Community Coalition

Promotional, Los Angeles, California

Documentary, Los Angeles, California

Facts:

“Approximately 13.0 violent crimes per 1,000 persons were reported in 1996. Ten years later, the rate dropped to 6.3 violent crimes per 1,000 persons. This dramatic decrease, given the short passage of time, is noteworthy.” Source: UCLA School of Public Affairs The State of South LA Report

Community leaders, including current California Assembly Speaker, Karen Bass, founded Community Coalition (CoCo) as a non-profit organization in 1990 in response to the 1980s crack cocaine epidemic that devastated South LA. To date, CoCo has helped to transform the social and economic conditions in South LA that foster addiction, crime, violence and poverty by building a community institution that involves thousands in creating, influencing and changing public policy.

Synopsis:

In 2008, The Narra Group had the privilege and honor to produce short films that featured the historical and transformational progress of Community Coalition and the work of five inspiring activists: Senator Sheila James Kuehl, elected to the State Senate in 2000 and in 2004, first woman in California history to be named Speaker pro tempore of the Assembly in 1997, and first openly gay or lesbian person to be elected to the California Legislature; Rodolfo F. Acuna, professor, historian, and one of the foremost scholars of Chicano Studies in the nation; Faith D. Culbreath, president of the Security Officers United of Los Angeles (SOULA), Local 2006 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), fought and won an historic landmark contract, setting the stage for security officer contracts across the nation; and Natalie Cole and David Miller, publishers of Our Weekly Magazine, a progressive paper launched in 2005 that addresses important issues affecting the African American community in South LA that are often ignored and neglected by major newspapers.

Resources:

Community Coalition: www.cocosouthla.org
State of South LA Report: www.la.ucla.edu/news/OngSLA.shtml