Standing beside Ester Hernandez\u2019s striking \u201cSun Mad\u201d<\/a> screenprint, a satirical spin on the popular raisin brand\u2019s logo, former Self Help Graphics & Art director and parent volunteer tour guide Marvella Muro reminded the Monarchs of the ground rules \u2014 respect the space, respect the artwork and speak up \u2014 before noting some of the injustices that inspired the art on the walls before them. Muro went over matters of of farmworkers\u2019 rights, women\u2019s rights, environmental justice and cultural identity, before prompting a Monarch to share a personal example of injustice.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to play soccer at my school, but the boys wouldn\u2019t let me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Artist and parent Marissa Magdalena Sykes<\/a>, who grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and is the first in her family to not work in the fields, chimed in.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s OK to be frustrated,\u201d Sykes told the girls. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be happy all the time, but it\u2019s important to channel that frustration into something useful. Think about what makes you angry, and use what you care about to change herstory.\u201d<\/p>\n Quetzalli \u201cQ\u201d Domingo, left, and Ramona Sunshine Herrera play tag at a Radical Monarchs troop meeting.<\/p>\n (Jill Connelly \/ For De Los)<\/p>\n When her fourth-grader wanted to join the Girl Scouts, San Francisco native Anayvette Rivera-Amador<\/a> was torn. She didn\u2019t 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<\/a>, created one.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted a group that centered her experience, brilliance and power as a young girl of color,\u201d said Rivera-Amador, who has a master\u2019s degree in ethnic studies from UC San Francisco. \u201cA space where she could learn about her ancestors, culture and political education along with her peers, think critically and ask questions.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2014, Rivera-Amador and Hollinquest founded the Radical Monarchs<\/a> in Oakland \u2014 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.<\/p>\n 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. <\/p>\n 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\u2019s Great Wall of Los Angeles, in the San Fernando Valley.<\/p>\n \u201cL.A. is a special place that\u2019s close to my heart,\u201d said Rivera-Amador, 45, who has a B.A. in Chicana\/o and Central American Studies from UCLA and has family in the area. \u201cThere\u2019s so much history, community and resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n A Radical Love badge and Radical Monarchs patch on Elle Fitch\u2019s vest at a Radical Monarchs troop meeting.<\/p>\n (Jill Connelly \/ For De Los)<\/p>\n L.A. is also extremely segregated. LAUSD ranks in the top 10 most segregated school districts in the country<\/a>, causing educational disparities and racial intolerance. A 2025 report from the Civil Rights Project<\/a> 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<\/a> and We Are One<\/a> immigrants rights campaign, the Trump administration joined a lawsuit<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a good opportunity for her to connect with other Latina and African American students,\u201d said Vanessa Mendez, whose 9-year-old daughter attends a majority-Asian elementary school in San Gabriel and joined the Radical Monarchs in June.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe level of anti-Blackness at his school was unreal,\u201d said McNair, who enrolled her kids in a nearby private school. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a> practices weren\u2019t implemented. Neither were bilingual parent workshops about systemic racism.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI want her to be aware of the social issues that exist in our community and create change,\u201d said Marylu Castillo, whose 9-year-old daughter attends a dual language school in Alhambra and is in the El Sereno troop. \u201cParents are stepping up. We, as a collective, as a community, are helping raise our children.\u201d<\/p>\n Radical Monarchs troop members in El Sereno create a zine.<\/p>\n (Jill Connelly \/ For De Los)<\/p>\n Monarchs meet twice a month for a three-year cycle, earning badges with names like \u201cRadical Love,\u201d which explores self-love and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as \u201cRadical Roots,\u201d which tap into BIPOC history and cultural empowerment, or \u201cPachamama Justice,\u201d teaching the importance of tending to Mother Earth. Troops attend city council meetings, fundraise for causes like the Palestinian Children\u2019s Relief Fund<\/a> and contribute to local mutual aid efforts.<\/p>\n Enrollment is on a sliding scale \u2014 anywhere from $90-$280 a year \u2014 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\u2019re excited to talk about everything they learned once they get home.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to expose her to new ideas and be involved in the community,\u201d 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<\/a> on PBS. \u201cWe don\u2019t have family locally, but we built a network of friends and auntie figures so my daughter feels secure and loved.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Quetzalli](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774717343_469_.jpeg\")
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