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“This eight page pull-out section called “Focus On Unity Through Diver-sity” came about through a collaboration with the Community Arts Partnership (CAP) at the California Institute for the Arts, the Los Angeles Center for Photographic Studies (LACPS) and LA Youth. We want to send a public service message of tolerance to Los Angeles teens and adults in a variety of ways: first, bus shelter posters were distributed across the city in September, photographed and put together by the CAP participants, second, LA Youth writers worked all summer to put together articles that appear in this section, and third, we showcased both works at two exhibitions—one in August and the other in mid-September.
The main goal for LA Youth participants was to get them talking about issues of intolerance and learn from those discussions in order to create their message of tolerance. The discussions were not limited to just issues of race—gender bias, sexual orientation and class issues all came up as well.
Over 20 students signed up for the project and a dedicated group of 19 participants met with me on long Saturdays from February through August to tackle these difficult issues. They engaged in consciousness-raising exercises to dig deeper into the intolerances they may have had and have seen around them. Everyone was honest, cordial and open about their experiences which helped everyone put human faces to the issues at hand.
The articles were produced after several editing sessions with Andrea Martin, the Writing Teacher’s Assistant from Cal Arts, and with Nancy Bresson Martinez, LA Youth’s Associate Editor. We hope the articles teach you something new and promote discussions of tolerance with everybody. And don’t forget to send along tolerance goals you make after reading the section!”