Fotos de beatriz solis8/19/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() She said she feels proud to raise awareness and share resources about social justice and health disparities in her community through the lens of a camera or other means. Today, Aguirre is an active member of several community organizations and school clubs. “They thought I did an amazing job in displaying the reality of the lives of people of color.” It felt good, she said, to also get recognition from her friends. She presented her multimedia project at a community showcase in January and said it nearly brought her mother to tears. In her latest project as part of Las Fotos Project’s Digital Promotoras program, Aguirre felt compelled to photograph two workers who educate people about their rights, discrimination and how to avoid falling into the criminal justice system as a result of practices in educational institutions. “Having to grow up and being exposed to these things … I just wanted to do something to change it,” Aguirre said. Today, she says, it breaks her heart to see them roaming the streets, drug addicted and suffering from mental health conditions. Julianna Aguirre, a 16-year-old student from the neighborhood of Highland Park, says she began feeling like she could be part of that change as an advocate for her community when she joined Las Fotos Project last fall.Īs a child, she witnessed police storm her house and arrest her brothers because of their gang and drug affiliations. In an effort to combat those effects, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services launched its Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in 2011 as a way to continuously assess the impact of all policies and programs on racial and ethnic health disparities across the country. According to the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities, racial and ethnic minorities, identified as some of the most vulnerable groups in American, are more likely to suffer from disease and may die up to 20 years earlier than others. Research shows health disparities impose a steep cost on the U.S. Through mostly volunteer mentors, girls ages 11 through 18 are offered a series of programs where they get trained on the fundamentals of photojournalism but also learn about mindfulness, identity, and the impacts of health and social conditions within their environment. Today, the program has its headquarters in Lincoln Heights, a low-income neighborhood northeast of downtown LA, and also expanded its reach with satellite locations in Mexico and Venezuela. Yet, teens in Las Fotos Project have learned to use photography as a tool for community advocacy and cultural documentation, providing a model for how residents themselves can help promote health in their own communities. While research shows low-income communities of color are more likely to face health disparities - differences in health closely linked with social, economic and environmental disadvantages - it’s not always easy to make residents aware of how to reduce them. “These issues specifically target our community because we’re low income, because we don’t have access to different things that other people in different communities have,” Medina said. Soon, Medina had built a portfolio of photos documenting how density in her neighborhood led to overcrowded and dirty streets, how street vendors were being criminalized by police, and how teens facing poverty and violence fell victims to drug abuse. ![]() You’re taking pictures to convey a message and present it to your community,” Medina said. “It’s not just about going and taking random pictures. But it was the program’s focus on health, wellness and advocacy that hooked the 16-year-old from Los Angeles’ Eastside neighborhood of Boyle Heights. She zoomed in on a world of lighting, angles and framing as a participant with Las Fotos Project, a nonprofit photography organization for teen girls in underserved communities. LOS ANGELES - When Stephanie Medina picked up a “professional” camera for the first time two years ago, she never expected her photos could have such an impact on her and her community. ![]()
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