Sam Slovick

Freeway Ricky Ross Defends His Crack-Dealing Past, Takes A Swipe At Rozay

Sam Slovick​See also: Freeway Rick Ross: From drug-trafficking and CIA connections, to a biopic directed by Nick Cassavetes, the former 'Donald Trump of crack' becomes the patron saint of South Central While Freeway Ricky Ross was spending 20 years in jail for dealing drugs, two rappers, Free ... More >>

Up From the Streets: A Scene From Occupy L.A.

Luigi VenturaDito Montiel and Aqeela Sherrills at Occupy L.A.​Woodrow Coleman came all the way from Long Beach to see the Arab Spring bloom in downtown L.A. The African-American septuagenarian with deep-set brown eyes and a woolly white tangle of beard sports a well-worn baseball cap that sug ... More >>

Pavement Occupies L.A.: The Many Voices of the Movement (VIDEO)

Sam Slovick in front of his tent at City Hall​Sam Slovick is sleeping down at City Hall to report firsthand on Occupy L.A. For continued coverage, visit SamSlovick.com. There are many voices to be heard in the movement. The nightly general assembly meets on the south steps at 7:30pm where wid ... More >>

Pavement Occupies L.A.: The Revolution Unfolds (VIDEO) (NSFW)

Sam Slovick in front of his tent at City Hall​Sam Slovick is sleeping down at City Hall to report firsthand on Occupy L.A. For continued coverage, visit SamSlovick.com. "Mic check, mic check," a voice booms from the PA system in front of City Hall in downtown L.A. I move into a tent on the so ... More >>

Hotel Hell: The Ford Hotel Is Given New Life

Sam Slovick​ Travelle Robertson takes no notice of a large black woman in a bright orange T-shirt exhibiting her substantial bare breasts to passing traffic as he walks Gladys Street near Sixth Street downtown. He's numb to the madness -- he'd seen it all by the time he was 9 years old. Now ... More >>

Invisible Skins: Aboriginal Americans Get Visible in Griffith Park

Johnny Jackson is an urban Native American. He is clean-cut, well-spoken and looks young for his 21 years. At the moment, he is sitting in a small tent with his mom and sisters, preparing to don his traditional regalia and sing and dance at a powwow in Griffith Park. Cover band Dog Day is blasting " ... More >>

Angel of Peace: Homies Unidos and the Art of Handgun Alchemy

Sam SlovickErick Moreno, aka Sen, left, with Melinda Isordia, Juan Cenizales, Alex Sanchez and Albert Sanchez​"I could be kicking it in my projects right now," says Albert Sanchez, intermittently making eye contact and shoe-gazing on the patio at La Fonderie, a bronze and steel foundry on Glen ... More >>

In a Glass House: Police Policing the Police with TEAMS II Technology

Luigi VenturaMaggie Goodrich​Los Angeles is a capacious megalopolis that begins at Tijuana and ends at San Francisco. A rugged portion of that geography falls under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department, serving some 4 million people in the almost 500 square miles of L.A. prope ... More >>

The Tattooer's Apprentice: Art Emancipates PostModern Cholo (VIDEO)

Luigi Ventura​The synchronicity between the opening of MOCA's "Art in the Streets" show and L.A. law enforcement's crackdown on graffiti hasn't gone unnoticed by postmodern cholo and tattooer's apprentice Sal Sanchez. Recent arrests of street artists Invader, Smear and Revok are on Sanchez's ... More >>

Precious: Rescued Pitt Bull, Looking for Love

Sam SlovickPrecious waits to be adopted.​Precious is such a bitch. The compact young blonde struts the patio inside the iron gates just behind the Modernica furniture factory in downtown's Industrial District. Precious is subtly clever, looking for vulnerability: She'll push your buttons, th ... More >>

Life After Life: Decades Behind Bars Can Make You a Better Man (VIDEO)

Luigi Ventura​A man squints in the afternoon sun, taking in a warm breeze on the porch of a meticulously maintained two-story home at the intersection of downtown and South Central. Laughter echoes from the street, an ice cream truck jingles, kids meander home from school. Inside the house, ha ... More >>

Charlie Gets Out: Gender-Bending Performer Braves His 'Hood (VIDEO)

Sam Slovick​Charlie Romero is a small, exotic island just off the east coast of Echo Park, nestled in a sea of tidy bungalows in East L.A. "I'm a hot mess," Charlie confesses. He's wearing a candy-striped, polyester-blend tank top and capri pants. The compact three-room home he occupies wit ... More >>

San Simon's Revenge: Carlos Offended the Underworld God, So Now He's Ducking the Cops (VIDEO)

Sam Slovick​Carlos is cocooning. The sound resonating inside the pupal casing of his mind is the dull thud of shock. He's been here before, when he was a kid. Now 19, the handsome, young, undocumented Mexican-American is dodging bullets and beat cops again, trying to find a moment's rest while ... More >>

Temple of Scream: Relishing the Horror of a Hollywood Franchise

Sam SlovickAnthony Torres has been collecting memorabilia from Wes Craven's horror series since 1996.​ Deep in the far reaches of Montebello, in a secret temple, a young monk arranges sacred objects on the altar with exacting specificity. Each item is invested with hallowed significance and pl ... More >>

