| "Am I next?" That's the simple question that Californians will ask themselves if an art installation debuting this week in Los Angeles lands with the wallop organizers intend. |
| The question will be projected on the sides of three downtown buildings, including one overlooking the 101 Freeway. It will be followed with snippets of text describing how Southern Californians have been carted away by immigration agents, followed by massive black and white photographs of everyday Angelenos who worry they could be next. |
| Politicians, lawyers and everyday Californians have rallied to express their outrage about the raids. The "No Kings" rallies last month drew many protesters angry over the raids. The "Am I Next?" installation extends the pushback against Trump to the arts and nonprofit communities. |
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| A photo is projected in downtown Los Angeles for the "Am I next?" campaign. (Wally Skalij/California Community Foundation) |
| Leading the public art rebuttal are the California Community Foundation and several partners — the Japanese American National Museum, the Museum of Latin American Art and the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC). Images went up on the side of the community foundation's downtown headquarters just after sundown Thursday and on other high-visibility buildings downtown on the Westside and in Long Beach. |
More organizations want to join the art campaign |
| Miguel Santana, the foundation's chief executive, said that other organizations across California and the U.S. have said they want to join, projecting imagery into the public domain to oppose the immigration crackdown. Some will employ the stories and images from L.A., with photos mostly shot by Barbara Davidson and Wally Skalij, two former L.A. Times photographers. Other organizations are expected to use photos and stories from closer to home. |
| "We all need to be concerned, regardless of your legal status and whether you've been here for generations or just got here and regardless of your race or ethnicity or nationality," said Santana, previously the top appointed official for the city and county of Los Angeles. "We should be concerned that core American values, protected in our Constitution, are being systematically violated. We all should be concerned and ask the question, 'Am I next?'" |
| Trump and his followers contend that raids in L.A. and across the country only target people in the country illegally, focusing on violent criminals. They say law-abiding Americans have nothing to fear and will be safer because of mass deportations. But independent reviews by the media have found that most of those picked up in the raids do not have serious criminal records. |
'Masked men who are taking people without warrants' |
| Polls have shown that a majority of Californians believe ICE and other federal agencies have overreached. Opponents wonder — if the arrests and deportations are righteous — why the agents wear masks and sometimes decline to say what agency they represent. Team Trump insists it's too dangerous for the agents to show their faces, a claim immigration-rights groups say is exaggerated. |
| Santana and his museum allies hope that the expansive public art project will remind Californians that the mass deportations continue and that many different kinds of people, including U.S. citizens, have been sent away. The foundation chief recalled some of those targeted in recent months, including American citizens, like the man who was shot in Ontario, saying he only wanted to warn agents to to be careful of schoolchildren waiting for a bus and union leader David Huerta, who was injured while documenting an immigration enforcement raid in downtown in June. |
| In both those instances, officials from Trump's Department of Homeland Security said the protesters were met with force only because they posed a threat to U.S. agents. Santana saw it differently. "As an American, it's shocking to see that in this country in 2025 there are masked men who are taking people without a warrant and without due process," he said. "And then, once they're taken, some are given limited access to attorneys." |
Moments that demand action |
| The "Am I Next" exhibition features tag lines describing such incidents. "TAKEN, Adrian, a U.S. citizen, defending an elderly man in a raid," reads one. "TAKEN, Andrea, a U.S. Citizen, going to work," says another. There are dozens of the missives, followed by portraits of others — of every race, ethnicity and gender — beside the words "Am I next?" |
| But taking part has its risks. Nonprofits and arts organizations potentially face the loss of federal grants for taking a stand. Regardless, Santana said that certain moments — like the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II — demand that citizens consult their consciences on how to respond. |
| "We ask the question in these historic moments . . . 'What would I have done?'" Santana said. "This is that moment. This is our call to action." |
Today's top stories |
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| California airports are expected to be hard hit by a dramatic reduction in flights as the Federal Aviation Administration says it plans to cut air traffic by 10% at 40 airports to maintain travel safety during the government shutdown. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) |
Airport chaos begins |
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Nancy Pelosi knew it was time |
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Katie Porter and the race for California governor |
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What else is going on |
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This morning's must reads |
| | | Before he goes out for lacrosse games, it's tradition that he has a spoonful of honey. Also, perhaps not coincidentally given what happened later, he gets a kick out of seeing tiny insects work together to get big things done. | | | |
Other must reads |
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| Keep up with California | Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times. | | | | | |
For your downtime |
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| Yellow-leaved bigleaf maples grow along the trail near where water rushes down a dam in Big Santa Anita Canyon. (Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times) |
Going out |
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Staying in |
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A question for you: What's one special dish your family makes for Thanksgiving? |
| Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. |
And finally ... your photo of the day |
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| The Ragged Point Inn stands at the southern end of Big Sur. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) |
| Today's great photo is from staff writer Christopher Reynolds from the Ragged Point Inn at the southern end of Big Sur. |
Have a great day, from the Essential California team |
| Jim Rainey, staff reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters |
| How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com. |
