Erika D. Smith
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, CA, United States
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Past articles by Erika:
Time to panic? The home insurance market in California is collapsing because of climate change
Even as insurers flee California, lawmakers couldn't hammer out a deal to fix the collapsing market. Inaction will only make disasters more expensive. → Read More
Column: If not cops or guns, what will it take to make us feel safe? L.A. has a new answer
It hasn't gotten much attention, but L.A.’s new Office of Community Safety could be key overcoming polarization over crime, policing and public safety. → Read More
Column: Trump and the NRA might be right about guns — and we mostly have ourselves to blame
Based on polls, one would think backing laws that permit more guns would be a losing idea politically. But Americans are already armed to the teeth. → Read More
Mark Ridley-Thomas guilty verdict doesn't feel like justice
A jury found the longtime politician guilty in a sprawling federal case involving a quid pro quo with USC. Replacing him won't be easy for Black L.A. → Read More
'Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992' reboot shows L.A. still broken
Thirty years after its premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, the seminal play on the 1992 uprising after the LAPD's beating of Rodney King is back in L.A. → Read More
Column: The real and complicated reasons why Los Angeles still has so many RV encampments
There aren't enough trucks to tow or space to park large vehicles. But those issues pale in comparison to changing the mindset of many who live in RVs. → Read More
Column: How California could become the model for getting cops out of traffic stops
A new bill would limit pretextual traffic stops and let cities use unarmed employees instead. It'll never pass without activists like Patrisse Cullors. → Read More
Tyre Nichols: A martyr for Memphis, but a son of Sacramento
As a skater growing up in a diverse suburb, he 'loved everyone,' even as he knew racism existed and cops could use it against him. It happened in Memphis. → Read More
What Tyre Nichols, Rodney King tell us about race, policing
With five Black ex-cops charged with murder in Memphis, Tenn., Lora King reflects on what has changed since her father was beaten by the LAPD in 1991. → Read More
In Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, it's 'one of our own'
After Huu Can Tran, Chunli Zhao is the second Asian American man this week to be accused in a mass shooting of other Asian Americans in California. → Read More
Mourning Keenan Anderson and MLK's dream on police brutality
Keenan Anderson, cousin of a BLM founder, is among three men of color who have died this year after encounters with LAPD officers. A vigil was packed. → Read More
Tracy Kidder on healing and homelessness in 'Rough Sleepers'
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder joins the Los Angeles Times Book Club on Jan. 26 to discuss his newest book, "Rough Sleepers.' → Read More
California storm: Homeless on island confront climate change
With storms battering Northern California, the dozens who live in tents on Bannon Island are among the most at risk. → Read More
Why Black people losing Bruce's Beach matters to reparations
Not everyone is happy the family of Willa and Charles Bruce are selling their beachfront property for $20 million, just months after it was returned. → Read More
Mayor Karen Bass wants L.A. to believe again. Black women do
No mayor comes into office without expectations. But being a first like Karen Bass, a Black woman leading Los Angeles, comes with additional pressures. → Read More
Column: Representation matters. But a Mayor Karen Bass means more for Black women in L.A.
In defeating billionaire Rick Caruso, the congresswoman joins a growing group of Black women attaining real power in elected office across California. → Read More
A perfect job for the loser of the Los Angeles mayor's race
Karen Bass keeps expanding her lead over Rick Caruso. But lots of voters liked both candidates. Why not use that to meet some of L.A.'s biggest needs? → Read More
Column: If California finally starts cracking down on rogue sheriffs, thank Alex Villanueva
The L.A. County sheriff's hatred of oversight has led voters to back Measure A, eroding the power of future sheriffs. He's also losing to Robert Luna. → Read More
Column: What the mayoral election could mean for Black political power in L.A.
The latest poll shows Karen Bass and Rick Caruso in a dead heat. I can’t help but wonder what it would mean for racial and ethnic relations in L.A. if she lost. → Read More
The pointless, egoistical L.A. apology tour of Kevin de León
In interviews over the leaked racist audio, the activist-turned-politician is talking himself into irrelevancy rather than quit the L.A. City Council. → Read More