A love letter to South Central LA. Two local artists highlight a community often overlooked

Erick Solis and Marvin Valencia grew up together, walking and skating the streets they are now documenting and showcasing to the world.

If you live in or are from Los Angeles, you’ve likely come across the videos created by the two lifelong friends. Powered by a drone, a camera, and most importantly, the love for their community, the visionary duo, known artistically as South Central L.A. Clips, have documented and highlighted the people, businesses and talent within a community that is often overlooked. 

As heavy ICE presence has affected the business and economy of many small businesses in the area, Solis and Valencia, both self-proclaimed “introverts,” began showing up for their community in the best way they could, by documenting and storytelling.

Their videos, characterized by vertical drone shots, no narration and at times, calls to action to protect the immigrant community in L.A., have gained millions of views on social media. South Central L.A. Clips has expanded from not only highlighting historical and popular corners of South Central but also interviewing local businesses and vendors, with the hope that multimedia exposure can help bring more clientele in order to support the local economy in times of uncertainty and mass deportations. 

One of their most recent viral videos featured different corners of L.A. with illustrations of gathering places abandoned by immigrants seeking work as landscapers, construction workers and street vendors, bringing attention to the effects of the excessive federal immigration raids in immigrant-enriched neighborhoods. 

“In South Central, there is a lot of rich culture and community; documenting that is very special to us,” Solis told CALÓ News. 

Love for their community 

But behind the documentarians who have now been featured in various local and national outlets is a friendship of 20 years. 

The friendship between Solis and Valencia, both 31 years old, dates back to a time when Solis moved to the same street where Valencia’s family lived. The then-teens, being neighbors, began walking together to and from George Washington Carver Middle School, a local public school in South Central L.A. 

Although they are no longer neighbors today, they both continue to reside in South Central, a place that has been an epicenter not only for their creative and artistic work but also their friendship, which they said has transformed into a brotherhood. 

A fusion between Solis’s creativity and Valencia’s ability to navigate the sky via a drone is how the first few videos of South Central L.A.Clips came to life. “At that time, he had expertise in the creative aspects of these videos, and I knew how to work a drone,” Valencia said.

Solis agreed, attributing Valencia's drone skills to another of his hobbies. “He's been a gamer for years; I think those control skills definitely help,” he said.

The start

In 2020, amidst the pandemic, the duo began uploading drone footage of South Central’s well-known interactions through Instagram. “It started with highlighting the spots that we grew up in, those places and corners that meant something to us as kids,” Valencia said. 

For Solis, who has loved documenting and archiving since early childhood, the videos were the first way to practice that more purposefully. “Some of our very first videos were of places that were just nostalgic to us, and slowly as we did that, we discovered more places in South Central that were and are nostalgic to other people,” he said. 

They began uploading more frequently after their videos received a positive response from local community members, many of whom had not seen real footage of South Central filmed via a drone. 

“We were able to showcase  South Central through the way we see it, which is the beautiful part of this,” Valencia said. “A drone shot is different from a regular video or picture; it gives a higher and better visibility of the neighborhoods.” 

Through the reading of comments and feedback, he quickly noticed how much South Central meant to other people as well. “People often comment that they recognize certain streets and shops, or that they’re able to see the street they grew up in and the videos often bring memories to many people who do not live here anymore,” he said.

ICE raids 

Since June, the community of South Central has been heavily hit by multiple ICE raids, many of which start in the early hours of the morning, igniting dozens of community members to self-mobilize and enact community patrolling tactics. In the last few months, for South Central L.A. Clips, safeguarding and protecting the immigrant community has also taken a different form: incentivizing community members to shop local and support street vendors as well as small businesses, many of which are powered by families of mixed status and immigrant labor.

Usually on weekends, equipped with microphones, a camera, their drone, and an inviting attitude, Valencia and Solis visit small, local businesses, such as coffee shops, restaurants, barbershops and even boxing gyms, to offer their video services for free. 

Through a three-minute video, oftentimes less, South Central L.A. Clips shares the story of the specific business in hopes that this can keep families employed, vendors afloat and the local immigrant economy secured. 

In July, South Central L.A. Clips released a video featuring the Alameda Swap Meet, a local and iconic marketplace where more than 100 vendors had been experiencing financial hardship due to the low clientele following the ICE raids. 

“Now more than ever, it’s up to us to show up,” the duo wrote in the video caption, calling on more than 31,000 of their followers. 

Solis said the decision to highlight the importance of immigrants in communities like South Central L.A. came naturally for both, as immigration rights are a personal issue and a value they hold deeply.“There’s been a big shift coming in how South Central is viewed,” he said. “It's a representation of the immigrant community here in [the U.S.]” 

Connecting with community 

More than a quick promotional video, Valencia said that for them it is much more important to truly connect, build trust and listen to the needs of the businesses and the people behind them. 

“It's not just shooting and posting [the video]; we're also there to do what we can,” he said. “Sometimes the businesses we visit don't understand social media or have never had a social media presence. We know how important that is. Many times we’ve helped businesses set up their social media page and the video we shoot ends up being their first post.” 

When asked about the future of South Central L.A. Clips, Solis said he’d like the community of South Central to continue to be the leading and central focus of their work. “We are behind the page, but the focal point of it all leads back to South Central,” he said. 

Despite their growing success in social media, Solis and Valencia said they are learning how to find creative ways to answer the call of documenting working-class communities like South Central while being solely self-funded. 

He said in the last few months, they had to think of creative ways to keep their efforts afloat and continue to bring more light to issues impacting Latinos. “We have full-time jobs and do this on the side,” Solis said. “It's a two-man operation and one way to self-fund is to create merchandise.” 

Last month, South Central L.A. Clips released shirts and hats with “South Central L.A.” and “90011” printed on them, highlighting the neighborhood and zip code their initiative began in and continues to focus on. According to Solis, the funds made through the merchandise will be utilized to further invest in the storytelling services they have become known for.

Valencia said they will continue to look for additional business and vendors to spotlight within the community and continue to highlight the beauty and richness of South Central L.A. 

“South Central to me means a lot. It's a lot of memories, nostalgia and family,” he said. “Every time I drive through these streets, I remember walking through here with my mom, my dad and my sisters.”

Solis said he is excited and proud to be able to show South Central L.A. in a different, more positive light than it usually is in mainstream media. 

“When I think about South Central, I think about resilience and talent and although it is a very disparage community held back because of economic reasons, I think we are starting to see a shift in it. We are starting to see a lot of people starting to go to college and getting educated. Those kids are coming back to heal the communities and build up business,” Solis said.