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Inauguration Day Two groups celebrate swearing-in of Biden, Harris THE VOICE OF DOWNTOWN LA SINCE 1972

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Phew!: So far, so good

By Ellen Snortland t is a bright, sunny, calm and clear day: Jan. 20, 2021. The beauty around me reflects the end of the Drumpf horror show and the beginning of a return to sane governance. My husband and I are listening to the swearing-in of President Biden on NPR as we slowly snake our way through the Dodger Stadium parking lots to get our shots. Eager staff and volunteers, all masked, wave us forward as we, along with thousands of at-risk Angelenos, receive the first of two doses of the Moderna vaccine.

This is so California — drive-thru vaccinations featuring medical personnel rather than carhops! We stick our arms out of our car windows and are inoculated against COVID-19.

As we protect ourselves, we also are celebrating the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We feel our anxiety lift, minute by minute.

Four years of anxiety, nausea and sorrow… gone with the jerk of a vaccination needle!

And, we were able to bid a not-so-fond “get out and stay out!” to the jerk who botched and bungled his way in and out of office, 400,000 unnecessary COVID-19 deaths later.

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There’s an old joke that my late father would tell. A man jumps off a skyscraper, and during his descent, someone yells from a window, “How’s it going?” The jumper yells, “So far, so good.” It was like that as we headed into Inauguration Day, waiting to see if any of the domestic terrorists would carry out their threats; if they would jump off the violence high rise to hurt others and themselves. Many of us were on tenterhooks, waiting for the inevitable splat. That, so far, hasn’t come. For that, we are beyond grateful.

As a nation, I hope the Drumpf era has caused the complacent among us to wake up. We are not as “great” as we think we are. If I had a magic wand, I’d bankroll every American kid to take at least a year to travel the world. We are so insulated, so needlessly arrogant, and are often clueless about the lives of others.

I’m not anti-American. It’s absurd to even need to say that. I love my country and adore what it stands for. I am also hyperaware of the distance we still must go to live up to our ideals of liberty and justice. We need to, as they say in the London tube, mind the gap.

My personal mission is to impact the rates

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of violence against women and girls, female-identified people included. All colors, all creeds, all sizes, all ages. Treating women as second-class citizens — third class in many cases — is such a colossal waste of brainpower that it makes my head spin. Keeping females down only damages all of us; it certainly doesn’t uplift men. Our country still suffers from a deficit of female talent.

I also don’t want women to be liberated because I think they are better than men. No. As abolitionist Sarah Moore Grimke said, “I ask no favors for my sex; I surrender not our claim to equality. All I ask of our brethren is that they will take their feet from off our necks and permit us to stand upright on the ground which God has designed us to occupy.” (This quote is often misattributed to the revered Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who loved saying it.)

Starting here and now, let’s all take a firm stand to support the new administration. And let’s take the next four years to launch clarion calls for ending sexism, racism, classism — OK, all the “isms” need to go except Buddhism: That can stay.

I’ll leave you with two quotes that I regard

as verbal and emotional vaccinations. One is tongue-in-cheek, the other, heartfelt; both are true in my experience. Charlotte Whitton, the first female mayor of a major North American city (Ottawa), said, “Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.” As we progress, please take stock of your or others’ judgments of Kamala Harris. Is there a double, perhaps a triple, standard at play? An easy way to tell is to ask yourself, “Would this criticism be made of a white man?” If not, take heed — sexism and racism are lurking.

The second quote is from the late, great Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, who said, “What the people want is very simple: They want an America as good as its promise.”

Amen. I’m sure Barbara is smiling right now, as are legions of great women of all colors.

Go, Biden! Go, Harris!

Ellen Snortland has written “Consider This…” for a heckuva long time, and she also coaches first-time book authors! Who knew? Contact her at ellen@beautybitesbeast.com

OPINION

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski STAFF WRITERS: Andrew Checchia, Andres De Ocampo, Julia Shapero CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sara Edwards, Kamala Kirk ART DIRECTORS: Arman Olivares, Stephanie Torres STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Luis Chavez CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Myriam Santos ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Catherine Holloway, Michael Lamb FOUNDER EMERITUS: Sue Laris

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski STAFF WRITER: Zach Moore CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Andrew Checchia, Frier McCollister, Andres de Ocampo, Doyoon Kim, Srianthi Perera, Ellen Snortland STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Luis Chavez CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Jakob Layman, Jennifer Leahy Photography ART DIRECTORS: Arman Olivares, Stephanie Torres ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Catherine Holloway, Michael Lamb FOUNDER EMERITUS: Sue Laris

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Covered will help NEWS - California COVID COUNT

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Eric Garcetti launch COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium.

