Million Dollar Hoods is based at UCLA and draws on combined experience of community members and advisors whose areas of expertise span disciplines. Left to right: Dr. David C. Turner III, assistant professor of Black life and racial justice; Mariah Tso, geographic information systems (GIS) specialist; Professor Kelly Lytle Hernández; Marques Vestal, assistant professor of urban planning and critical Black urbanism; and Trudy Goodwin (“Mama Tru”), community activist and project advisor.  

Seated and standing in an interior meeting space, a group of five researchers and collaborators on the project Million Dollar Hoods, gave directly at the camera.

A historian, professor Kelly Lytle Hernández, in profile

In LA, mass incarceration equals mass elimination ... It was more about targeting communities for purging and banishment.

Inside the office of Dr. David Turner III, who began his work with Million Dollar Hoods as a community organizing partner.

In the corner of an acadmic office, a bookshelf is filled with colorful book spines on the right. On the left, a photo of a group of people are huddled together with heads bowed. An oscillating fan sits in front of the photo.

On a wall, a black bandana with the word "Wake me when I'm free" attributed to Tupac Shakur is displayed above a black and white image of the rapper Tupac Shakur

A Black male professor gazes at the camera, wearing a hat with the word "DREAM" and other wording that is not visible

We’re providing data and research to give movements more ammunition.

A look at the collaborative, community-driven research effort of Million Dollar Hoods, a UCLA-based project focused on ending mass incarceration 

Million Dollar Hoods-Archiving the Age of Mass Incarceration

In 2016, Professor Kelly Lytle Hernández founded Million Dollar Hoods. She now serves as the project’s principal advisor.

A historian stands in an archway and with a direct gaze at the camera.

OpenGraph WhatAretheCostsofMassIncarcerationinLosAngeles

What Are the Costs of Mass Incarceration in Los Angeles?

Artists as Catalysts

Artists as Catalysts Navigation Image

Beyond Incarceration

A side profile of a Black poet who is wearing glasses and a hat with a feather hat pin.

Borderlands Cultures

In portrait orientation, an aerial view of a major highway running parallel to a large border wall set on a hilly landscape

Civic Engagement

A man in a brown jacket stands in front of blue bulletin board that is covered with papers and advertisements  

Evolving Higher Education

A vertical image of an Indigenous person who is sitting on a chair in front of a backdrop.

Expanding Public Knowledge

An interior room filled with audio and video equipment 

Monuments and Memory

A multicolored painted totem pole set in front of a foggy forest landscape

Multivocality

Five people stand together in a group photo. They are laughing and smiling.

Power of the Word

Five colorful neon signs hang on the wall with messages that include, "Freedom cannot wait," "Brown owned," and "America is for Dreamers."

Public Places‚ Public Stories

A group of Indigenous Maskoke people stand and sit in the wooden frame of a structure in a woods

Puerto Rico and Its Diaspora

In a vertical image, a black leather vest is adorned with colorful pins across the front of it. Embroidery on the vest reads: "Felícitas "La Prieta" Méndez" 

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