Home About Gallery Contact
Invisible People •

Recovery First: The Political Movement Undermining Evidence-Based Solutions To Homelessness

Mark Horvath doesn’t mince words.“Recovery First isn’t just counterproductive—it’s dangerous,” he said. As founder of Invisible People, Horvath has spent years documenting how policy shapes the lives of people living on the street. What worries him most now is a growing political movement that sounds compassionate but, in practice, puts lives at risk.Known as Recovery First, this approach withholds housing until people meet sobriety or treatment benchmarks—even though research shows that Harm Re...

South LA civil rights attorney Carl Douglas reflects on justice at 70 – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

LOS ANGELES — Carl Douglas doesn’t take many days off, but on a recent birthday, he made an exception. As he looked back on more than four decades of practicing law in Los Angeles, one thread ran through it all: justice — who gets it, who doesn’t, and how the courts shape lives in ways the public rarely sees.


Douglas was raised on 109th Street and Denker Avenue in South Los Angeles during the 1960s and ’70s, a time of deep tension between police and Black communities — an environment he says...
Invisible People •

Promised Housing, Delivered Neglect: A Westlake Death Raises Hard Questions

The dogs were still inside the tent when Lucrecia Macias Barajas’s daughter pulled back the flap and saw her mother’s body—badly disfigured, with visible injuries to her face. It was just past 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 13. Her phone had been pinging from the same Westlake encampment for over 24 hours.“They ate my mom,” the daughter said later, describing how the dogs circled the body while police waited for Animal Services. It wasn’t until 1:30 a.m.—nearly seven hours later—that Lucrecia’s body w...
Invisible People •

From The Streets To The Cell: How The War On Drugs Targets Homeless People

Patrick Hogan has been homeless since 2017, long enough to see the rules change—and not for the better. From the banks of the Santa Ana Riverbed to the sidewalks of Anaheim, he’s watched police push people from one corner to another, citing ordinances that seem designed less to help than to disappear unhoused people. “It’s like they want us dead so they don’t have to house us,” he said.Now, as the federal government moves to permanently reclassify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs—...

Black restaurant owners clash with street vendors – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — On her daily drive home from work, Buffy Hopkins passes a taco stand that pops up near Dodger Stadium. The line is always long. The prices are always low. And the business, she says, always seems to out-earn hers.
“They don’t have our overhead, our labor costs, our health inspections,” said Hopkins, who has run a small restaurant near downtown for four years. “They set up outside and sell burritos for a few dollars. We’re charging $12 just to...

From South LA streets to youth mentor: How a Crips co-founder survived prison, cancer and injustice – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
He lay shackled to a prison bed, arms and legs stretched wide in a crucifix-like position, cuffed for hours. Worms crawled from his body. Feces piled beneath him. A hole in his throat where his voice used to be. Guards walked past. No one stopped.
“Why didn’t you say something?” they later asked. But he couldn’t. They had already taken his voice.
Raised in the Imperial Courts housing projects in Watts, George Ray Thomas — known across South Los Angeles as T...

Faith leaders meet to plan strategies for change  – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Rain drummed against the roof of a church April 26 where a small crowd — some in suits, others in sweaters and jeans — scattered across rows of empty chairs. The low turnout mirrored the storm outside, but inside, the urgency was undeniable.
The event, hosted by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California, brought together faith leaders and community members to confront a wave of overlapping crises — from deportat...

Homeless still suffer despite billions spent in California – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Beneath a skyline etched with wealth and power, the shadows of Los Angeles’s tallest skyscrapers stretch toward Skid Row, where the American promise fades into tents and desperation. 
On a recent afternoon, a man stood and raised a crumpled California flag over his head, shouting into the air. His voice cracked and rambling, his presence underscored the enduring crisis that billions of dollars have yet to resolve. This is the man the system wa...

YMCA unveils plan to rewrite foster youth outcomes – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — In a county with more foster youth than 40 U.S. states combined, Los Angeles officials launched a $1 million-a-year initiative April 17 to offer more than just services — they aim to create a sense of permanence.
The You Belong: Foster Youth Initiative is a countywide partnership between the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles, the county Department of Children and Family Services and elected officials. It offers free YMCA memberships to fo...

Waters issues call to organize against Trump  – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters speaks April 19 at a town hall meeting at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee headquarters, urging her constituents to fight against Trump administration policies. ‘We’ve never seen anything like this before,’ she said.Photo by Stephen Oduntan
By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
WATTS — On a breezy morning, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters stood outside the Watts Labor Community Action Committee headquarters on Central Avenue and told her constituents they needed to orga...

Last voice of the Watts Prophets can’t be silenced – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Just off Stocker Street, where manicured lawns brush against a boundless blue sky, a quiet two-story stucco building settles into the block. 
It’s easy to miss. But inside a modest ground-floor apartment, the last living member of the Watts Prophets keeps watch over half a century of Black cultural memory.The space hums with history: a bed draped in red, black, green, and gold yarn; a framed Ernest Watson print of Haitian revolutionaries...

100 days in, slow recovery still haunts fire victims – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
ALTADENA — It has been 100 days since a fast-moving wildfire tore through the foothills of Altadena, displacing dozens of families. Many residents remain without permanent housing and are still waiting for government aid. 
For some families affected by the fire, recovery has been slow and uneven, with much of the support coming from neighbors, not the government, residents said.“We’ve been displaced since Jan. 8,” said Trenton Jordan, a personal trainer and...

