Volunteers with CIELO distribute pantry boxes in South Los Angeles. South L.A.-based CIELO, or Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo, is a women-led organization advocating for Indigenous people — including restaurant workers — through the languages they speak. Forty-four percent of those who have received aid from the organization are food and restaurant workers, says Janet Martinez, director of programs for CIELO, …
It’s not the kind of Los Angeles County map people expect to see. “Much of what we see is Indigenous language speakers trying to get by in Spanish — that’s because a service provider is ignoring a request for interpreting, ignoring that person isn’t proficient in that language, or maybe it isn’t clear,” said Marisa Lundin, legal director of the …
Within her Maya community in L.A., Feliza Tecúm has heard false rumors that the government is injecting the COVID-19 vaccine with a tracking microchip. “It’s a bit difficult but not impossible because I speak the language and I can give them confidence.” As California ramps up efforts to address vaccine inequities, Mexican and Guatemalan Indigenous leaders in Los Angeles and …
