On a warm Sunday afternoon in February, the Huntington Library was packed with Lunar New Year festivities and early spring fever. A dozen giddy preteens gathered at the entrance, eager to walk on the pristinely landscaped San Marino grounds. Sporting brown berets and screen-printed vests with colorful hand-sewn badges, they followed chaperones inside as guests waiting in line recognized them.
“Oh, my God,” one fangirl said as another clapped. “It’s the Radical Monarchs!”
Remaining calm and composed amid the applause, the tightknit group of girls strutted straight past bright red-clothed calligraphy tables and tea ceremonies to the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery for the highly anticipated “Radical Histories” exhibit, spanning six decades of Chicanx and Indigenous resistance and cultural reclamation through printmaking.
Standing beside Ester Hernandez’s striking “Sun Mad” screenprint, a satirical spin on the popular raisin brand’s logo, former Self Help Graphics & Art director and parent volunteer tour guide Marvella Muro reminded the Monarchs of the ground rules — respect the space, respect the artwork and speak up — before noting some of the injustices that inspired the art on the walls before them. Muro went over matters of of farmworkers’ rights, women’s rights, environmental justice and cultural identity, before prompting a Monarch to share a personal example of injustice.
“I wanted to play soccer at my school, but the boys wouldn’t let me,” she said.
Artist and parent Marissa Magdalena Sykes, who grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and is the first in her family to not work in the fields, chimed in.
“It’s OK to be frustrated,” Sykes told the girls. “You don’t have to be happy all the time, but it’s important to channel that frustration into something useful. Think about what makes you angry, and use what you care about to change herstory.”
When her fourth-grader wanted to join the Girl Scouts, San Francisco native Anayvette Rivera-Amador was torn. She didn’t want her to be the only brown girl in the troop. A child of immigrants whose parents descend from Nicaragua and El Salvador, Rivera-Amador wanted a more inclusive space for her daughter to build confidence, learn about social justice issues and give back to the community, not just sell cookies. When she realized no such space existed, she and her close friend, Marilyn Hollinquest, created one.
“I wanted a group that centered her experience, brilliance and power as a young girl of color,” said Rivera-Amador, who has a master’s degree in ethnic studies from UC San Francisco. “A space where she could learn about her ancestors, culture and political education along with her peers, think critically and ask questions.”
In 2014, Rivera-Amador and Hollinquest founded the Radical Monarchs in Oakland — giving girls and gender expansive youth of color ages 8 through 13 a safe space to practice self-love, sisterhood and activism. Inspired by social justice movements like the Black Panther Party and Brown Berets, the queer-identifying activists juggled full-time jobs while surveying the community, securing funding and creating a curriculum informed by decades of youth development and education experience.
After years of being inundated by requests to start troops across the country, the Radical Monarchs spread to nearby cities like San Francisco, Richmond and Alameda and as far as Denver, New York and Minneapolis. In 2023, they became a 501c3 and launched in South Los Angeles and Long Beach the year after.
Last year, in the midst of raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Radical Monarchs started a troop in El Sereno. The group brought 17 girls from the Eastside and the San Gabriel Valley together at local community gardens and historic murals, like Judy Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley.
“L.A. is a special place that’s close to my heart,” said Rivera-Amador, 45, who has a B.A. in Chicana/o and Central American Studies from UCLA and has family in the area. “There’s so much history, community and resistance.”
L.A. is also extremely segregated. LAUSD ranks in the top 10 most segregated school districts in the country, causing educational disparities and racial intolerance. A 2025 report from the Civil Rights Project found that Black and Latino students were concentrated in schools with high rates of poverty. While the Los Angeles Unified School District addresses inequities with programs like Black Student Achievement Plan and We Are One immigrants rights campaign, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit attempting to reverse decades of equity efforts. In the absence of ethnic studies, groups like Radical Monarchs help bridge the lack of racial diversity and cultural competency in schools.
