Thank you Kids 4 Freedom and Justice!

This Sunday we had our monthly land tending day in Big Tujunga. It was a beautiful day, and made even more special thank you for the great youth and adult volunteers from Kids 4 Freedom and Justice. We removed more invasive species and added buckwheat seeds to help build up the native seeds bank, while wishing the seeds to awaken when they are ready and the time is right. We also removed invasive grasses from underneath the grandmother oak. And we watered and weeded the oaks and black walnuts that we have planted in the area. The volunteers also got to meet elder Tina Calderon, one of ST Forward's Indigenous advisors, who has been guiding a lot of our land tending work. Tina shared stories, songs, and so much wisdom about reciprocity and interconnectedness. She reminded us that nature is kin. We are the land and the land is us. We are not separate.

We were so grateful for Kids 4 Freedom and Justice's visit and we hope to see them again soon!

We are also grateful to Nelly Luboff and Gerardo Barrientos for joining us. They are members of the Sunland-Tujunga Beautification Committee and haven been leading a lots of land tending efforts in Big Tujunga and throughout our community.

Dia de los Niños Spring Cultural Festival at Pinewood

We did it! Last Friday we celebrated a very special event in our community with the amazing students, families, and staff of Pinewood Avenue Elementary! The Dia de los Niños Spring Cultural Festival aimed to celebrate the beautiful cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity that is part of the Pinewood community. The event included a showcase of music traditions (Tongva, Mesoamerican, Armenian), inspiring statements, teachings, and hands-on workshops by Tongva culture bearers Tina Calderon and Lazaro Arvizu Jr., delicious and nourishing foods from Mexico, El Salvador, Ethiopia, and Armenia, student dances rooted in Africa by the 4th and 5th graders, and a wonderful poster exhibition created by the 3rd-5th grade artists who aim to bring awareness to unsafe driving and illegal dumping in our community. It was a blast! We are grateful to the amazing Pinewood administrators and staff, parent volunteers, students, Sunland-Tujunga Forward, and to @santiestevanmusic for working with Evelyn Serrano to conceive, plan, organize and bring this event to fruition. Enjoy these amazing photos by Ashley Balderrama (@momentsbyash). This festival is part of my year-long California Creative Corps fellowship with the Pinewood Community. The California Creative Corps Artist and Culture Bearer Fellowship at Community Partners was made possible through the California Arts Council @calartscouncil a testament to our State's investment in artists and its dedication to cultural equity at the intersections of social change. @cpcacreativecorps

Open letter to our elected officials