twenty eight, whether it's security needs to hospitality and for all of the receptions that will be happening to communications Right.
Speaker 3:And making sure we're part of marketing and telling the story Mhmm. Of the Olympic games through our local lens. These are all opportunities for small businesses to participate. But as I say, it won't happen unless we come together. And you talked about collaboration and cross sector collaboration and creating spaces for businesses to especially small businesses to come together and see how do we create the bigger us so that we can go after these contracts in a real way.
Speaker 3:For me, this is a legacy, right? Very much. This event is gonna be short lived, but the legacy will live on.
Speaker 2:Because one of my questions was going to be about what do you wanna see that would become the long lasting legacy or effect from the major games on the district and beyond?
Speaker 3:Well, think when you spend $7,000,000,000 that should help our business, especially our small business ecosystem, build more infrastructure, right? So the relationships in terms of the partnerships, the collaborations, that will be a lasting impact on small businesses for years to come. Our businesses being able to staff up and have a trained workforce will be a legacy that we will enjoy for years to come. And of course, you know, this is a a no build Olympics.
Speaker 2:Utilizing our current So
Speaker 3:not going to see, you know, the great pools and the the great ball fields that we have seen from LA eighty four Olympics, for example. But what we should see is a deep investment in our small business community, a deep investment in our nonprofit networks coming out of this games. And I think that that's an important legacy. And certainly, we want to welcome the world, but we want them to not just go to the beach Mhmm. Get on the 10 Freeway drive over South LA and Culver City to get to Disneyland and then go, you know, back to their countries.
Speaker 3:There's so much to see. We are a city of neighborhoods. And one of the things that I am proud to have led and to see growing and evolving is our investment in our black Historic Cultural District. South LA is California's first California designated Black Historic Cultural District. That is
Speaker 2:And I believe it took this long for that.
Speaker 3:I cannot either. When I came, I learned about cultural districts at a hearing I asked the question, well, where are these 14 cultural districts and what culture is being promoted? Because I think culture is, for me, is so important. It's how we tell our story and it also helps our communities build unique wealth because only a community can tell that unique story. And so that means visitors, people who come to experience culture have to come into these neighborhoods.
Speaker 3:And so when I asked about the 14 and not one was focused on Black culture and not one was in South LA, I knew that something was desperately wrong and we needed to fix that. And so worked with so many community organizations to make that happen.
Speaker 2:Right, we're gonna break down more of that in terms of the culture districts and the accomplishment you did in there and getting that designation passed through, but just kind of going back into the major games and one of the things that I am wanting to keep in the forefront because procurement is what been top of mind for everybody, but not everybody is going to get a contract. And so what do you have left? And what I enjoyed and what I appreciate at that event was that you had Libby Williams from the city who came in and explained about the kind of experiences and the fund zones, the other types of opportunities that are tangent to the whole experience of the games coming on, but how businesses and organizations can find opportunity to still participate and be able to either economically or just for coming together to collaborate for the experience of it.
Speaker 3:That's right. And the 15,000,000 visitors are projected for the Olympics. But when we talked to Paris, they said more visitors came the year after the Olympics. And so the research shows that the five years after the Olympics, you will see even more people come into a region. And so, you know, absolutely important to know that, you know, certainly the Olympic Games is happening, but there will be receptions, there will be events.
Speaker 3:For example, New Zealand and the African nations are going to make Culver City their nation house, which means everyone who is from New Zealand who's coming to the Olympics is gonna spend a lot of time in Culver City. And they're gonna eat, they're gonna shop, they're gonna sleep, they're gonna do all of those
Speaker 2:For things Culver City.
Speaker 3:In and around Culver City. Right? And same with the African nations that are, Senegal that are gonna make Culver City their home. And I know we are working on trying to get a number of other countries to settle within the 28th District to make this their nation home. And I say that it's not just getting a contract with LA twenty eight, there's a lot of other opportunities.
Speaker 3:You know, I was talking to one of the sponsors of the Olympics and they said, you know, they're gonna do a lot around food and just inviting different leaders in for meetings. So they're gonna look for caterers. So we're putting a list together of all of the different caterers who will be able to provide and this is not about the Olympic games. This is just meetings that the sponsors are gonna be having
Speaker 2:It's at the this was coming because of that. It's the whole ecosystem that's wrapped around it that there's opportunity in.
