Sahra Sulaiman
Sahra is Communities Editor for Streetsblog L.A., covering the intersection of mobility with race, class, history, representation, policing, housing, health, culture, community, and access to the public space in Boyle Heights and South Central Los Angeles.
Recent Posts
Anatomy of an Officer-Involved Explosion: a Post-Mortem on LAPD’s E. 27th Street Fireworks Blast
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A year ago, a councilmember co-authored a motion to shift $150mil from LAPD's budget. A month ago, LAPD called everyone but his office to watch them detonate fireworks in his district. The explosion rocked the city.
Autistic Man Shot Within 83 Seconds of First Contact by LASD: Why Is this Still Happening?
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Eighty-three seconds. That’s how much time passed between the moment deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) first stood at the door of the Cudahy home of Isaias Cervantes, a 25-year-old autistic man who is hard of hearing and suffering from depression and anxiety, and the firing of the shot that may have […]
Families of Those Killed by LASD Describe Ongoing Harassment by Deputies as Part of a “Triple Assault”
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"I don't have another life to give. I don't have any more breaths to take. I don't have any more hashtags. I don't have any more energy to be marching with my fist up in the air [only] to come back to the same thing," declared Khadijah Shabazz. "Right now, it needs to be all broken down, torn down, and started all over again."
LASD Won’t Name Deputies Involved in Killing of Fred Williams III at Otherwise Uninformative Inquest
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LASD once again proves unwilling to cooperate in an inquest into a questionable shooting by a deputy.
Metro’s Transportation Boarding School Breaks Ground at Vermont/Manchester
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"Groundbreaking celebrated without construction to follow had been the norm at a certain point," said Ridley-Thomas. "But no more."
Cops Give Contradictory Account of Dijon Kizzee Killing
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The 2nd deputy doesn't draw his gun until nearly 2 seconds after Kizzee's gun has skittered along the ground to its final resting place
Bystander Shot Six Times During Officer-Involved Shooting Left Homeless, Struggling to Recover while LAPD Treats Him as Suspect
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“Wow, I wake up from my death and it was like I was in jail...I’m treated like a criminal," he says. "[Yet] I'm the victim in this situation."
How Beating of Unhoused Boyle Heights Man Exposes Woeful Inadequacy of LAPD Reform Proposals
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Making the case for why, if L.A. is serious about reimagining public safety, it must embrace the conversation around defunding the police
As Public Health Prepares for Vending Crackdown, Street Vendors Call for the Cancellation of Rents
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Street vendors decry having been left to fend for themselves during a disaster, seek cash assistance, the cancellation of rents, and an end to criminalization
COVID Crisis Stokes Homelessness in Los Angeles
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Editor’s note: This article originally appeared on Streetsblog LA. The clacking of dominoes against the picnic table was a welcome sound of community on an otherwise largely empty street. The three masked men engaged in a friendly game initially didn’t want to be photographed, but 47-year-old Miguel R. decided he had things he needed to […]
Evicted During COVID-19: “I Have Been Homeless for 20 Days…What’s Going to Happen to Me?”
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A true eviction moratorium might have kept Miguel housed and stable; now he fears for his mental health and his ability to get back on his feet
Vending in the Time of Corona: an Elotera Who Can’t Afford to Stay Home is Attacked
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Vendors across the city wonder how they will feed their families; a Street Vendor Emergency Fund aims to help