Americans are resilient

Photo courtesy LA City Hall

Editor: The recent COVID-19 developments for Southern California have been dramatic and predictable. We have seen a dangerous rise in deaths and hospitalizations.

New reports indicate the virus is now also ravaging the local Los Angeles County homeless community. Once again, the county and our home city are squeezed by new lockdown measures. A lockdown that seems bound to linger well into the early weeks of 2021.

Up until late fall, California had lagged behind other large states in terms of cases and deaths per capita. Surprisingly to many, the homeless community also had not seen high rates of COVID-19 infections. It seemed in mid-October that we might be looking at bright and recovering 2021. Now we are facing months of closed bars and restaurants and a gloomy forecast for the coming weeks and months.

We all knew better, but many of us did not do better. It was predicted that the cooling temperatures would bring folks indoors and into closer contact, and it did. It was predicted that if people engaged in holiday travel that it could spread the disease, and it did. It was predicted that house parties and pop-up nightclubs would let loose a wave of infections, and it did. It was predicted that multigenerational get-togethers would lead to illnesses in the young and deaths in the elderly, and it did.

Government officials and local health organizations lectured again and again, but they never seemed to take the strong and appropriate steps that might have eased some of this oncoming emergency. Other than in the early days of the pandemic, they never inspired a sense of common purpose or urgency in the general public.

The sad part of this recent surge is that the majority of people followed the COVID-19 guidance. It has been a painful process for businesses and families alike.

As I walk around the Downtown community, I generally see masks and social distancing. But the two factors our leaders forgot in all their warnings and press conferences are fairly obvious to any reasonable observer. The very kinds of people who suffer from addictions and engage in reckless behaviors do not watch the daily COVID-19 updates.

Also, in a nation founded on personal liberty and freedom of choice some people will simply do the wrong thing despite all the preaching from the governor and mayor. If this COVID-19 epidemic has shown us anything of value, it has demonstrated once again that the majority of Americans are a kind, resourceful and resilient people. It has also demonstrated that about 5% of our friends and neighbors are all too human when it comes to adhering to the needs of the community above their needs to be fulfilled for the moment. Perhaps this difficult time teaches us a valuable lesson: that both common sense and a spirit of common purpose are not as common as they should be in today’s society!

Oliver Cutshaw

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Reported cases in DTLA and surrounding areas as of Jan. 17 Chinatown: 599; Little Tokyo: 341; Los Feliz: 838; Silverlake: 2,571; South Park: 6,349; Wilshire Center: 4,351 Total confirmed cases in DTLA: 3,033 Total deaths in DTLA: 25 Total confirmed cases in LA County: 1,014,662 Total deaths in LA County: 13,848 Los Angeles has become the first county to surpass 1 million COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. Officials reported 108 deaths and 11,366 new cases on Jan. 17, bringing to the total deaths 13,848. Although one-tenth of the overall population has contracted the virus, the county estimates nearly a third of its residents have been infected at some point without knowing it. Los Angeles is also the first to report the new, more contagious coronavirus variant first reported from the United Kingdom. The public health department confirmed the first case of the B117 variant in a man who recently traveled to Oregon, where he is currently quarantining. The new strain does not make people sicker but is more easily transmittable and can spread in communities more quickly.

The number of hospitalizations remains unchanged, with about 7,500 patients and 23% in the intensive care unit. Health officials are expecting a significant increase of people infected due to the winter holidays.

Los Angeles is working to ramp up vaccination administration by opening five large-scale vaccine sites, in addition to the large testing site at Dodger Stadium and the 75 smaller sites that are already in operation. The county has administered more than 279,000 vaccine doses for health care workers. Forty-four percent of the first doses received in the two-dose vaccine regiment have already been distributed. Superintendent Austin Beutner of the Los Angeles Unified School District also urged for the use of schools as vaccination centers to reopen schools for in-person instruction. With this approach, teachers could be given doses more quickly, but students are unlikely to be immunized because the vaccine is yet to be determined safe for children.

Mayor Eric Garcetti announced his plan to expand the COVID-19 care kit initiative to the Southern LA region. Los Angeles Firefighters will be distributing the kits containing masks, hand sanitizer, disinfectant and public health information. As cases continue to rise, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is considering additional shutdowns of nonessential businesses. Such businesses are operating under a 20% capacity limit from California’s stay-at-home order.

Information compiled by Doyoon Kim

JANUARY 25, 2021

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Covered NEWS California will help Emiliano Castellanos, left, Christopher Delavega, Ernesto Ruiz, Andres Dinajero and Cliff Smith of Roofers Union Local 36.

