Black Lives Matter

At LADOT, we denounce injustice and racism in all its forms. We stand with our black community - residents, employees and their families. We affirm that black lives matter.

For the last few months, the women and men of this department have been working on the front lines of a devastating crisis. We’ve seen first hand the health and economic impacts this pandemic has had on our city - especially communities of color. Now, the brutal murder of George Floyd, and the resulting events of the past week, have rightfully brought to the forefront wounds opened during the Middle Passage, that still endure today.

It is my hope that the pain and anger we feel today will fuel a new era of listening, action, and healing in our City. For our part, we must acknowledge how transportation policies have enabled the discrimination and neglect of black communities in Los Angeles for generations. Our own actions and projects have, despite our best intentions, added to inequity. For this, I am sorry.

In Los Angeles, with strong leadership, we have made conscious choices to address disparities and reverse the harm inflicted. But much work remains. We must dismantle the systems that allowed these conditions to exist in the first place. We have to be intentional in our decision making and invest our public resources to lift up the communities that for too long have been left behind. And we need to continue to listen and take action.

To be silent is to be complicit. To fail to act, a dereliction of our responsibility to the people we serve.

There is still so much work to do, but little can stand in our way if we do it together.

-Seleta Reynolds