Does LA have a black v. brown problem? If so, how do we identify and address it?

Hear from four big thinkers and writers on Tuesday night at USC. The panel discussion between Héctor Tobar, Dana Johnson, Helena Maria Viramontes and Erin Aubry Kaplan starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Davidson Conference Center on the main USC campus south of downtown. This is a free event (but there's no mention of free parking, so that will probably cost you).

From the promo:

In Los Angeles, the headlines continue to mount. A 14-year-old African American girl is killed by a Latino gang member. An African American bus driver orders Latino passengers off the bus. A 14 percent increase in gang-related crime is linked to interracial conflict. The Harbor Gateway community is divided by a black-and-brown border, turning corner grocery stores into racial battle zones. The Latino pro-immigration movement is declared a “new civil rights movement,” and there’s talk of African American “movement envy.” Black and Latino students are in conflict at Jefferson High School and Crenshaw High School.

How have Los Angeles–based African American and Latino/a writers dealt with race in their work? How have their backgrounds — family, community, neighborhood — shaped the way they see the city and the way they imagine the city’s racial future? Several renowned writers will come together to explore these and other questions around black and Latina/o relations in L.A.

More here.