AN ARCHIVE FOR AND BY THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH CENTRAL
OUR BEGINNINGS
MISSION
VISION
VALUES
In 2021, ESPERANZA COMMUNITY HOUSING
launched the South Central Archive as a
community-driven preservation project that
anchors intergenerational stories.
The SOUTH CENTRAL ARCHIVE documents,
preserves, and celebrates intergenerational
stories by Indigenous, Black, Brown, Immigrant,
LGBTQIA2S+, system-impacted, and people of all
abilities in South Central
Our vision is to create a repository of ancestral
knowledge that inspires healing, promotes unity,
and unapologetically disrupts cycles of
oppression. We see the SOUTH CENTRAL
ARCHIVE as a radical tool for cultural
preservation, as well as an act of resistance
against the erasure of our community.
We prioritize the representation and participation of historically
underrepresented people including Indigenous, Black, Brown,
Immigrant, LGBTQIA2S+, system-impacted, and people of all
abilities that live in South Central Los Angeles.
We honor the spiritual legacy, wisdom, resilience, and healing
power of our ancestors.
We are committed to promoting language justice by creating
multilingual spaces where everyone can exercise their
fundamental right to be heard and one language does not
dominate over another.
We are transparent in our decision-making process and
programming.
We engage community in the stories we archive and value their
input.
We honor contributors for their time and emotional labor.
Grow the SOUTH
CENTRAL ARCHIVE
with us!
Share your memories, including diaries, letters, photos,
videos, or other archival materials, to be featured in the
South Central Archive for public viewing