In 1994, a group of parents and students in Boyle Heights came together to find solutions to rising violence and public education issues in their community.
The youth involved started a peace club at Roosevelt High School that would brainstorm ways to make their neighborhood safe. One day, while meeting, the teens came up with a name for their club: InnerCity Struggle.
It felt right. It was a representation of the mission they were trying to achieve.
Thirty years later, the nonprofit organization that started as a grassroots community group is now a hub that strives to train the next generation of leaders in East L.A. and Boyle Heights – and they don’t plan to stop now.
“I think our legacy has been training grassroots leaders from this community that will become voices for this community,” said Henry Perez, InnerCity Struggle’s (ICS) current executive director.
Perez reflected on the organization’s 30 years of advocating for community needs on the Eastside. He joined ICS in 2005 as their Familias Unidas coordinator, which he described as a full circle moment because of his family’s Boyle Heights roots.
Read More: Henry Perez hopes to build on the legacy of Inner City Struggle
His father grew up in Boyle Heights during the 1940s and 1950s and attended Garfield High School where he was discouraged by teachers from pursuing higher education.
“My dad and grandfather were born and raised in this country but were discriminated as they went through school,” Perez said.
ICS’ goals gradually evolved from curbing gang violence to mentoring neighborhood youth and improving education conditions at Eastside schools. Students like Esmerelda Ramirez, 17, are reaping the benefits of ICS’ transition to youth mentorship.
Ramirez attends Roosevelt and has been a member of United Students, ICS’ youth leadership program, since her freshman year. She was involved in a successful 2021 campaign to urge LAUSD to allocate $700 million toward the Student Equity Need Index, which assesses a school’s level of need based on a variety of factors.
“I wasn’t politically conscious before but I have learned more about how to become a leader and how to fight for the things my community needs,” she said.
For Maria Brenes, a former executive director and senior advisor for ICS, teaching the next generation how local government functions was part of the strategy she spent over 20 years cultivating. “I think the legacy is intergenerational movement and intergenerational power building,” Brenes said.
When Brenes joined ICS in 2002 as the director of youth organizing, it was made up of a staff of about eight people. After joining, she helped organize a successful campaign urging LAUSD to build new schools in Boyle Heights and East L.A. The district faced an overcrowding problem and parents, teachers, and students complained that there weren’t enough educational opportunities and resources for their community.
“We’ve always been conscious about elevating that sense of pride and interdependence on the Eastside,” Brenes said.
Steven Ortega, the current director of youth organizing, said their life changed when they joined ICS in the early 2010s. Ortega, an East L.A. native, was a 16-year-old student at Esteban Torres High when a friend invited them to a United Students meeting. “The number one thing for me was the free food,” Ortega recalled with a laugh.
They were part of the organization’s campaign to pass the School Climate Bill of Rights in 2013 which ended “willful defiance” suspensions in LAUSD schools. After their time with United Students, Ortega attended Cal State Northridge and rejoined ICS.
“I didn’t have hope in myself. I was able to find a group of folks [at ICS] that believed in my capabilities and my leadership as well,” Ortega said.
ICS recently commemorated its 30th anniversary by hosting Lucha Carnival, a community event where team members gathered for voter canvassing a few days before Election Day on Nov. 5. There were also carnival games and performances by folklorico dancers.
Attendees at 2024 Lucha Carnival enjoy food, performance and informative fun at InnerCity Struggle headquarters. Photos courtesy of InnerCity Struggle.
As the director of youth organizing, Ortega oversaw voter canvassing efforts during this year’s election season. Ortega said youth members focused on educating Boyle Heights residents about the various propositions on the ballot.
Ortega noticed that youth members’ presence made a difference. “We’re also seeing young people being out there to talk to voters is bringing back that hope,” they said.
ICS alumni Skyla Fuentes, 19, was part of the canvassing effort. Like ICS graduates before her, Fuentes wants to take the lessons she learned from her time there and give back to her community. “My ultimate goal in life is to graduate from college and eventually become a lawyer and I feel like InnerCity Struggle provided me with so many resources to help me [do that],” Fuentes said.
ICS has come a long way since its beginnings as a peace club at Roosevelt, and from its time as a small storefront on Whittier Boulevard nestled between a butcher shop and a tortelleria.
In 2019, ICS opened its new headquarters at a 6,000-square-foot, two-story building in Boyle Heights which was bought with the help of residents and community leaders.
When asked what ICS’s legacy is, Fuentes said it’s the communal environment the organization has built over 30 years and counting. “It’s just a loving and open environment that’s been amazing to many people.”
Thank you for highlighting the power building work of ICS!