Speaker 3:That's right. And so being in organization, and this is where the cross collaboration, it's a lot of information. And how do you get that? You've gotta be in organization, you've gotta be part of the Black Business Association, you've gotta be part of your chamber, you need to be in all of the different spaces and connected to all of the different groups that are getting that information and helping folks do the work to be in the position to take full advantage of the opportunity. I am really grateful for the work that you're doing because you are building an ecosystem and bringing all of the different cross sectors of the business community, the small business community together so that you have a shared vision for how to go after some of these opportunities.
Speaker 3:And there's a plan and there are steps and roles and responsibility because as you know, procurement is not just doing the job, getting the job is often the hardest part. And we need to do that more collaboratively and do that more together because of the historic disinvestments in our communities, because of the exclusionary practices. Our communities have to be in an equity stance. And so in order to do that, typically that means we have to build more power, which means we're stronger together and when we move together. So I really wanna recognize your leadership and vision in that space because we haven't often had collaborative tables.
Speaker 3:And I think this is the moment where that is critically important.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that, but it is more than me. There's many of us out there, and especially for a black community, we have the Greater Los Angeles Black Leaders Collective, which is also the mission for that as well. So I appreciate you and thank you for that. Our next segment, we're gonna get back to cultural districts and the designation of Black South LA Cultural District. We wanna learn more about that.
Speaker 2:This is the Block Power Hour. I'm your host, Sarah Harris, and we'll be right back. Welcome back to the Block Power Hour. I'm your host, Sarah Harris, and the Block Power is brought to you by Elevate Media Collective, a media division of the Black Business Association. You can find us at bbala.org or also follow us at blockpowerhour
Speaker 1:and
Speaker 2:that's B L O C power hour. Also follow me, Sarah Harris, CEO underscore Sarah Harris, CEO. That is my handle. All right, we have in the studio, Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas. I am so excited to have you here in the studio today.
Speaker 3:And I'm so honored to be here and you are the radio personality. Sarah, I'm seeing this new side of you and I'm so impressed. Such a great job.
Speaker 2:I appreciate you. I appreciate you. So we have talked about your journey and then also your work that is rooted in workforce development and a bit about AI and the major games and everything, the opportunities that surround that. But one of the major accomplishments that you've had is to be able to get a designation for the black cultural South LA district. And to me to have taken this long is just astonishing.
Speaker 2:I'm kind of intrigued about the backstory on how you discovered that because a lot of people think of it in terms of the arts and when you talk about culture and entertainment and stuff, but it's also an economic power engine. So kind of just talk about the backstory on how it started and then what you see as the power of the district.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, I see this as an economic development strategy for South LA, but I sit on the budget committee and there was a conversation about cultural districts. And in the hearing, it was mentioned that there were 14 cultural districts. And as a black woman, I know how important culture is. It's so grounding and it's also a way to protect and preserve space. It's also a way to share and tell a story and the uniqueness is that only one community can tell a story.
Speaker 3:And so that is what makes a cultural district so special. So I was very curious about it. And what I learned was that there wasn't one Black cultural district focused on Black arts and culture in the state. And there were four in Orange County and not one in South LA. And it just was stunning to me that that was the case.
Speaker 3:And I left that hearing committed that we would not see another year without a black historic cultural district.
Speaker 2:A woman on a mission for sure. And I witnessed
Speaker 3:with the Olympics coming, I mean, what an opportunity to showcase the 4,000 cultural assets that we have mapped in and around within the 28th District. And why I think it's special for my district to hold this designation in this work is because I represent the Windsor Hills View Park, Baldwin Hills side of the district Ladera, which is, you know, on the western boundary of South LA. So La Brea and Slauson and taking Slauson all the way east to Central Avenue, which is also in my district. And we know the history of Central Avenue, the Dunbar Hotel, and what it's meant to this community. All the way north of the 10 Freeway, we have underground museum.
Speaker 3:We've got Debbie Allen. We've got the only black artist colony in California. And I might say probably in the country, St. Elmo's Village. And then we've got Lehmer Park, Crenshaw Corridor.
Speaker 3:So if there is going to be a historic cultural district that represents the Black experience of California, it had to be South Los Angeles and it had to be in the 28th District. And so what I see the cultural district and the designation is as an economic development engine. For me, this is our tourism hub.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:How do we make South LA a destination? And we know around South LA, I mean, there's Culver City, Altadena, talking to folks in Compton. We have a network of cultural experience that if a visitor, and we have millions of people who come to the state every year, They wanna experience where hip hop was born. They want to experience goes where
Speaker 2:back to that.
Speaker 3:You said not
Speaker 2:just pass over and go to the beach or whatever. You wanna pit stops into the local fair and see the culture there.