Photo by Luis Chavez

Groups celebrate Biden, Harris inauguration

By Andres de Ocampo s Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn into office, two demonstrations were held on inauguration day, on First and Spring streets: one to celebrate and another to hold the administration to its promises.

Roofers Union Local 36 started its demonstration at noon, holding signs that read “Build the people’s democratic workers party” and “Working class solidarity.”

Roofers Union Local 36 Business Manager Cliff Smith said the demonstration was held “to credit all of the working people that pulled through the last four years and make sure we defeated Donald Trump and his administration of white supremacy and fascism.

“Secondly, to say the job is not done. We need a political party that represents the interest of working people.”

Smith, who organized the demonstration, said the union’s goal is to “expand democracy and workers’ rights” and the organization demonstrated to “express our view and to celebrate the accomplishment (Biden’s win), but to also speak on the struggles and campaigns that we need to continue to organize around and build workers’ power.”

Smith said the Roofers Union Local 36 works to protect and advocate for workers’ rights, encourage more social and community-oriented justice and reform.

“We want citizenship and legislation for all workers, regardless of their background,” he said. “They promised that 11 million undocumented workers in this country would receive legal status and a pathway to citizenship. We intend to make sure that promise is kept.”

“We want community control over the police department. These are public employees, and they need to be held accountable for their actions in our communities.

We want the reestablishment of the voting rights acts and the discrimination against African American voters to end.”

As for building a party that has workers and union interest at heart, Smith said, “At the end of the day, as Nancy Pelosi told us, the Democratic Party is capitalist. We are not capitalists, we are workers. We need a political party that represents our interests as workers.

“Biden has campaigned on being the most union-friendly president. (Biden) said he would expand membership in unions, and we will hold him responsible for that.

We want him to pass the Pro Act, (Protecting the Right to Organize Act), which is in Congress right now. That would be very advantageous for union organizing.”

Roofers Union Local 36 plans to ensure the workers’ agenda is the top priority of the new administration and to organize a workers’ party.”

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Hector Drouaillet, who has worked with Roofers Union Local 36 for 20 years as a roofer and seven years within management, said, “When Trump was inaugurated, we felt a big threat for the unions. … (Now,) we’re celebrating the incoming president, Biden and Harris, which is the main reason we are here. Hopefully, they work with the unions, and the main thing is to protect the rights of our members. We have to stick together and stay strong.”

Founded in Venice Beach, The Hoop Bus is a colorful, graffiti-decorated school bus that arrived at 1 p.m. It is adorned with phrases like “Power 2 The People,” “Hoop Don’t Loot,” a basketball hoop decorated with “Black Lives Matter” graffiti and the names of Black Americans, whose lives were lost to police brutality, like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Eric Garner.

Co-founder Vince Corral said, “We are driving around celebrating the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. We have been driving all over LA.” The bus drove from Venice to Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood.

The Hoop Bus’ goal was to “bring light and enjoyment to the community,” Corral said. “This bus has a certain energy to it, and it always brings smiles and people together.”

The police soon formed a line in front of The Hoop Bus. “We went on a cross-country tour on this bus, from LA to Washington, D.C.,” Corral said. “We did a three-month tour from city to city, and doing what we were trying to do today, it’s like I’m already immune to it. We’re not doing anything.”

The bus has traveled 12,000 miles, helped build seven basketball courts across the nation and visited 31 states.

Co-founder Eliot Robinson, who helps with social media, said, “(The Hoop Bus) started off as a fun project that Nick, (Nico Naismith, basketball architect and community activist), and I were working on. Ever since, it’s turned into a passion for Kobe Bryant and his passing. We really appreciate what he has done in this lifetime. His dedication and what he did, spiritually and mentally, to be able to commit to what he was able to do, we started off with that. Then, it became a Black Lives Matter movement.”

The Hoop Bus helps create a more connected world by combining charitable giving with basketball, art projects and political activism. The group went above and beyond what it set out to do, they said.

“It’s very difficult to explain,” Robinson said about The Hoop Bus. “Me and Nick started this, but it’s more than starting. It’s ‘how do you continue to run it?’ Then people have been latching on and coming on board. Everyone contributes in their own way. The movement in the future is more structure.”

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Covered NEWS California will help Mark Horvath is the chief executive officer of Invisible People.

Photo by Jennifer Leahy Photography

Invisible People report tries to clarify homelessness

By Srianthi Perera hen the public thinks about homelessness, what comes to mind is mental illness and drug addiction.

