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NOlympics LA

Website:

nolympicsla.com/
Type:

Community Activist Group
Formation:

2017
Affiliated with:

Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)

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NOlympics LA is an activist group that opposes the 2028 Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, California. It cites high costs, displacement of local populations, and climate change as reasons behind its opposition. 1 2

NOlympics LA was created in 2017 by the Housing and Homelessness Committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). 3

Background

NOlympics LA was created in 2017 by the Housing and Homelessness Committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). 4 When the group was first conceived, it opposed a floated plan to host the 2024 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles; it was later decided that Paris, France would host the Games for that year. 5 6

As of 2024, the group was protesting the proposal for the city to host the 2028 Games. 7 At that time, it boasted that it had over 24 partner organizations in California, had had connections with a growing list of international organizations. 8

Activities

In 2017, media outlet VICE charted the rise of NOLympics LA, reporting it was spearheaded by the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). It noted that the group was different compared to other groups that had arisen to oppose the Olympics in the past, such as those in Boston and Budapest, as the Los Angeles activists opposed the Olympics on the grounds that they are bad in general and according to left-wing political ideology, rather than simply arguing their city could not afford to host them. 9

In September 2024, NOlympics LA shared a post by Global Reporting Center on X (formerly Twitter) that called for the complete abolition of the Olympic Games, claiming the Games lead to host cities’ overspending by large amounts and adding that fewer and fewer cities compete to host them. 10 Global Reporting Centre hosts a podcast called State of Play: Summer Games and is run by the University of British Columbia’s School of Journalism, Writing, and Media. 11 12

In the post, NOlympics added the hashtag “#NOlympicsAnywhere” and wrote: “There’s a weird media myth that the Olympics are really popular, but that’s extremely untrue when you factor how cities around the world engage with the IOC. The Olympics are historically unpopular, going the way of the World Fair. No one wants them.”  13

As of 2024, the group highlighted three reasons to oppose the Olympics: “Olympic Policing,” “Olympic Sweeps and Displacement,” and the partnership of rental service Airbnb with the Olympics. 14 On the topic of policing, NOlympics LA had created a page called “Pick A Side LA” featuring research on “accelerated policing and surveillance” caused by previous Olympic Games. The page was emblazoned with the headline, “You cannot support both the Olympics and the Movement for Black Lives.” 15 Regarding sweeps and displacement, the group linked to an article it wrote on a gentrification process that allegedly occurred in London, England, in advance of the 2012 Olympics. 16 As for Airbnb, it linked to an article from NBC News arguing the partnership will benefit “gentrifiers” but hurt cities. 17

In August 2024, NOlympics LA held a mock event featuring an activist dressed up as former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), who pretended to cancel the 2028 Olympic Games “citing the absurd costs, impossibility of staging outdoor events due to climate change, and [his] own colossal failures.” The story was covered by NOlympics LA member Molly Lambert, who added that the fight against the Olympics was not “over yet.” 18

Partners

As of 2024, NOlympics LA counted among its partners AF3IRM; Anti-Racist Action;  Black Lives Matter; Crenshaw Subway Coalition; the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Los Angeles, Long Beach, Sacramento, and Silicon Valley chapters; Iraq Veterans Against the War (also known as About Face); the Los Angeles Community Action Network; March and Rally LA; National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party; Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), San Fernando Valley Greens, SFV United, Skid Row Coffee, Sunrise Movement’s Los Angeles metro area chapters, 350.org’s southern California chapter, Socialist Alternative LA, Solidarity, Union de Vecinos, Veterans for Peace, White People for Black Lives and its parent organization Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere-Los Angeles (AWARE-LA), and Young Democratic Socialists of LA at University of Southern California (YDS LA). 19

Leadership

The NOlympics LA group was established in part by writer Jonny Coleman and activist Anne Orchier, both of whom were affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). In a 2017 interview with VICE, the pair explained that they were motivated to start the group after discussions with members of the DSA about how the Olympics were only “profitable for a small number of people.” They stated that they outright opposed the Olympics as they are currently organized and would not accept reforms or “nominal guarantees.” 20

References

  1. About.” NOlympics. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/about/.
  2. Lambert, Molly. “The Fight Against The Los Angeles Olympics Isn’t Over Yet.” DeadSpin, August 8, 2024. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://deadspin.com/the-fight-against-the-los-angeles-olympics-isnt-over-ye-1837041115/.
  3. “About.” NOlympics. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/about/.
  4. “About.” NOlympics. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/about/.
  5. Gordon, Aaron. “Meet Los Angeles’s New Anti-Olympics Movement.” VICE.com, May 9, 2017. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-los-angeless-new-anti-olympics-movement/.
  6. “The Olympic Games of Paris 2024.” Olympics.com. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/the-games/olympic-paralympic-games/olympic-games.
  7. “NOlympics LA.” NOlympics LA. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/.
  8. “About.” NOlympics. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/about/.
  9. Gordon, Aaron. “Meet Los Angeles’s New Anti-Olympics Movement.” VICE.com, May 9, 2017. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-los-angeless-new-anti-olympics-movement/.
  10. Post. Global Reporting Centre – X.com, August 30, 2024. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://x.com/GlobalRepCentre/status/1829695624788254863.
  11. Global Reporting Centre. “State of Play: Summer Games.” Podcasts – Apple.com. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/state-of-play-summer-games/id1751367740.
  12. “Home.” Global Reporting Centre. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://globalreportingcentre.org/.
  13. Post. NOlympics LA, August 31, 2024. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://x.com/NOlympicsLA/status/1829737385594114149.
  14. “NOlympics LA.” NOlympics LA. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/
  15. “Pick A Side LA.” NOlympics LA. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/pick-a-side-la/.
  16. “Our Bedrooms Were Turned Into Offices”: How the Olympics Gentrified a Cultural Hub in London.” NOlympics LA, July 23, 2019. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/2019/07/23/our-bedrooms-were-turned-into-offices-how-the-olympics-gentrified-london/
  17. Boykoff, Jules. “Airbnb’s partnership with the Olympics won’t help cities — but gentrifiers will love it.” NBC News, November 25, 2019. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/airbnb-s-partnership-olympics-won-t-help-cities-gentrifiers-will-ncna1089936.
  18. Lambert, Molly. “The Fight Against The Los Angeles Olympics Isn’t Over Yet.” DeadSpin, August 8, 2024. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://deadspin.com/the-fight-against-the-los-angeles-olympics-isnt-over-ye-1837041115/.
  19. “Our Partners.” NOlympics. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://nolympicsla.com/partners/.
  20. Gordon, Aaron. “Meet Los Angeles’s New Anti-Olympics Movement.” VICE.com, May 9, 2017. Accessed September 8, 2024. https://www.vice.com/en/article/meet-los-angeless-new-anti-olympics-movement/.
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