Speaker 3:And you wanna taste a little West Side soul food. You wanna see what what is the Louisiana West taste like, you know? You wanna eat, you wanna experience, you wanna be immersed in the culture of what it means for Black families who travel from so far to settle in California and to build what I argue is probably the largest, most dynamic Black business corridor in the country, highest Black home ownership in the country. People want it and should experience that. And California should be about promoting it.
Speaker 3:So for me, this is about infrastructure and how do we tell a story and bring collaborators, bring our allies to the table, like Visit California and Travel California, Airbnb, all of the hotel industries and, you know, a lot of our small business networks, how do we bring everyone to the table to say, let's make South LA a designation and let's figure out how to bring resources in, but also how do we keep those resources to ensure that our assets are not displaced, that we hold on to this black space? That's what the cultural district designation is about. We aren't doing direct arts programs. We're not doing direct small business development programs. Other folks in our network do that.
Speaker 3:But what we're doing is focusing on the storytelling and the tourism and trying to understand and have others understand not just how to come and visit our community, but how we want them to come to our community and respect, not to take over, but to come and respect and get a little bit of a taste of what black California
Speaker 2:is I see it as it's not just like for the upliftment of black culture and history and legacy or whatnot, but it's in terms of that economic engine. It would reverberate to all communities, all spaces in terms of uplifting everyone because we all know how strong black culture is in terms of influence with hip hop, with clothing, with our arts, with our dance, and then there's the innovations on top of that that we contribute. And so we're in a space right now where we're celebrating what, America two fifty, okay? And so within that, core of it is that storytelling part and it's really, you know, making sure that people don't forget and they understand the beginnings and where we come from and everything. So kind of explain a little bit more on that and the strategy of doing that storytelling part.
Speaker 3:So the strategy really, and I wanna give a shout out to LA Commons, which is our arts program that anchored this great project. Karen Mack, an amazing organizer, an amazing artist and a lover of South LA. And so it really was about bringing all of the community stakeholders together. They held over two dozen visioning sessions. We had town halls where community could come and talk about those stories, what they remember about this district growing up here, what makes this area so special?
Speaker 3:What are those assets, big and small? This really was a community effort and that's why I know we have a profound and unique story to tell. And the question is how do we quickly, as we're going to welcome 15,000,000, 15,000,000 folks here for the Olympics, how do we quickly package and market that story in a way so that folks are excited and want to come, not just to see, but to spend and to tell a friend so that they can come and visit and spend and invest with us in this community by experiencing the arts and culture, that we're so proud of. So the storytelling is, we have amazing storytellers, we have documented, there are a number of reports that we've already started to lay that framework. We're working through some of the design pieces and marketing pieces for the cultural district.
Speaker 3:We're looking to hire someone to really run this project and this initiative, because if we don't tell our own stories, no one will. And so we take this work very seriously. I am grateful to the governor and the state legislature worked with me. We were able to allocate $2,000,000 as seed for getting the cultural district off the ground. We're able to invest another $2,500,000 from my first year, which is with the city of LA to build markers so we can show where the perimeters of cultural districts are.
Speaker 3:And so people will see it and be inspired and know, oh, that's the cultural district, that's where I wanna go and visit. And, you know, we're working right now with another collaborator on helping to do some online experience so folks can eat and see the restaurants on their app and know where the cultural district and where the restaurants are and that they can be supported as restaurants that are helping to anchor this cultural district. So this is just the beginning and our hope is that we continue to look at ways to invest, because in order to protect these cultural districts, we have to invest. I have a bill now ten seventy three that is going to make it to the floor that will allow local residents to look at their tax return and say, I want to donate $5 to the cultural district. And that's important because, you know, we are gonna hold the state accountable to investing, but we also know through self determination that we can also invest in ourselves.
Speaker 3:And so that's what that bill is This
Speaker 2:is so excellent. I cannot believe I have many more questions for you, but we are at the end of our conversation real quick, you tell people how they can find you online.
Speaker 3:Well, you can find me on my website, LOLA for California, also the Senate District twenty eight website, which we have all of our bills and initiatives, budget policy on the website. You can follow me on Instagram at Senator Smallwood- Okay, I got it.
Speaker 2:So many things.
Speaker 3:So there's so many ways to find us. Please do email. We do it all. So is she is here in touch in with
Speaker 2:Serving our constituents. It's been a pleasure to have you here today. We welcome you back anytime. This is the block power hour. I'm your host, Sarah Harris, and we brought you another amazing conversation and come back with us again.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, Sarah.
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