A new report related to homelessness reinforces a gap between what the public thinks and the discussions happening in policy circles. This gap creates a cycle of misunderstanding that reduces public support for the policies needed to solve the crisis.

Los Angeles-based Invisible People, an education-based nonprofit that works to change the narrative of homelessness, is planning to use its report’s findings to finetune the messaging to better affect policy change in LA and beyond.

“Our hope is nonprofits and governments and stakeholders will see the importance of messaging and it gets validated by this research,” said Mark Horvath, CEO of Invisible People.

Last fall, more than 2,500 respondents across 16 cities, including Los Angeles, were surveyed to understand public attitudes about homelessness, policy updates, how COVID-19 has impacted homelessness and how the public interprets messages about homelessness. The work formed the basis of the 50-page report, entitled “What America Believes About Homelessness.”

Many in the community blame homelessness on the person experiencing it and point to mental illness and drug addiction rather than the shortage of affordable housing, lack of a living wage, expensive and inaccessible health care, and childhood trauma as the most common drivers.

“The public has a lot of misconceptions,” said Mike Dickerson, co-founder of the advocacy group Ktown for All and the writer of the report. “They aren’t necessarily super invested in this and aren’t digging into the research and looking into reports.

That creates some dissonance.”

Horvath stressed the need to be authentic.

“The public has kind of been anaesthetized to the homeless sector and politicians claiming victory,” he said. “We need to message it in a way that builds trust. And this report validates that.”

Horvath knew it was important to establish the research and give the basic tools to advocates, nonprofits, politicians and whoever else is working to influence policy.

“This research is done a lot by different organizations; they don’t release it publicly,” he said. “This is the first time that I know of where this has been released publicly.”

The research also creates important benchmarks. “How do you affect change if you don’t know or establish what it is that people actually believe?” he said. “How do you even start working a narrative change?”

For the past 12 years, Invisible People has used storytelling, journalism education and advocacy to change the narrative of homelessness.

To that end, Horvath, together with Dickerson and Barbara Poppe, a national expert on homelessness, is planning to create webinars and build other online features to train those interested in the topic.

Horvath, who was once homeless himself, concedes that homelessness is best tackled at a local level, and is making his organization available to help local governments.

“Going into 2021, we’re making ourselves available to come in and to do more detailed research on a hyperlocal level and to be able to give recommendations both on messaging and help with execution,” he said.

The research did not observe a lot of differences according to city. However, Los Angeles stood out because of its extremely high rate of unsheltered homelessness.

Horvath pointed out that Proposition HHH and Measure 8 failed to fulfill housing

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expectations for the homeless and that the crisis has worsened because of the pandemic.

“LA has always been a hornet’s nest when it comes to homelessness. And now, because of the pandemic, things are going to get worse,” Horvath said. “How we message and talk and build trust to the public is going to be crucial moving forward.”

“Street homelessness is a lot more visible in LA than it is in other communities, and one of the findings in the report is that that does have this effect of somewhat increasing negative sentiment,” Dickerson said. “There is more association between homelessness and drugs and mental illness and crime.

“When there are a ton of people living on the streets, they’re going to be people who act out and be very visible in negative ways. We suspect that’s contributing to that,” he added.

While outlining the need to address those concerns, it doesn’t necessarily mean more policing and criminalizing.

“Those were, in fact, the most controversial policies in terms of the public reaction to them. But it does mean that whether you’re a politician or service provider, you need to speak to those concerns in a way that’s direct and addresses the issues that people see,” he said.

The report states that respondents who focus on addiction as a cause of homelessness are more supportive of punitive policies and less supportive of homeless housing.

“In areas with more people living on the streets, residents are more concerned with crime and greater feelings of helplessness. ‘Not in My Backyard’ opinions, such as opposition to shelter or housing in one’s own neighborhood, were associated with opposition to housing solutions more generally, as well as more punitive views towards homeless people,” it stated.

Additionally, gender and political views both impact opinions on homelessness, it found. “Women and those on the left end of the political spectrum express more sympathetic opinions, while men and those on the right hold more punitive views,” the report stated.

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Business Briefcase

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski ello everybody and welcome to Business Briefcase, the newest addition to LA Downtown News! Here, we’ll cover a plethora of topics, including businesses coming into the community, promotions, new hires and new restaurants. If you have something you’d like to see in a future column, email christina@ timespublications.com.

Let’s get into the news, shall we?

Julie J. Sprengel has been appointed president of CommonSpirit Health’s newly expanded Southern California Division. In this role, Sprengel will continue to oversee Dignity Health hospitals in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties and Clark County, Nevada.