“This was a good opportunity for her to connect with other Latina and African American students,” said Vanessa Mendez, whose 9-year-old daughter attends a majority-Asian elementary school in San Gabriel and joined the Radical Monarchs in June.
In 2023, Angela McNair, an attorney from L.A. who inquired about the Radical Monarchs for her daughter, pulled her two children out of a majority-Latino LAUSD elementary school in Highland Park after her son was called the N-word by students.
“The level of anti-Blackness at his school was unreal,” said McNair, who enrolled her kids in a nearby private school. “I talked to the principal and the local district, but no one seemed to see how horribly it affected him. No one even admitted it was hate speech. I had to keep him home and eventually withdrew him from the district. He missed a month of fourth grade, but at least I knew he was safe.”
Though the school principal coordinated a presentation for the students by a licensed LAUSD clinical social worker on the history of the N-word, restorative justice practices weren’t implemented. Neither were bilingual parent workshops about systemic racism.
As parents struggle to raise empathetic kids amid a post-pandemic mental health crisis with major concerns about the negative impact of technology and a bleak political climate, groups like the Radical Monarchs are essential sociopolitical support systems.
“I want her to be aware of the social issues that exist in our community and create change,” said Marylu Castillo, whose 9-year-old daughter attends a dual language school in Alhambra and is in the El Sereno troop. “Parents are stepping up. We, as a collective, as a community, are helping raise our children.”
Monarchs meet twice a month for a three-year cycle, earning badges with names like “Radical Love,” which explores self-love and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as “Radical Roots,” which tap into BIPOC history and cultural empowerment, or “Pachamama Justice,” teaching the importance of tending to Mother Earth. Troops attend city council meetings, fundraise for causes like the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and contribute to local mutual aid efforts.
Enrollment is on a sliding scale — anywhere from $90-$280 a year — and each troop has three adult volunteer leaders who get trained on the curriculum, facilitate meetings and communicate with parents. Though some parents say it can be a struggle to get their daughters to attend meetings on the weekends, they’re excited to talk about everything they learned once they get home.
“I want to expose her to new ideas and be involved in the community,” said El Sereno troop leader Francesca Lafayette, 43, who grew up in San Diego and Dallas and learned about the Radical Monarchs watching their documentary on PBS. “We don’t have family locally, but we built a network of friends and auntie figures so my daughter feels secure and loved.”
The documentary, “We Are the Radical Monarchs,” debuted at SXSW in 2019 and followed the first cohort as they took to the streets in support of Black Lives Matter, attended a women’s march after Donald Trump’s first election victory and met with policymakers in Sacramento. The film also showed attacks by conservative TV commentator Sean Hannity, who accused parents of exploiting girls, sparking a right-wing media frenzy and even threats to the organization.
“The safety of our kids is always No. 1,” said Martinez, who prefers that Monarchs remain anonymous.
Last year, the organization was hit hard by Trump-imposed anti-diversity, equity and inclusion funding cuts and had to lay off half of their staff. Rivera-Amador, Hollinquest and a couple contractors are all that remain on payroll.
“We’re a national organization, and we’re managing it all ourselves,” said Rivera-Amador, who is looking to replace two El Sereno troop leaders who couldn’t continue due to personal issues. “It’s really hard. Fundraising is dire right now for folks doing the work we do.”
The age range served by the Radical Monarchs is a critical time for girls, as puberty and the transition to middle school can be challenging. Parents say having positive women of color as role models is crucial for building self-confidence in girls of color. It also helps to be surrounded by like-minded families while the community is under attack by ICE.
“This is a scary time in history,” said Mendez. “The girls got to pick apples and berries on the first day of orientation. Knowing this group is going to be held within a space like a garden … there’s healing in that.”
An 8-year-old Monarch named Margaux agreed.
“I love getting to do all the fun stuff like eating in the garden and making new friends,” she said.
The post The Radical Monarchs launch in L.A. to school girls on social justice appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
