BS Summary: This article contains 31 faulty reasoning types, including Hasty Generalization, Anecdotal, and Post Hoc (False Cause), with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 36.9% saturation with 409 hits. Analysis detected 2,957 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,107 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 67.9% and a BS Rank of 76% (5,273 of 21,886 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 75.90% of the article peer group.
The term third space refers to a place that is outside of the home environment, where communities come together to gather, socialize, and build relationships through social gatherings and dialogue.
Third spaces throughout Los Angeles have always stood as powerful cultural hubs throughout the city.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic and other devastations have plagued the world — namely as the genocide in Gaza — the need for third spaces to host community gatherings is more urgent than ever.
It is also true that many third spaces function as a space for individuals in the community to feel less alone.
For diasporic communities, the loss of third spaces cuts something deeper.
These are places where people can come together and create a haven for many to socialize, organize politically, and preserve their cultural identities.
Immigrants and their children know far too well the challenges of existing in the diaspora, especially when grieving family members living back home.
Individuals have relied on having third spaces as places where they can come together to collectively process emotions and feel seen.
Recently, there has been a quiet surge in the disappearance of third spaces.
The losses have been due to increases in pressure from rising rents, landlords who don’t agree politically with the events or gatherings they hold, or redevelopment in the area.
Christina Lila, co-founder of Astralab , a powerful community hub that stood as a safe haven for diaspora healing and cultural preservation for SWANA (Southwest Asian and North African) communities, received a notice to vacate earlier this year back in February.
“I think we have the obvious reasons like increasing economic pressure on artists and cultural organizers, but this is also a civilizational symptom,” Lila told Knock LA.
“Monetizing things that should be open to all, such as idea exchange, salons and cultural immersions, is very tough on people who are already burnt out from LA’s brutal rising costs.”
Founder of Holy Ground Lisa Schulz, who runs the holistic healing studio on Adams Boulevard dedicated to breath work and movement, said to Knock LA , “I think there’s been a surge in disappearance of third spaces in Los Angeles because rents are going up, and it is challenging for activist spaces to be able to afford the increased rents.
Additionally since October 7th [2023], many third spaces have come out strongly in support of Palestine and many have experienced resistance from landlords which are closely aligned with Israel.”
Astralab received their eviction notice earlier this year from its landlords, JMF Development, who are perceived to be Zionists as they specifically targeted Astralab for their political gatherings revolving around Palestine and the genocide in Gaza.
In the time since October 7, 2023, many Palestinians and allies in the Los Angeles community heavily relied on Astralab as a community space.
Local community gatherings and political discussions took place there in spite of Los Angeles’s ardently Zionist infrastructure.
“One thing became clear at Astralab: people aren’t just searching for entertainment,” Lila said.
“People in LA are deeply yearning for belonging, meaning, inner growth, inspiration, and authentic human connection.”
There have been multiple reports and firsthand accounts of immigrants feeling unsafe and isolated , with the increase of ICE raids and attacks on local immigrant communities.
There lies a strong challenge in integrating into American society or feeling welcomed in community spaces.
Third spaces can help them get reconnected with their roots and feel a bond to something more familiar.
“Diaspora communities are composed of immigrants who often don’t feel warmly welcomed in the communities they land in,” Schulz said to Knock LA.
“Third spaces give them a place to be surrounded by like-minded others in the community.
When people feel safe, their nervous systems are regulated and they react in a more measured and logical way which helps foster more harmony.”
Lila mentioned how many diaspora communities are unable to access their culture in the US.
She reflected on how many in the diaspora tend to get stuck in spaces that don’t necessarily reflect diversity or being in religious spaces that many may not align fully with.
“We did our best to bring back to life the diverse spectrum of the various cultures at our showcases and immersions,” she told Knock LA.
“Where a Mexican woman for the first time got to experience Mayan poetic divination for example.
We need to create spaces where we can awaken our ancestral activities, unique to our DNA.”
There lies the crucial importance in sustaining these spaces in order for diaspora to continue upholding cultural and ancestral traditions that folks may never have the chance to experience if it weren’t for these gatherings and spaces.
When asked why she believes there is such a decrease in third spaces, Lila told Knock LA that much of the problem is systemic.
“Many of the things society says it values — community, culture, diversity, creativity, social cohesion — are tough to measure in economics, but the invisible value created by third spaces often flows outward to the entire city like underground seeds blossoming in thousands of untraceable ways, while the costs remain concentrated on the organizers, pushing them to exhaustion and depletion.”
Schultz expanded on this and said, “Third spaces are breeding grounds for community, creativity, and collaboration.
They inspire people to take action against oppression and injustice.
When they get pushed out, creativity and community diminish as does resistance against oppressive systems.”
Lila expressed how when she and her cofounder, Yusuf, started Astralab in Westlake many friends were against it, expressing that it was the worst part of LA, and that it was the armpit of the city.
“A lot of even our own friends from fancy neighborhoods refused to come, they felt scared or weirded out by the neighborhood,” she said.
“Now LA Local is writing that Westlake is the new secret Arts District of Los Angeles, the neighborhood that was LA’s original arts district with the original Cal Arts, galleries, studios, and arts associations.”
As Los Angeles gets increasingly expensive and privatized, the disappearance of third spaces has instilled concern and worry throughout the city.
It begins to raise larger questions, like where do people go to exist and build community together?
Where do people like the Palestinian diaspora go to grieve the deaths of their family members or the loss of their homeland?
Where do they go to feel connected to others?
These third spaces have welcomed and celebrated the desire for belonging, now it is up to LA residents to help sustain them.
The post Los Angeles is Losing Third Spaces appeared first on Knock LA .
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