New laws sought in custody deaths – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — In March 2016, Lisa Hines spent four agonizing days searching for her 36-year-old daughter — calling jails, visiting police stations and demanding answers. It wasn’t until a commander handed her a phone number that she finally got the truth. The voice on the other end said: “Coroner’s Office.”
“I dropped the phone. I fell out.”That’s how Hines remembers the moment she learned her daughter, Wakiesha Wilson, had died in LAPD custody.
“My baby ha...

Former gang members working to keep the peace – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

The National Action Network staged a peace march in Watts in 2014. The Watts Gang Task Force has helped keep the peace in the community since 2005.File photo
By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
WATTS — The December 2005 shooting of a prominent gang leader sparked 18 days of retaliatory violence between Watts gangs, leaving multiple residents dead and the community demanding action.
“We couldn’t understand it—why nobody was responding,” said Donnie Joubert, a longtime resident and co-founder o...

Activists frustrated over delays on reparations – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Chris Lodgson, lead organizer with the Coalition for a Just and Equitable California, speaks at a reparations town hall March 15. The town hall focused on demands for direct payments and frustration over legislative delays in California’s reparations efforts.Photo by Stephen Oduntan
By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
CRENSHAW — The demand for reparations for Black Californians reached a boiling point at a March 15 town hall, where community members voiced frustration over what they see as de...

Local woman recalls horror, resolve of Bloody Sunday – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Rain pattered against the windows, blending with the low hum of the day. Over the phone, Leatha Clay Davis spoke with the unmistakable rasp of age, her voice softened but firm. 
At 80, her words carried the weight of decades, shaped by a life of resistance. When she laughed — a deep, knowing chuckle — her white teeth gleamed against her dark skin, unchanged by time. Even over the phone, her voice carried the same steady warmth.“They say we’ve...

Groups seek memorial for victims of the Grim Sleeper – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — When Los Angeles police encountered reports of missing Black women here, they often labeled them “NHI” — short for “no humans involved.” It signaled exactly how much attention those cases deserved in their eyes: none.
The women’s families knew better. The community knew better. The Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders knew that dozens of Black women were disappearing. Yet, for decades, the city ignored their cries for justice.
Fo...

LAUSD ignoring death threats, N-word taunts? – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — Thirteen-year-old Ramin Salari sat in class at a Los Angeles Unified School District middle school as students taunted him with racial slurs that included the N-word.
When he reported it, his teacher acknowledged the complaint — but nothing changed. The slurs continued daily. His Latino classmates never faced consequences.Then, one day, a student escalated the abuse.
“I’ll shoot you in the head,” the student threatened.
Ramin’s mother expected...

Hollywood coming to Baldwin Hills? – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

An artist’s rendering of the Stocker Street Creative, a planned development that would bring state-of-the-art soundstages, production offices and a rooftop restaurant to Baldwin Hills to allow Black creatives to create in their own neighborhood. Developers hope to break ground on the project later this year.Courtesy photo
By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
BALDWIN HILLS — A bold new creative hub is rising in Baldwin Hills, positioning South Los Angeles as a major force in the entertainment i...

Watts residents want pipes tested for lead  – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan
Contributing Writer
WATTS — Local residents concerned about lead contamination in their homes want city and state officials to require landlords of older properties in the area to test for lead. 
“The government needs to mandate lead testing in older homes,” said Tim Watkins, leader of the Better Watts Initiative, who has been vocal about the need for stronger oversight. “We can’t rely on landlords to self-regulate. If City officials continue to insist the water meets safety s...

Hate crimes in county reach historic levels – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — Hate crimes in Los Angeles County reached historic levels last year, officials announced Dec. 11, with significant increases reported in incidents targeting African Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish individuals, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. 


The report also documented a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment and white supremacist ideology.The Wave to host town hall on hate. See story, page 11.


“African Americans were again overr...

ANALYSIS: The road forward: Black voices look ahead in 2025 – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

By Stephen OduntanContributing Writer


LOS ANGELES — As 2025 begins, members of the Black community are questioning how to not only survive but thrive in the face of systemic barriers? From calls for reparations to grassroots organizing, advocates are addressing housing, economic obstacles, and long-standing injustices with renewed urgency.


“We’re being squeezed out by forces we can’t control,” said Billion Godsun, sitting in the Lion Arts Gallery in Leimert Park — a section of the city act...

Fire victims don’t want handout, Sharpton says – Los Angeles Wave Newspaper Group

Activists call for ‘same justice’ as Palisades, Malibu


With attorney Ben Crump at his left, Rev. Al Sharpton addresses the media outside a Pasadena church Feb. 6 where he spoke to victims of the Eaton fire that damaged Pasadena and Altadena last month. Sharpton said ‘Altadena will rise from the ashes — on our terms.”


Photo by Lorenzo Gomez


By Stephen Oduntan


Contributing WriterPASADENA — The Rev. Al Sharpton criticized previous disaster recovery efforts for Black property owners, say...
Wave Newspaper •

Watts water crisis compared to Flint, Michigan

By Stephen Oduntan Contributing Writer


WATTS — Local residents, including children and senior citizens, are grappling with a growing crisis as lead-contaminated water threatens their health and safety. 


Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, described the situation as “a Flint-like crisis” during a press conference Nov. 22 at the Nickerson Gardens Housing Project. He questioned whether the response would have been faster if the crisis occurred in wealth...
Load More