The Next Generation

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANILO BATSON

STORY BY

JOEY HARVEY

Meet Long Beach’s next generation of leaders and activists, all of whom are exploring new frontiers, challenging social norms and creating more inclusive communities.

DANILO BATSON

Founder of Spicy Green Book

Social: @spicygreenbook | Web: Spicygreenbook.com DANILO Batson, 29, wanted to speak to the masses. This led him to creating Spicy Green Book, a national online guide that amplifies the voices of Black-owned businesses specializing in the food and beverage industry. Inspired by Victor Hugo Green’s “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” a guide intended for the safety of Black travelers during the age of Jim Crow in the United States, the Spicy Green Book is a nonprofit organization that provides listings of Blackowned eateries for patrons to support. For the Bellflower native, creating Spicy Green Book was a way to share the stories of these businesses by bringing forth new narratives that diminish the misconceptions of ignorance and racism. “I’ve come to know a lot of these business owners, so as I go back to these places, I get to know more about them and how they started, so you feel attached to these stories.” In order to further expand the platform and create brand awareness, the nonprofit regularly looks for volunteers and donors. In doing so, the support grows for both the platform and the businesses they feature, therefore spreading his philosophy that the more the support grows, the more these establishments’ stories are heard and the momentum of this movement continues.

Spicy Green Book, a national online guide that amplifies the voices of Blackowned businesses specializing in the food and beverage industry.

MAYA UMEMOTO GORMAN

Photographer & Dancer

Social: @mayamoto_ | Web: Mayamoto.art MAYA Umemoto Gorman’s photography she was able to raise funds for BIPOC orgais a reflection of what she wants to see in nizations by selling her prints and conductmainstream media… it’s diverse and coming photo shoots through FaceTime. As she pelling. “I feel like mass media does this continues progressing through her creative amazing job by creating their own idejourney, she hopes to empower the diverse al people or ideal images of what people individuals featured in her photos and also should look like,” Gorman said. “Usually empower creators. cisgender, white, heterosexual, female and males.” In addition to the inclusivity found Gorman’s photography is a in the 21-year-old’s photos, she displays an reflection of what she wants emphasis in movement, which is influenced by her background in dance. While beto see in mainstream media. ing under quarantine, she had a lot of time to reflect as a mixed-race woman of color in the art world. Instead of falling into a creative void, the third-year CSULB student was able to focus her artistic abilities toward activism and innovation. By doing so,

“What I really want out of these discussions is to [...] help the different Black organizations and Black leaders understand how the people that they are serving are feeling.”

LAURYN WESTBROOK

Activist, Community Organizer, & Poet

Social: @livelaurynlove IT was after attending two separate discussion forums, one held by the campus administration and the other by Black faculty and staff members, that psychology major Lauryn Westbrook, 22, decided to create a space that specifically served the Black students of CSULB. On July 5, the first virtual discussion forum for Black CSULB students led by Black CSULB students, titled For Us, went live on Zoom. The recurring forum offers students a space to vent their ongoing experiences as Black students while Westbrook and other facilitators discuss topics that further bring attention to these narratives and experiences. “What I really want out of these discussions is to create those spaces and to continue to have those conversations but also to help the different Black organizations and Black leaders understand how the people that they are serving are feeling,” Westbrook said. She hopes these conversations lead to resolutions that offer services and resources for Black students on campus. Westbrook is aware that ultimately, the changes that the group wants to see—institutional and systemic changes—take time, more time than many of these students have on campus or in their lifetime. As more and more of these

conversations are being discussed, even the ones that are off-campus related, the first steps to making these lasting changes is to be accountable and firm on making change, she says.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LAURYN WESTBROOK

