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BLM co-founder debuts homeless youth documentary as Trump sweeps encampments in DC
The documentary "Close to Home" spotlights systemic failures impacting over 4,100 homeless youth in Los Angeles County, advocating care-first solutions amid national crackdowns on encampments.
- In August 2025, President Donald Trump launched a major operation targeting homeless encampments in Washington, D.C., deploying more than 800 National Guard troops and placing the Metropolitan Police Department under federal oversight.
- This crackdown took place against a backdrop of growing youth homelessness across the country, with nearly 150,000 children under 18 experiencing homelessness in 2024—a rise of one-third compared to the year before—and an escalating crisis in Los Angeles County.
- Patrisse Cullors, known for co-founding the Black Lives Matter movement, released a 30-minute documentary titled Close to Home that features four youth leaders from LA Emissary advocating for a compassionate, solution-oriented approach to addressing housing issues within a system that often fails vulnerable populations.
- Cullors referred to the film as a “love letter” to her younger self and highlighted how its release coincides with a federal approach that sharply contrasts with the film’s message, while Detrell Harrell, the 21-year-old coordinator at LA Emissary, expressed that young people are often treated like disposable objects rather than human beings.
- The crackdown and the documentary’s release underscore ongoing failures in government programs aiding youth homelessness and highlight growing concerns over increased policing and National Guard deployments in U.S. cities.
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The artist and author Patrisse Cullors, best known for her role in the co-founding of the Black Lives Matter movement more than a decade ago, says she has written a love letter to a younger version of herself who knew what it was like to be homeless and seek attention from inadequate systems. With the documentary "Close to Home", Cullors sought to provide a platform for homeless young people in Los Angeles who advocate a focus on care and housin…
Patrisse Cullors' New Documentary Highlights LA's Youth Homelessness Crisis
Source: Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors is drawing national attention to the youth homelessness crisis in Los Angeles with her latest project, a short documentary titled Close to Home. Through Close to Home, Cullors aims to amplify the voices of homeless youth in LA, particularly those advocating for a “care-first, solutions-driven approach” to housing. The film highlights how systems often fail vulnerable …
Associated Press News
BLM co-founder debuts homeless youth documentary as Trump sweeps encampments in DC
Artist and author Patrisse Cullors has written a love letter to a younger version of herself who knew what it was like to be homeless.
97.9 The Beat
Patrisse Cullors’ New Documentary Highlights LA’s Youth Homelessness Crisis
Source: Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors is drawing national attention to the youth homelessness crisis in Los Angeles with her latest project, a short documentary titled Close to Home. Through Close to Home, Cullors aims to amplify the voices of homeless youth in LA, particularly those advocating for a “care-first, solutions-driven approach” to housing. The film highlights how systems often fail vulnerable …
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