LA CAN and NOlympics LA joined forces on March 24, 2018 for the Ride for Justice (Skidrowvia) to show what bike lanes, homelessness, mega-sports, and displacement have to do with each other in the reimagined downtown Los Angeles.
Los Angeles is home to at least 58,000 unhoused people (according to official statistics), many of whom rely on bicycles for transportation. NOlympics LA stands with our partners at LA CAN in demanding basic infrastructure and human rights for the residents of Skid Row, beginning with the demand for bike lanes on 5th and 6th Streets to be added to the city’s mobility plan.
“The infrastructure here is crumbling,” explains Jed Parriott, an organizer with DSA-LA and LA CAN. “Things like bike lanes are so crucial to this community in particular because there are so many tents lining the sidewalks that people have to walk in the streets.”
In response to this need, activists from NOlympics LA joined forces with LA CAN and their Ride for Justice series this March to present Disasterpiece Theater: Homes Not Games, a bike ride and screening in Skid Row.
Our ride took cyclists on a tour of downtown landmarks of displacement and gentrification, which was followed by a presentation of three short films from Rio artists and activists about the devastation caused by the 2016 Summer Olympics, drawing explicit links between mega-events like the Olympics and the “development” that criminalizes poverty and places the most vulnerable residents of our cities in jeopardy.
“The Olympics are not just a distraction,” says Craig Roberts, an organizer with LA CAN, “they are destruction. From Rio to Skid Row, we say hell no.”