James Rojas
James Rojas is an urban planner, community activist, artist and has developed an innovative method of community engagement using art making. He has collaborated with municipalities, non-profits, and educational institutions, and museums to engage, educate and empower the public on urban planning. He holds a Master of City Planning from the MIT.
Support Provided By
Urban planner James Rojas recounts the role of Elysian Park in the Mexican-American experience.
In the late 1970, young gay men from the Eastside found their identity on the disco dance floors of Hollywood.
Boxing halls were once as numerous as movie theaters in Los Angeles, and a young Mexican-American prize fighter named Bobby Herman was among the star attractions.
Urban planner James Rojas, who coined the term "Latino Urbanism," reflects on the loss of his family compound in Boyle Heights.
"Gay Urbanism" transformed West Hollywood into a place that reflected gays' and lesbians' cultural identity.
Artists can be instrumental to transforming urban planning on L.A.'s Eastside.
How has Mariachi Plaza changed in the last 25 years, as a public space as well as a place for redevelopment?
The Latino quest for cultural identity parallels the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which has its genesis in protests -- many of which were carried out in public spaces.
Los Angeles is no longer being shaped by infrastructure and development. Today, L.A. is being transformed by ethnic and cultural diversity.