Dear John,
More than a decade ago, speaking about the massive wealth gap in Los Angeles and the immigrants, women, young people, and workers of color mobilizing to transform their workplaces and the broader labor movement, the visionary Kent Wong shared that “Los Angeles is the best of times and the worst of times.” The former Director of the UCLA Labor Center, a professor of Asian American and labor studies, a founding member of LAANE, and the Chair of our Board of Directors, Kent’s impact on the labor movement is both undeniable and indelible. As I mourn the incredible loss of Kent, and as I reflect on the past four months here in Los Angeles, I am struck by just how prescient Kent’s words were. This summer has been defined by duality: fear and courage, hopelessness and resolve, anger and mutuality.
Everything changed on June 6th when ICE launched its operation in Los Angeles. We were made an example of and, sadly, a blueprint for future action across the country. In the face of this, many organizations took action. We launched a Know Your Rights program that reached 9,140 worksites and trained 1,300 workers across four different offices in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. 78 canvassers—many of whom had never been involved in this work before—didn't just offer critical 4th amendment rights education, but also hope. In the face of our rights being trampled, we reaffirmed the existence and the sanctity of these rights. And what we saw was a massive outpouring of Angelenos wanting to defend themselves and their communities.
At the same time that federal agents were deployed into our communities en masse, multinational, billion dollar corporations launched a $3 million attack on the City Council-approved Olympic Wage ordinance—a victory achieved by two years of fierce organizing and advocacy by workers and community. But this corporate greed didn’t stop us. LAANE and our allies at UNITE HERE! Local 11 and SEIU-USWW developed a program educating Angelenos about the industry’s misleading campaign and gathered 120,000 forms revoking signatures on the corporate referendum petition—a historic feat which led to a full hand count and ultimately prevented the industry’s referendum from qualifying as a ballot measure. When faced with the insatiable greed of the hospitality industry, regular Angelenos at grocery stores, farmers markets, and pride parades came together to protect the wages and healthcare that hospitality workers won and deserve: $30/hour by the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games, the highest minimum wage in the country.
In the face of the attacks that our communities have experienced over the past few months—whether in the form of immigration raids and corporate greed, or climate change and AI—I am deeply inspired and energized by my fellow organizers and Angelenos. The work that we’ve been doing must continue.
And we must do things differently.
LAANE and our movement partners have a deep responsibility to create onramps for more people to get involved in this work. We need to meet people where they’re at, and not leave them there. We have to broaden our “we” and grow our base by welcoming the people who are agitated by these flashpoint moments into our movement—growing leaders and building power at scale.
In many ways, these are the times I’ve been training for my whole life. And I’m guided by the tools and the fire that Kent instilled within me. Kent’s spirit is reflected in each of the victories that we are collectively working to achieve, and I will fight to ensure that his legacy lives on in the transformation of our city: eliminating the dichotomy of “the best of times and the worst of times,” and instead building an economy—and a society—that works for all.