Sprengel began her career more than 20 years ago as an emergency room nurse and has spent the majority of her career working in faith-based, nonprofit health care systems.

She honed her clinical and administrative expertise through a series of leadership positions with increasing responsibility, culminating in her position as a hospital chief executive officer.

In 2016, Sprengel was recruited as the senior vice president of operations for Dignity Health Southern California, and in 2019 was named president of the Southwest Division for CommonSpirit Health.

“Julie has shown exceptional leadership throughout her career at Dignity Health — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic as she oversees hospital operations in some of the hardest hit areas of the country,” said Marvin O’Quinn, president and chief operating officer of CommonSpirit Health, parent company of Dignity Health.

“In this expanded role, Julie will be well positioned to help broaden our continuum of care services, focus on integrating and coordinating our primary care models and improving access to care for patients in underserved communities.”

Sprengel said she’s looking forward to learning about the diverse markets.

“Now, more than ever, it’s essential to reassure our communities that we are here for them.”

Sprengel earned a nursing degree from the Los Angeles County/University of Southern California School of Nursing, a bachelor’s degree in management and a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University.

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New lease IMEG Corp., a national engineering and

design consulting company, has signed a lease for 5,000 square feet of new office space at 555 S. Flower Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

IMEG will utilize the space for a relocation of one of its five greater Los Angeles regional offices.

“We are excited about moving to Downtown Los Angeles to continue our growth and better serve our clients across the region,” said Craig Chamberlain, IMEG client executive in Los Angeles.

JLL’s Matt Hiatt represented IMEG in the lease. The landlord, CommonWealth Partners, was represented in-house by John Bendetti.

“As the Los Angeles office market continues to evolve, engineering and construction companies continue to remain active with their real estate decisions,” Hiatt said.

“IMEG chose City National Plaza because of its world-class amenities and services, Central Business District location, and close proximity to clients and industry partners.”

Major achievement The Souferian Group, a Los Angeles-based real estate development firm, was founded and led by Behzad Souferian, who said he reimagined a 606-unit residential project in Downtown Los Angeles into a holistic rental community committed to wellness and fun. Previously known as The Sofia, one of Los Angeles’ largest multifamily properties — worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars — has been renamed “Be DTLA by The Souferian Group” and is the first apartment building in Los Angeles and all of Southern California to achieve the International WELL Building Institute’s WELL Health-Safety Rating.

“Even prior to COVID, my vision has been to provide a first-of-its-kind wellness apartment community that redefines residential living — a centrally located environment that emphasizes healthy minds, bodies, spirits and fun,” Souferian said.

“The pandemic has only furthered our commitment to establish ourselves as the preeminent wellness-focused community across the industry, and we are thrilled to be the first to successfully achieve the WELL Health-Safety Rating in Southern California showcasing our adherence to evidence-based best practices within 15 criteria that instill confidence in our residents that we support their sustained health.”

The WELL Health-Safety Rating for Facility Operations and Management is an evidence-based, third-party verified rating designed to empower property own-

Julie J. Sprengel has been appointed president of CommonSpirit Health’s newly expanded Southern California Division.

Photo courtesy CommonSpirit Health

ers to prioritize the health and safety of their residents, visitors and staff. Be DTLA achieved the rating through the execution of 15 criteria across five categories: cleaning and sanitization procedures; emergency preparedness programs; health service resources; air and water quality management; and stakeholder engagement and communications.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored how critically important it is to prioritize health and safety in the spaces where we live,” said Jessica Cooper, IWBI chief commercial officer.

“By achieving the WELL Health-Safety Rating, The Souferian Group and Be DTLA have demonstrated incredible leadership in directly supporting the health, safety and overall well-being of its residents, visitors and staff.”

In addition to the WELL Health-Safety seal, Be DTLA is undergoing a multimillion-dollar revitalization, slated for completion this month.

While the former community opened merely two years ago, the Be DTLA brand standards will bring innovation and a newschool aesthetic. Prior to the pandemic-era shift away from the office, The Souferian Group was already designing Be DTLA with a suite of leading remote work amenities, including a TikTok creative content studio, podcast recording rooms and a variety of work-from-home studios and lounges, now more relevant than ever.

With the introduction of Be DTLA, The Souferian Group is re-envisioning the multifamily industry, raising today’s renter’s expectations with an all-encompassing collection of social, wellness and lifestyle offerings and a highly cohesive design ethos.

Be DTLA residents enjoy two expansive roof tops with 360-degree views of Los Angeles, large apartments with functional floorplans, multiple outdoor courtyards, a top-of-the-line gym, yoga studio and complimentary classes.

