What you should know about Gloria Molina Day in Los Angeles – NBC Los Angeles

Los Angeles will honor a community leader on Thursday with the unveiling of a mural, a new art exhibit and the premiere of a Gloria Molina Day tribute piece.

Molina, who died of cancer on May 14, 2023 at age 74, was the first Latina to serve as a Los Angeles County councilwoman, City Council member and Assembly member. The events come one day after the City Council officially declared August 29 as Gloria Molina Day.

This is how she will be remembered on Thursday in Los Angeles.

Events for Gloria Molina Day

On Thursday at 5:15 p.m., Mayor Karen Bass and other dignitaries will attend the dedication of a mural honoring Molina, commissioned from artist Margaret Garcia.

At 6:45 p.m., the Casa 0101 Theater will host a reception and viewing of a new art exhibition entitled “Gloria Molina: Madrina of the Eastside.”

Following the exhibition, guests will attend the premiere of “A Woman Called Gloria” by playwright Josefina López at the Gloria Molina Auditorium at 8 p.m.

About Gloria Molina

Molina, who grew up in Pico Rivera, was active in the early days of the Chicano Movement and was committed to women’s health issues – a commitment she continued during her time as an elected politician. She also founded a nurse mentoring program at local community colleges to address the shortage of nurses at the time.

She won her first elected office in 1982, when she secured a seat in the 56th congressional district and eventually led a fight to prevent the construction of a prison in East Los Angeles.

Molina won the First District City Council seat in 1987 and was elected to the Board of Supervisors from the district’s First District in 1991. She served as a Supervisor until 2014 and became known as an astute fiscal watchdog before leaving office. Her district included Koreatown, Pico-Union, East Los Angeles and parts of the San Gabriel Valley.

Molina was also the first woman elected to the board of directors – once known as the “Five Little Kings” – although Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, who was appointed to fill a vacancy, was the first woman to serve on the board.

Before her election, Molina worked as Deputy Presidential Staff in the White House under Jimmy Carter.

In recognition of her leadership, in 2023 the Board of Directors renamed Grand Park—a project Molina also spearheaded—in her honor. It is now called Gloria Molina Grand Park.