Letters to the Editor: 88 years later, 'Migrant Mother' is still reality on Skid Row

To the editor: Your article and photos showing the reality of children and their parents living on Skid Row is reminiscent of the most iconic photograph taken in 1936 by Dorothea Lange, titled "Migrant Mother." That photo showed a destitute mother covered in dirt with three of her children, exposing the punishing conditions endured by migrant farmworkers in California 88 years ago.

Los Angeles is a city that wears two different faces — one of wealth and success, the other of suffering. Stories such as those of families on Skid Row are vital to tell now, so we can change this situation so it isn't happening 88 years from now.

Our city leaders have failed miserably for decades to effectively address this problem. We have become numb to it and avert our eyes from the struggles of so many in need.

I am sure Dorothea Lange wouldn't want what she depicted in 1936 to be happening in 2024. Yet her important, historic work stands the test of time as it continues to remind us of the conditions for so many in America just trying to survive.

Frances Terrell Lippman, Sherman Oaks

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.