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You are here: Home / LACE / 2020-Current Year / PODCAST 1 | Oral Histories of Environmental Resistance

PODCAST 1 | Oral Histories of Environmental Resistance

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“Dominant industrial activities are all possible under the concept that humans are superior to the rest of the entities in nature. Obviously, within the human social structure, there are also hierarchies. So when you are female— when you are black, dark skin, indigenous, or when you are queer— you are at the bottom of that social structure. We as women, queer, black, dark-skinned, and indigenous are the ones that suffer the most from the effects, not only from patriarchy but also natural exploitation and extractivism.  It is precisely our natural bodies—women, fish, tree, forest, river— that are required to be exploited and to be dispossessed of what we have. Right? Because, that is the core function of the structure.”
– Carolina Caycedo


As part of Unraveling Collective Forms exhibition activist members Jennifer Reyes, Dimas Efren Donis and Hilda Dueñas from East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ) and artist Carolina Caycedo share stories of resistance in Los Angeles and other latitudes. 

Artist Carolina Caycedo explains one of the portraits from My Femenine Lineage of Environmental Struggle (2018-) from the Genealogy of Struggle Series. The portrait being that of Angela Mooney D’Arcy, an indigenous activist working with Tribal Nations, Indigenous peoples, and grassroots organizations on Indigenous environmental justice issues for over fourteen years.

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“My Femenine Lineage of Environmental Struggle”, aims to visualize the stories of the women that are fighting, not only against a natural extractivism but also against a patriarchal structure. In other words, there could not be a fight without the other, they go totally together. And I think that all these women that are portrayed here, somehow symbolize and incarnate feminine values that include cooperation, care, care for others, empathy, vulnerability, receptivity, a vision of a whole, the emotional, resilience, that are values that are socially useful but that we can also say are desirable and universal for humanity, as a whole. So this is some idea behind the portrait of all these women.”

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In this episode, Jennifer, Dimas and Hilda discuss, among other ideas:
– Settler/colonial erasure
– Natural hierarchy and social hierarchy
– Exploitation and extractivism
– Environmental and economic racism
– The pain from immigrating at a young age
– Youth involvement in monitoring air pollution


Jennifer Reyes is a 16 year old Junior in Bell Gardens High School. She plays for the varsity waterpolo and swim team for BG High School and Commerce. She has been participating with East Yard and Youth in Action since freshman year.


Dimas Efren Donis
is a Dreamer since birth, interested in all noble and just causes, Guatemalan and U.S. citizen, an immigrant in California, United States at 19 years old, married to Maria Candelaria with two children who are their pride and joy. Like many immigrants, Dimas has worked across different fields; he recently worked as a gas station manager.

“My name is Hilda Dueñas. I was born in Santa Lucia, municipality of Labarca Jalisco, Mexico. I am Mexican. I came to the United States when I was 17 years old looking for a better future, and got married in 1984 in Wilmington, CA. I worked in different places that allowed me to support my three daughters. When they started elementary school, I began to get involved in the Long Beach community. I’ve been a member of EYCEJ for 10 years, an organization that takes care of the environment. Today, I am a grandmother and continue in this fight, thinking about my grandchildren. I am now a citizen of the United States by means of naturalization and I feel more secure living in this country of immigrants.”

—

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice (EYCEJ) is a community-based organization that works to facilitate self-advocates in East Los Angeles, Southeast Los Angeles and Long Beach. By providing workshops & trainings, EYCEJ prepares community members to engage in the decision-making processes that directly impact their health and quality of life.

Carolina Caycedo  (b. 1978) was born in London to Colombian parents. She transcends institutional spaces to work in the social realm, where she participates in movements of territorial resistance, solidarity economies, and housing as a human right. Through work that investigates relationships of movement, assimilation and resistance, representation and control, she addresses contexts, groups and communities that are affected by developmental projects, like the constructions of dams, the privatization of water, and its consequences on riverside communities. She lives and works in Los Angeles. 