Homeless in Venice: Travelers Come for the California Dream and Stay for the Concrete (VIDEO)

Sam SlovickWhen Sava D hugs Tim, he feels right at home.​ It's another postcard day at Venice Beach, the Washington Square Park of L.A. Aging kooks and crackpots in an eternal time warp freely express themselves like it's 1967. There's a guy in a leopard bikini with the rubber snakes, a dude ... More >>

The Lost Tribe: Weathering the Storm in the San Fernando Valley (VIDEO)

Sam SlovickDennis Kimble has been sleeping on the street for eight years.​ Molly doesn't seem to mind the torrential downpour across the street from Sun Valley Park on a Sunday morning. The svelte young brunette makes her way down a sidewalk, through a maze of drenched cushions and blankets. ... More >>

The Free Association of Anarchists Plan to Unleash a Weapon of Collective Organization

Sam SlovickLinda, Omar, Matt, Tobie, Frank, Richard and Miguel gather to figure out how to subtract government from the equation.​ Tobie Castle is one of the last to arrive at Chuco's on Sunday morning. The 17-year-old self-proclaimed socialist/anarchist street punk came from East L.A. to Ing ... More >>

Taking the Bait: What Happens on TruTV's Bait Car Happened to Guillermo

Guillermo came to L.A. from the village of Soyapango, El Salvador, when he was 4 years old. His belly swollen with parasites, he rode on his uncle's shoulders as they navigated a well-worn trail in the night jungle to avoid the heat. Guided by a rope and a vision, they aimed for El Norte. Sam Slovic ... More >>

Freeway Rick Ross: From drug-trafficking and CIA connections, to a biopic directed by Nick Cassavetes, the former 'Donald Trump of crack' becomes the patron saint of South Central

Sam SlovickRick Ross at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica​The wad of crumpled $20 bills stashed under Ollie North's pillow had Freeway Rick Ross' fingerprints all over it when the CIA got caught slanging rocks in South Central back in the '80s. Grimy, crumpled and smeared with ghetto ... More >>

Inside the Nickerson Garden Projects with Rapper Jay Rock: "They can call anyone a terrorist, a gangbanger, and put cameras in your neighborhood."

Sam SlovickJay Rock​Papa Dad didn't make the big Martin Luther King Jr. Parade on MLK Boulevard. He was shot dead on Jan. 3 at 103rd and Crenshaw. Jay Rock and Punch didn't attend, either. It's a turf thing. They want to stay alive. So on the day of the parade, they hung out in Nickerson Garde ... More >>

The Gizmo Matrix: A Barrio Banger's Journey, from Packing Plant Pentaro to Aspiring MMA Superstar

Sam SlovickGizmo​"They call me Gizmo, I'm trying to go fuck somebody up," the man says with the manufactured intensity of someone who has been locked up 10 of his 27 years. He is 5 feet 6, 170 pounds, bald, buff and gangster-tense. "The devil tickled my feet," he says, considering his journey ... More >>

Christmas for Kids on Skid Row (Video)

In this week's print edition of L.A. Weekly, Sam Slovick visits the L.A. City Parks and Recreation Department's recent holiday event at Gladys Park and asks some of the children what they want for Christmas. Their responses are varied. Watch the video below and read more in "Getting Out for Christma ... More >>

Texas Kill 'Em

Video Exclusive: Are L.A. County Probation Camps Abuse Instead of Rehab?

This week, reporter Sam Slovick takes an inside look at the scandal-ridden Los Angeles County juvenile-probation system in his article "Who Can Fix Camp Nobody?" Many involved abuse of incarcerated youth. And creepy videos have surfaced on YouTube of what appear to be organized fights allowed betwe ... More >>

It Started With a Kiss: Finding Shelter Among the Stray Cats

What news of a murdered girlfriend triggers

Sympathy for the Devil: Crime Stats Say L.A.'s Streets Are Safer Than Ever, So Why Are Gang Hoods Still So Bloody?

Top dogs Da Brat, Zen Baca and Tony V weigh in, along with street players D-Black, Marky-D and Mauricio

Best Gay L.A. Nightlife

Sexy time

Sam Slovick's Skid Row Documentary

Between December 2005 and March 2006, Sam Slovick did a stunning series of cover stories for the LA Weekly that took readers deep inside the everyday tragedies and triumphs found on Los Angeles's Skid Row. These articles have played an integral role in the public and private debates over what do abo ... More >>

Letters: No Hip-Hop Hurrah

Our readers write

The Lion’s Pack Roars

Letters from our readers

Hearts and Snow Cones

Giant Drag wake up and smell the celibacy

Hearts and Sno-Cones

Giant Drag wakes up and smells the celibacy

Backing Jack

And sparing trees

Feb. 16, 2007

Choc Nitty’s All-Star Ghetto Mixtape Tour by Sam Slovick and Glow: photographs and text by Matthew Pillsbury

Standing Up for the Ladies

And means to an electoral end

Another for the Bushel

Family Planning and Moving Out

About LA Weekly: Staff

Down on Main Street

A guide to living among the crack addicts, mentally ill, homeless and young-pros-on-the-go in a changing downtown

Bunny Love

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