[dropcap size=big]L[/dropcap]os Angeles based artist Ralph Ziman – aka Afrika 47 – has a new exhibit at The Rendon Gallery in the Arts District. L.A. Taco attended the opening of the exhibit called The Casspir Project, which features work inspired by Ziman's childhood in Johannesburg. Ziman's works draw from experiences growing up in post-Apartheid South Africa and "addresses human rights issues such as apartheid, the over-militarization of police, and state violence."
'The centerpiece of the exhibit is a massive Casspir military vehicle that Ziman has transformed into a work of art. During the Apartheid era, Casspirs were used weapons of terror, often used against civilians. Widely despised and feared, they became synonymous with violence, police intimidation, and institutional oppression. Post-Apartheid, many Casspirs were decommissioned, their hulls left to rust, a relic of the past better forgotten. Others were sold to the United States during the Iraq war years, and later, to local police forces.'
And in the rain! Our small team got the chance to connect with the L.A. TACO community last Saturday at The Broad at our "Celebrate Community" event. These were our favorite moments.
When the federal immigration raids ramped up in L.A. and protesters took to the streets in June, Chan decided to make a statement the only way he knew how: By printing thousands of protest signs and distributing them for free.
“It was a real magical time in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, where he had all these different types of bands and they all supported each other and there was actual venues to go to,” says Zach Cordner, co-publisher at The Riversider Magazine.
Footage shows a man yelling racist insults and spitting at a passenger and her driver in an Uber vehicle. It’s the latest in at least two dozen documented incidents of people impersonating ICE agents.
“Finally, we got an ICE agent who crossed the line so bad, he got arrested,” Attorney Greg Kirakosian said in a statement to L.A. TACO. “This is something I think our local law enforcement has to start doing with such clear examples of unnecessary tactics.”