Filed Under: 2020-Current Year, LACE

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LACE’s Lightning Fund Opens August 15, 2025!

PRESS RELEASE: Announcing LACE’s Next Emerging Curators

Announcing the 2025 Lightning Fund and Jacki Apple Awards

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If you missed “This Home, Forever,” you can no If you missed “This Home, Forever,” you can now view all the performances on the LACE website as part of our digital archive!

“This Home, Forever,” curated by 2025 LACE Emerging Curator Nahui Garcia (@_nahui) is a two-day performance series which sparked thoughts about the potential erosion of LA’s diverse and vibrant urban ecosystem against the backdrop of gentrification. This program featured performances by: 011668 (@0ll668), Perras Bravas (@perras.bravas), Los Angeles Poverty Department (@lapovertydepartment), Michele Lorusso (@michelelorusso), Pacoima Techno (@pacoimatechno), and Jaklin Romine (@jakioeoeo), held at Heidi Duckler Dance (@heididucklerla) on the rooftop of the historic Bendix Building on June 7 and 8, 2025.

“This Home, Forever” is supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Pasadena Art Alliance. Video documentation by Miguel Loza, Daniela Apodaca Hernandez, and Alexis Luna.
⚡️LACE is launching our next round of applicat ⚡️LACE is launching our next round of applications for the 2026 Lightning Fund and Jacki Apple Award on August 15, 2025.⚡️

This year, LACE will award 10 artist project grants $6,000 each and one $10,000 grant to a mid- or advance-career artist.

To support applicants, LACE is offering a virtual information session on July 31 at 1PM PDT, on Zoom. This session will include an overview of the Lightning Fund and Jacki Apple Award eligibility guidelines, application platform tips, as well as an opportunity to ask questions. This session is open to anyone interested in applying to this year’s Lightning Fund and Jacki Apple Award, and will be recorded and posted on our website. 

Learn more and RSVP at the link in our bio!
This Saturday, the LACE Screening Room presents, “Obsidian Reflections” from 2–5 PM at the Philosophical Research Society (@philosophical_research_society).

This film program is followed by a musical performance with multimedia NeoCumbia artist El Keamo (@el_keamo). El Keamo is the alias of Alfredo González-Martínez, a first-generation Mexican-American multimedia artist from Reseda, California. With an innovative blend of cumbia sonidera, tribal, house, and acid genres, El Keamo’s Neocumbia project is a modern interpretation of traditional Latin rhythms fused with electronic synthesis, creating a unique sound that is both familiar and boldly avant-garde.

This event is FREE and you can RSVP at the link in our bio!

Video courtesy El Keamo.
You can now watch all the performances from "ENDUR You can now watch all the performances from "ENDURANCE" on the LACE website as part of our digital archive! 

"ENDURANCE" presented performance art and interdisciplinary work by elder artists. These artists use their practices to share wisdom, knowledge, and experiences that they have gained throughout their lives. This series is a companion program to LACE’s 2024 performance series, "ABUNDANCE," both featuring often invisibilized bodies.

This program was held at L.A. Dance Project from May 16–17, 2025.

The online presentation of "ENDURANCE" is supported by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles (@culture_la).

Photos by Angel Origgi (@angeloriggi)

Image Captions in order:
Sheree Rose, "The Most Dangerous Woman in America!" (2025)
Sharon Kagan, "...and then this happened..." (2025)
Anna Homler, Jeff Schwartz, and David Javelosa, "VOE Variations" (2025)
Awilda Sterling-Duprey, "Makandal es la consigna / Makandal Is the Call to Action" (2025)
Juanita and Juan (Alice Bag and Kid Congo Powers) (2025)
Oguri, "Dance Emerges, Out of Time, with unforgettable ancestors and friends" (2025)
Gloria Enedina Álvarez accompanied by Greg Hernandez (2025)
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