LA vs Hate and Hear Me Out Unveil “The Healing Fields” Mural in South LA
LA vs Hate and Hear Me Out came together to unveil “The Healing Fields,” a new mural in South Los Angeles created by local artist Kenneth Webb in partnership with Hear Me Out. Sunday’s event is part of LA vs Hate’s Signs of Solidarity campaign, a community-driven campaign created to push back against rising hate, discrimination, and division by spreading public signage—like murals, posters, and yard signs—that help build a sense of shared identity grounded in inclusion and respect for diversity.
The mural was unveiled at the Hear Me Out center in South LA, where youth and adults who are returning home from incarceration access healing programs and life-skills education. “The Healing Fields” mural builds on LA vs Hate’s Signs of Solidarity campaign: earlier this summer, LA vs Hate unveiled another mural, “Sabr at Fajr” meaning “Patience at Daybreak” at the Islamic Center of Southern California. Together, these murals are part of a growing movement to reclaim public space and make visible LA County’s shared values of dignity, inclusion, and care.
Created in partnership with LA vs Hate, “The Healing Fields” was led by community healers and formerly incarcerated leaders, Tobias Tubbs and artist Kenneth Webb from local nonprofit Hear Me Out. Located in LA County’s Second Supervisorial District—where there has been a documented rise in hate crimes against Black and Brown communities, and between them—this mural serves as an art intervention grounded in historical solidarity and shared cultural resilience. Tubbs and Webb, both raised in South LA during the height of violence in the 1990s and later incarcerated, have returned to serve their communities through healing, mentorship, and creative expression. The project also brings together formerly incarcerated artists and organizers from the Samoan, Cambodian, Black, and Latino communities, who are mentoring youth from the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory and contributing to the mural’s completion.
The mural represents the journey of transformation—through pain, growth, and perseverance. At its center is a striking image of a hand: a metaphor for duality, showing that the same hand that causes harm can also heal, restore, and plant something new. “The Healing Fields” mural represents the reconnection to self, to each other, the ancestors, and to the Earth through sowing the seeds of consciousness, love, and solidarity in our collective quest to combat hate in Los Angeles County, one neighborhood at a time.
The unveiling brought together dozens of residents, community leaders, advocates, and artists, including performances by the Chumash Cultural Collective Singers, Ketzaliztli Danza Azteca, Puentes De Poder Afro Cuban and Afro Brazilian tradition, poetry by Genea Richardson, and Leimert Park Kabasa Drummers. Lastly, Akinsanya Kambon, a former Black Panther and American world-renowned artist and art professor, will be conducting a clay sculpture workshop on creating an Olmec stone head.
The mural will remain a lasting marker of healing and community vision at Hear Me Out, where reentry youth gather to build skills, confidence, and connections through culturally rooted programming in nutrition, permaculture, sports, and storytelling.
LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, Second District, who represents the area where “The Healing Fields” mural and event took place, provided taped acknowledgements to celebrate the unveiling. “This mural depicts our connection to each other, our planet, and those that came before us. I’m proud that this location in South LA, which has been pivotal in providing housing and services to support our young people in accessing opportunities, will now be the home of this inspiring art, highlighting our shared humanity.” Watch her remarks below:
“This mural is a declaration that even in communities most impacted by harm, hope can take root,” said Robin Toma, Executive Director of the LA County Commission on Human Relations, part of the Executive Office of the LA County Board of Supervisors. “‘The Healing Fields’ reflects what LA vs Hate stands for—making our shared values visible through art, community, and presence. While each LA vs Hate mural carries a different message, together they speak with one voice: that there is strength in our solidarity, and power in our diversity.”
“Every image in this mural speaks to what we live and teach at Hear Me Out—that transformation is possible, that young people deserve love, not punishment, and that healing starts with how we see each other,” said Tobias Tubbs, co-founder of Hear Me Out and Huma House. “‘The Healing Fields’ plants a seed for generations to come, right here where the soil has been hardest.”
“This mural is about the turning point—the moment after devastation where healing becomes a decision,” said artist Kenneth Webb. "The bottle of violence, the protest flames, the city in turmoil...it all leads to a hand that could either sow or destroy. ‘The Healing Fields’ speaks to what it means to rebuild while remembering. To choose life even after loss. Working with LA vs Hate and Hear Me Out allowed me to bridge this story with real healing work on the ground—where community action is the seed, and transformation is the harvest.”
“In our collective efforts to highlight the transformative and insightful nature of both love and hate, artist Kenneth Webb reveals in his mural hidden truths and perspectives about a world in chaos, deeply in need of peace,” added Fidel Rodriguez, senior staff of the Commission’s LA vs Hate team. “The mural exhibits subliminal messages of hope planted in artistic seeds of consciousness, to help others become aware of what they might be overlooking, whether it's a hidden beauty, a potential flaw, or a deeper truth that can transform our perceptual reality.”
Following the report of a 45% increase in reported hate crimes in LA County, LA vs Hate’s Signs of Solidarity campaign has launched across Westlake, San Pedro, Pico-Robertson, Koreatown, and Santa Monica, and will soon expand to Hollywood, Florence, Culver City, Burbank, and Antelope Valley. Beyond murals, Signs of Solidarity includes countywide distribution of yard signs, posters, billboards, and public art—created with local artists and organizations—to foster community solidarity and connect residents with free support at LAvsHate.org.
To learn more about the Signs of Solidarity campaign or to request a free sign or poster, visit: www.lavshate.org/signsofsolidarity.