It offers studios and one-, two- and three-bedrooms units ranging in size from 489 to 1,385 square feet, Be DTLA residential leasing prices starting from $1,775/ month.

The community offers contac tless self-guided tours, a dedicated concierge staff with convenient no-contact communication and is professionally managed by the country’s leading institutional property management company. Be DTLA is on the west end of Downtown at 1120 W. Sixth Street, within close proximity to Los Angeles’ entertainment hub, comprised of LA Live, Staples Center, The Nokia Theater, and a plethora of world-class dining, shopping and cultural institutions. With a Walk Score of 95 and a transit score of 100, the centralized location provides easy access to explore Downtown as well as the greater Los Angeles area.

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Dave Roberts, Sharon Robinson honored at MLK celebration

By Zach Moore artin Luther King Jr. died more than 50 years ago, but civil rights are still not guaranteed. Nonetheless, the Martin Luther King Jr. Brotherhood Foundation continues to celebrate the legacy of its namesake and those who follow in his footsteps.

On Jan. 15, the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation honored via Zoom Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Jackie Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, for their continued efforts in fighting for social justice.

Roberts is heading into his sixth season as the Dodgers’ manager — the first minority to helm the team. He won the National League Manager of the Year in 2016 and is coming off the organization’s first World Series title since 1988.

He was honored with the Brotherhood Award for his continued involvement in community programs and social activism.

This past season, the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants boycotted their Aug. 26

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matchup due to the country’s uprising. Roberts emphasized how he was so proud of his team for standing up and refusing to be silent about U.S. issues.

“This was such a difficult year for all of us,” Roberts said. “One of the proudest moments I had this year was the game we protested in San Francisco, to see (our players) stand up and be transparent, authentic, vulnerable and share their thoughts, fears and concerns … to say what is right not only for baseball but for our country.”

In receiving the award, Roberts gave his team the credit.

“This (award) says my name, but this is a team award,” Roberts said. “I am proud of this organization for what we have done on the field, but I am doubly more proud of what we have done off the field.”

Players like Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts and Kenley Jansen were fundamental to the Dodgers’ efforts to speak up for the minority communities, many of which are located in the Los Angeles area.

Honored alongside Roberts was Sharon

On Jan. 15, the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation honored Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Jackie Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, for their continued efforts in fighting for social justice.

Submitted photo

Robinson, who was presented with the Human Dignity Award for her continued efforts in and around her community.

Robinson serves as vice chair of the Jackie Robinson Foundation and continues to work with Major League Baseball and its Breaking Barriers program, both of which provide opportunities for the minority youth in America to achieve grants along with leadership development and mentorship.

Robinson reflected on attending the 1963 March on Washington and her father’s impact on the family.

“We were strong through the good and the hard times,” Robinson said. “I grew up with my dad as an activist. Our dining room table was a discussion point for the civil rights movement.

He was always this man of compassion and commitment, and he shared that with mom.”

While the baseball legend was heavily involved with the civil rights movement, Robinson called her father her role model.

“When I look back through my childhood, my vision for life always included children,” Robinson said.

She uses that vision through her work as a former teacher at several prestigious universities including Yale and Howard, as the MLB’s vice president of educational programs, as an adolescent health specialist and through her memoir, “Child of a Dream.”

“There was so much excitement,” Robinson said about meeting MLK for the first time.

“When we were introduced to him, he was so kind to us as children. He wanted to know more about us. He taught us about peace, taught us about freedom and made us want to work toward it.”

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Clay: Mel Keedle of Still Life Ceramics

By Andrew Checchia orm follows function” — this design mantra for architects around the world guides more creative outlets than many realize. For Mel Keedle, the founder of Still Life Ceramics, it defines her love of pottery and functional art.

“I always had a craving for a creative outlet, but I wasn’t sure what it could be,” said Keedle on her intro to and love of ceramics.

“I think it was being able to create something that was functional and a piece of art.

Things I could use every day that were completely unique. It’s a lot of trial and error. In the beginning you make lots of things that look very cool, but you realize it doesn’t really work that well. You have to decide what you’re going for.”

Moving to Los Angeles from Melbourne six years ago, Keedle found herself floundering after a failed relationship and uncertainty about her career. She worked as a social worker in Australia, but she was always drawn to creative endeavors, even though she couldn’t find the right platform for her artistic inclinations. But after spending some time in LA, she started consistently taking ceramics classes at a small studio. While there, a few chance interactions changed her life.