TAHARKA ANDERSON

Activist, Public Speaker, & Founder Of Your Neighborhood Scholar

Social: @yourneighborhoodscholar | Web: yourneighborhoodscholar.com WHEN starting his political education platAnderson will be working towards his Ph.D. form, Your Neighborhood Scholar, CSULB in African & African Diaspora Studies at graduate Taharka Anderson wanted to find the University of Texas. While in Texas, he a balance between branding himself as an hopes to share his insight and the values of individual while also curating political inYour Neighborhood Scholar. Ultimately, he formation that was relevant to Black comhopes to continue to share neighborhood munities and Black advancement in the narratives while putting together qualiUnited States. To push forward the values ty content and political information on a of the platform, individuals who purchase global perspective. merchandise gain full access to resources such as academic journal articles, YouTube videos, and links to organizations that specialize in black visibility. “So that you are truly embodying the principles that you are wearing, if you’re going to be walking around wearing ‘Protect Black Children,’ I want you to have somewhat of an understanding of what Black children are going through,” Anderson said. The platform’s content also vocalizes its views on performative activism. It defines the term as “people using radical/revolutionary moments, imagery, historical figures, quotes and art forms to gain personal clout, praise and recognition.” The website continues with examples of performative activism, as well as resources that aid readers to support these causes without being performative.

“So [...] if you’re going to be walking around wearing ‘Protect Black Children,’ I want you to have somewhat of an understanding of what Black children are going through.”

“At the end of the day, I just want to be a part of a community who is thriving and well...”

J. NYLA

Early Career Research Scientist, Poet, Musician, Cultural Worker, Educator, & Community Organizer

Social: @mx.lifestyling Web: mxlifestyling.com J. NYLA does it all. They’re a scholar, a polymath, a spiritual healer, a queer and trans health researcher, a musician, a skate ambassador belonging to multiple skate collectives, and a newly published poet. To say the least, the work that they do is a reflection of their identity and the multiple communities that they represent. After navigating the complexities of academia, the CSULB alumni is embarking on a journey to fulfill their Ph.D. in workshops, reading, and building relations with multiple mentors to further expand and nourish their growing knowledge and connectivity to the world, all without entering an institution. With a degree in psychology and as a former student who paved a career in STEM, J. Nyla sought for alternative learning that correlated to the communities that they’re a part of. In those higher academic settings, they experienced racism and a lack of commitment from administrations to making institutional changes. In the process, they were able to raise funds to aid their academic journey. Moving forward, J. Nyla would like to use their knowledge and network to provide free higher-education level content to individuals that the higher education system often excludes. “At the end of the day, I just want to be a part of a community who is thriving and well … and

PHOTO COURTESY OF J.NYLA

be able to exhibit joy without shame or guilt … and be able to eat … that’s it, those are everyday struggles of mine and my friends and my family and it’s sort of ridiculous what has to happen for those things to be fulfilled, but I really want to develop strong practices in creating queer families. I want to imagine safe and beautiful queer, trans futures … and to make sure like if I do have children that they do feel comfortable being around any kind of human being that exists … and continue to mirror that and reflect that as it’s given back to me and my community.”

Q.O.W.S

(Queers Obliterating White Supremacy) | Community Organizers & Activists

Social: @Q.O.W.S FOR For the past two years, the founding watching people unlearn their own biasgroup members of Queers Obliterating es and also watching people be down for White Supremacy (Q.O.W.S) have been the cause in a way that was so magnified... working to radicalize queer spaces. In doto me, it feels like a dream come true.” He ing so, they also want to align themselves continued to say that although it’s unfor

For the past two years, the tunate and ultimately scary that individuals such as George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and founding group members of Tony McDade have become catalysts to

Queers Obliterating White Supremacy (Q.O.W.S) have these radical movements, essentially these movements are necessary.

been working to radicalize queer spaces.

with the growing movement and uprising that continues to bring attention to the racial injustices and systematic oppression of Black communities. On June 28, the group hosted a rally and march with Black Lives Matter of Long Beach. The event was also held to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots. Byron Adams, 30, is one of the core members of Q.O.W.S. He wanted to remind queer folk of the roots of these festivities in a way that was both authentic and honest. He mentioned that oftentimes, queer events such as LGBTQIA pride festivals fail to include the BLM organization and instead choose to organize these pride events with law enforcement. However, many of these event organizers often forget that the origins and stepping stones of pride were ignited by Black and trans women of color rising up against the police. At the event, Adams was one of the many individuals to speak to a crowd of over 1,000 people at Bixby Park. “To be in this moment right now, especially in the original organizing of the march, watching people jump in and figure out a way PHOTO COURTESY OF Q.O.W.S to be involved or create connections and