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Nithya Raman Profile picture
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12 Oct, 6 tweets, 2 min read
LA is home to the largest population of Armenian people in the world outside of Armenia. Today, many are rightfully terrified by violent aggression from Azerbaijan and Turkey in the region of Artsakh.

Here's what's happening, and why we stand with Armenians. (thread)
Artsakh is a de facto independent state of ethnic Armenians, adjacent to Azerbaijan.

Rising nationalism in Azerbaijan has led to the country attempting to gain sovereignty over this region with military force, supported by Turkey.
At the end of September, the Azerbaijan military attacked the capital of Artsakh, targeting civilian buildings and holy sites with cluster bombs.

A ceasefire was negotiated yesterday, but it is tenuous. theguardian.com/world/2020/oct…
The aggression against Artsakh recalls historic tragedy for Armenians. Between 1914-1923, the Ottoman government in Turkey carried out a genocide against Armenians, leading to 1.5 million dead and displaced.

Most of the first Armenians in LA arrived as a result of the genocide.
The aggression against Artsakh has raised fears of another genocide. Ethnic Armenians fear what will happen to them if they lose sovereignty of the region to Azerbaijan.

That’s why Armenians in LA have been protesting for days. latimes.com/california/sto…
Artsakh has the right to self-determine, and denial of past atrocities allows atrocities to continue.

We stand with our Armenian neighbors in their resistance against ethnonationalist aggression, and in recognition of the wounds still open from the Armenian Genocide.

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More from @nithyavraman

Nithya Raman Profile picture
16 Sep
Over the last two weeks, LA has been forced to accept a grim reality:

The effects of climate change are already upon us.

We need action now -- today -- to avoid total climate emergency.

Here's what’s happening -- and what we can do here in LA. (thread) latimes.com/california/sto…
The 1st, 3rd, and 4th largest fires in California history are all burning at the same time.

In LA, we've experienced the worst smog in almost 30 years -- during one of our hottest weekends in recorded history.
latimes.com/california/sto…
Over just two days of LA’s scorching Labor Day weekend, at least 18 people experiencing homelessness died.

The rest of our unhoused neighbors have been forced to breathe poisonous air for weeks.
Read 14 tweets
Nithya Raman Profile picture
10 Sep
In the aftermath of another heat wave, it's worth talking about trees.

Trees play a big role in mitigating heat. But about 1/5th of LA’s tree canopy is found in just four neighborhoods.

That means 1% of LA residents live among 18% of our trees. (thread) treepeople.org/sites/default/…
Areas without trees experience the Urban Heat Island Effect, where heat from the sun gets trapped in the concrete and released throughout the day, further increasing temperatures.

These areas can be between 5 and 20 degrees hotter in summer than tree-covered parts of LA.
Heat islands put our unhoused neighbors, along with Angelenos who lack access to adequate air conditioning, at higher risk of heat-related death -- a preventable tragedy that claims around 60 to 70 lives each year in LA.
kcrw.com/news/articles/…
Read 11 tweets
Nithya Raman Profile picture
27 Aug
Small businesses in LA are in crisis. With less financial cushion and less access to loans, many are in danger of shutting down forever.

Mass small business closures would be a huge blow to our city -- and to BIPOC communities in particular.

What can we do about it? (thread)
When COVID-19 hit LA, almost 14,000 businesses in LA temporarily shut their doors.

And while many have reopened since, it is estimated that about 60% of small businesses across the country are at risk of permanent closure.
yelpeconomicaverage.com/yelp-coronavir…
BIPOC-owned businesses have been less likely to get funding under the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.

Businesses in Leimert Park, Chinatown and Boyle Heights got less support than businesses in three mostly-white LA neighborhoods. washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
Read 18 tweets
Nithya Raman Profile picture
20 Aug
In May, our campaign released a policy for rent forgiveness in LA. On Tuesday, my opponent released one too.

Our economic situation is rapidly evolving, and I want to dig into these policies so LA can move to help tenants quickly.

This thread might get wonky but stay with it!
In the rent forgiveness motion my opponent, David Ryu, released Tuesday, relief payments are funded by government loans from the Fed's "Municipal Lending Facility."

I see the appeal! I suggested using these loans to fund rent forgiveness back in April.
But after we talked about using Municipal Lending Facility loans to help fund rent forgiveness, we learned more details about the terms of those loans.

Without major changes, these terms are not good for LA. They’re likely worse than what we could get on the private market.
Read 13 tweets
Nithya Raman Profile picture
6 Aug
The pandemic has led to a rise in takeout and delivery, and that means more plastic containers and utensils. How is LA making sure we recycle all this waste?

The truth is, we aren’t. We never were. Our local approach to plastic needs big changes. (thread) cnbc.com/2020/06/28/cor…
LA has the largest residential recycling program in the US, collecting about 800 tons of recycling per day from 750,000 homes a week.

But how much plastic actually gets recycled? In California, less than 15%.

The rest goes to landfills. spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/new…
One reason less plastic is getting recycled? China stopped buying our plastic waste in 2017, forcing local recycling centers to close.

Just last year, California’s largest operator of recycling centers closed all 284 of its locations. 750 jobs were lost. latimes.com/environment/st…
Read 9 tweets
Nithya Raman Profile picture
18 Jul
In April, I wrote about how LA’s street vendors have a long history of being treated unfairly by city government, including during the pandemic.

Today, even as restaurants are encouraged to expand outdoor dining, vendors are still being left out. (thread) la.eater.com/2020/4/21/2122…
After years of advocacy in LA, street vending was finally decriminalized in 2018. But permitting was slow: of more than 10,000 vendors, only 29 were issued permits.

Then COVID-19 hit, and one of our City Council’s first responses was to crack down on all unlicensed vendors.
Street vendors, some of whom had already spent money applying for permits, found themselves on the wrong side of the law once again.

With many ineligible for unemployment and government loans, vendors have been forced to choose between losing their income and breaking the law.
Read 10 tweets

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