“That’s where I met Ana (Henton), who’s my business partner and co-founder,” Keedle said on their chance meeting in the class.

“We’re both so in love with making ceramics and working with local restaurants and local collectors. And it all kind of snowballed from there.”

The pair found themselves working well together but realized they were “outgrow-

“F

ing the community studio (they) were in.”

With Keedle living in Silverlake and Henton in Downtown, they explored the possibility of opening their own studio. Finding their own space wasn’t easy, but the pair’s love of teaching and the craft itself led them to start at ROW DTLA, where they’ve since brought pottery to the local community.

“We wanted it to be a community hub and attractive to anyone,” Keedle said. “We make functional art, so we wanted the studio to also be a kind of functional art space.”

Opened in 2018, Still Life Ceramics became more than just a platform for Keedle and Henton’s personal work. It grew into a community staple — offering popular classes for anyone interested in learning about pottery. From beginners to experts, the studio became a great outlet for Keedle to continue her social work-indebted teaching efforts.

She had taught for a year and a half prior and “knew that would be a part of” the newly founded studio.

“My background in (social work) helped me to be a good teacher,” Keedle said. “With the pandemic, I don’t know, it’s given me an understanding of the level of stress that people are going through.”

Naturally, COVID-19 complicated Still Life Ceramics’ steadily growing success, especially as a business so reliant on in-person classes.

But Keedle and the rest of the staff adapted effectively to the changing times.

“We pivoted really fast, as fast we could as soon as we had to close down. We put together kits, rented out wheels. It was a huge team effort,” Keedle said of the studio’s early shifts.

Students work at a weekly wheel classes at the ROW DTLA studio Still Life Ceramics before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo courtesy Still Life Ceramics

Recent original, functional pieces from Still Life Ceramics.

Photo courtesy Still Life Ceramics

Things have stayed up in the air as LA continues to go in and out of lockdowns as case numbers surge, but for a time Still Life Ceramics coordinated outdoor classes where people could gather at a distance and get hands-on experience with clay under teacher supervision. Instructors couldn’t be as involved in the process as normal — where they would ideally guide students’ hands and outline tactile techniques — but they could facilitate an environment where beginners got quality experience and a small taste of community engagement.

“It’s been really nice to be able to still have classes. We put out wheels, put out some umbrellas,” said Keedle about their outdoor classes. “It’s a little more complicated to do it outside a studio, but it’s a great outlet for people who are feeling the Zoom fatigue and missing community.”

Still, Keedle helped create a more prominent online presence for Still Life Ceramics as the pandemic made everyone dependent on the internet. It forced their team to learn new ways of teaching and increase their ecommerce outlets, and it gave the studio significantly broader reach — attracting students from as far away as New Zealand.

“It took a lot of reframing to get the class-

es online. You have to be a lot more nuanced with the teaching. You have to anticipate what the difficulties are going to be without being able to show someone on the piece they’re making,” Keedle said. “I think some things will continue. Even if we’re able to open, it’s been great for people who can’t get to Downtown or are from out of town.”

But as the team makes on-the-fly adjustments, Keedle looks forward to the day when the in-person experiences she fell in love with will be available to the public again. As she follows the function that defines her artistic endeavors, she plans to continue spearheading efforts that will provide outlets for anyone hoping to jump into the pottery world.

“My favorite part is watching people love ceramics,” Keedle said about her favorite part of running her own studio.

“I have to say it’s something I really miss because I haven’t been at the studio much this year. Watching the members starting off as beginners a year or two ago now making beautiful work fills me up. It’s also such a meditation. It gives me a few moments of stillness. There are very few moments of stillness in my life with a toddler and a small business during COVID. It feels great to be able to create.”

Still Life Ceramics ROW DTLA, Building M2 767 S. Alameda Street, Suite 198, Los Angeles 213-266-8138, stilllifeceramics.com

Still Life Ceramics is based in ROW DTLA. Photo courtesy Still Life Ceramics

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The menu focus at Shiku is on doshirak or rice boxes, often prepped for student lunches in Korea.

Photos by Jakob Layman

DT

Covered DINING California will help

Shiku: Korean comfort for the community

By Frier McCollister n 2015, Kwang Uh and Mathew Kim opened Baroo in a small storefront in a tattered strip mall near the 101 freeway on the eastern end of Santa Monica Boulevard.

Despite the unlikely location, the pair’s unusually creative cuisine sold at unusually reasonable price points soon garnered wildly popular local buzz and international media attention.

Uh’s fermentation lab served as the central catalyst for flavor, along with a variety of exotic ingredients that should have driven higher pricing. At the time, Uh adamantly said profit was not a motive behind his uniquely inventive and affordable presentation.

