Watch "The State of Black Los Angeles" Livestream Playback

The State of Black Los Angeles 2025 brought together leaders, policymakers, and advocates for an honest and solutions-driven conversation on the state of racial progress in our region.

In the opening segment, Los Angeles Urban League President & CEO Cynthia Mitchell-Heard and Dr. D’Artagnan Scorza, Executive Director of LA County’s Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI) Initiative, set the stage with powerful context and a clear call to action. Their words framed the day’s discussions — resonating from the campus of USC all the way to Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

Watch the full replay of this historic event below. The forum featured more than 30 influential voices, including Mayor Karen Bass, Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Congresswomen Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Maxine Waters, California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley Weber, California Health & Human Services Secretary Kim Johnson, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, Councilwoman Heather Hutt, USC President Beong-Soo Kim, National Urban League President & CEO Marc Morial, and numerous more.

Together, these changemakers explored pathways to:

Health Access
Economic Prosperity
Immigration Solidarity

This was a convening where people spoke with one another — not at one another — to shape a more equitable future for all Angelenos.

NEW! Click to view our SOBLA 2025 Highlights Book, “The Pathway Forward Beyond The Applause“

In the Spotlight: Media Highlights Archives

Explore recent news coverage and online features highlighting the 2025 State of Black Los Angeles event.

The National Law Review – Trending Topics

Los Angeles Urban League Convenes Leaders And Advocates For Third Annual State Of Black Los Angeles

🔗 See the feature on The National Law reivew

Los Angeles Sentinel – Local | News

Urban League Convenes State of Black LA to Highlight Issues Affecting Black and Brown Communities

🔗 View on Los Angeles Sentinel

USC Annenberg Media – USC

“The State of Black LA” advocates for solidarity in Black and Brown communities. The third annual symposium brought together professional organizations and advocates for change to look towards a united future for Los Angeles.

🔗 Read on The USC Annenberg Media

Solidarity In Action: Black and Brown LA
The defining theme behind State of Black LA 2025 [ANALYSIS]

The Los Angeles Urban League, has historically focused on advancing economic self-reliance, parity and civil rights for marginalized and underserved communities. Back in the day the word urban was a euphemism for Black, thus the Urban League brought with it the supposition that it was all Black. The urban landscape of Los Angeles, however, has changed remarkably since this Urban League affiliate was founded back in 1921. LA’s African American population today lags behind Asian Americans and the Latinx population. In fact Latinos comprise 48% of the population countywide, the largest ethnic group in Los Angeles County.

The Urban League recognizes today the changing demographics of urban communities and has expanded its reach to include other groups facing similar socio-economic challenges that confront African Americans. Under the leadership of President and CEO Cynthia Mitchell-Heard, the Los Angeles Urban League actively collaborates with any group or community to address shared challenges promoting social equality for everyone

After reviewing outcomes from our State of Black LA event the first two years, it became apparent how we wanted to advance the narrative in 2025. More on that in a moment, but first let’s take a look at potential impact, based on population figures for the Greater Los Angeles area.

The numbers of this newer “urban” portrait would seem to offer some promise. The Latino population at 48% along with Black population at 8%, together is more than half of LA County. Here’s the bigger picture. Nationwide the combined spending power of Black and Brown Americans, who make up more than 30% of the U.S. population–is $6 trillion. That’s larger than the economies of every nation on earth except the United States and China.

If one is looking at just the sheer mathematics of it, Black and Brown solidarity also spells ECONOMIC POWER. Collectively both groups just have to figure out what to do with it. Why is the data then on health access, homeownership, employment and across the board of nearly every economic indicator so disproportionate, if collectively we hold such power? These are some of the issues we’ll tackle at our State of Black Los Angeles on October 16.

SOBLA’s 2024 Economic Empowerment panel. The 2025 panels will center on Economic Stability, Health and Immigration.

Our area is home to one of the fastest growing Black immigrant populations in the western United States. 20% of LA County’s immigrant population identify themselves as Black, largely Nigerian and Ethiopian. The ICE raids on Brown and Black LA communities in June created a global spectacle. That dilemma will take center stage on October 16, as a panel discussion topic. We believe it’s time to join forces devising actionable strategies to combat the murky issue of immigration.

The other two forums will center on economic stability and health. How do we boost the economic outlook amidst recovery from fires and rising tariffs? We’ll examine the state of physical health in a post-Covid era, as the Black population ages and insurance costs skyrocket. All three issues–the economy, health and immigration— will serve as benchmarks in building a broad-based coalition to combat the social injustices jointly impacting LA’s Black and Brown communities. This multi-cultural approach has often been a theme of Mitchell-Heard’s public remarks. Here’s what she said to the packed house at the Skirball Cultural Center, during her keynote address at the Whitney M Young Jr. Awards and Celebration event on June 11.

“We are empowering communities, dismantling barriers, and creating pathways where opportunities are not a privilege, but a right for all. The work ahead is not just necessary—it is transformative. And we cannot do it alone. We need you.”

In short, Solidarity In Action means shared solutions to shared problems. For the record, this isn’t the first time a bilateral approach has been recommended of both sides, advocating for rights across the various sectors of education, jobs, health and economic self-reliance.

National Urban League President and CEO, Marc Morial has long advocated for a multicultural pluralistic democracy as part of his vision for the future. “The country [today] is not going to be what it was in 1950. It is changing and we should embrace it,” says Morial. “That what binds us together are principles like the concept of justice, the concept of equality, the concept of opportunity, the concept of inclusion and participation.” For all.

State of Black LA 2025: Solidarity in Action. Black and Brown LA…is just the latest call; a bold, loud and urgent call, amidst the most strident challenges to civil rights our country has seen in 60 years. This event is free and open to the public and will be held on campus at USC’s Town and Gown Ballroom. The room is full to capacity and registration has ended. You can attend virtually via the livestream.