Uh is an alumnus of Daniel Boulud’s renowned Michelin-starred restaurant

I

Daniel in New York and is notably a former test kitchen apprentice at Rene Redzepi’s mecca of avant-haute cuisine, Noma, in Copenhagen. In the midst of Baroo’s raging success in East Hollywood, Uh took an extended sabbatical in Korea, where he met American-born Mina Park, his current partner.

The two returned to Los Angeles. Baroo closed in October 2018, and the couple opened Baroo Canteen as an experimental pop-up that ran for nine months at the Union Swap Meet in early 2019. The couple had to call it quits with Baroo Canteen because the building was slated for demolition and redevelopment toward the end of 2019.

“We met at a Buddhist temple,” Park said. “(Uh) took a break while Baroo was still open. He left at the end of 2016 and

he went to the temple. There’s a Buddhist nun there who is well known for her cooking.”

She’s referring to the nun Jeong Kwan, featured on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table.” She was “discovered” by famed chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in New York.

A Harvard and NYU-trained lawyer, Park began staging her own culinary pop-ups in Hong Kong and traveled to Korea to study its regional cuisine to develop her culinary sensibilities.

“We met at the temple in early 2017, but I was living in Hong Kong at the time,” she said. “It was over a year later when we partnered up and I moved to LA. Kwang and Mathew decided to part ways, so we were looking for a new space.”

Shiku opened at the Grand Central Market on January 15. Make no mistake, it’s not another temporary pop-up.

“This is a permanent concept,” said Park, who has a child with Uh named Taehoon. “We hope it’s successful and is at the market for years to come. It’s very different from Baroo and it’s very tailored for the market. We’ve been working on it since before the pandemic.

The concept is pretty faithful to what we had imagined from the beginning.”

The owners of Grand Central Market approached the couple in late 2019.

“Their mission was to really reflect the diversity of the LA community, so they really wanted a Korean vendor to represent the Korean community here in LA,” she said. “That was a priority for them, when they approached us.”

So, what’s the concept?

“We thought it would be really fun to do a more straight-forward Korean concept that had a broader audience,” Park said.

“Baroo was meant to be very experimental. We would never have called it a Korean restaurant, though some people did. At Shiku, we want to present very traditional Korean flavors and definitely try to introduce people to things maybe they haven’t tried before. We’re trying to entice people with what they’re familiar with and expand their understanding of Korean food with the other things on offer.”

In Korean, the word “shiku” means “the people you share food with,” and the menu focus at Shiku is on doshirak or rice boxes, often prepped for student lunches in Korea. There are rice box options that include a choice of three banchan or side dishes. The current rice boxes are LA galbi, grilled soy-marinated short rib ($15); Temple Tangsu fried pyogo (shiitake) mushrooms ($12); Maekjuk chicken traditional doen-

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The recent opening of Shiku at Grand Central Market is an unexpected boon for Downtown gourmands.

Photo by Jakob Layman

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“Another thing that’s really important to us and what we really love is the diversity of the market and the diversity of the vendors,” Park said. “To the best of our abilities, we’re trying to offer high-quality Korean food that meets our own standards but at a reasonable price. We want to be as accessible as possible. One of the things we connected over when we met was this idea that everyone should have access to great food.”

With the pandemic’s unexpected and confusing twists for restaurants and their guests, the recent opening of Shiku at Grand Central Market is an unexpected boon for Downtown gourmands.

“Shiku is about making accessible comfort food and trying to serve the community in a way that only a small restaurant can,” Park said.

“That’s generally our mission with our business. We want to create a really viable business so that we can contribute to the community.”

S CE NTR

jang-marinated chicken thigh ($11); and Kimchi-braised pork belly ($13).

There is a changing list of banchan.

“Right now, we’re doing more traditional (banchan),” Park said.

“Later as we get more settled, we’re going to do more experimental banchan that are a little more in the Baroo spirit.”

There are eight on the menu, though some may be sold out. These range from traditional takes on kimchi ($3.50/$7) to naengi muchim ($10) made with the Asian green shepherd’s purse, a flowering plant belonging to the mustard family.

There are also a variety of prepared items under the heading Baroo Pantry.

These include Baroo’s gochujang sauce ($13/$19), as well as authentic Korean imports like Kisondo’s aged soy sauce ($20); Queen’s Bucket perilla and sesame oils ($30/$37); and Badasoop’s gamtae ($13) roasted, seasoned seaweed.

These pantry items have already proven to be popular online sellers.

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JANUARY 25, 2021