Los Angeles Times

USC historian Natalia Molina is reframing how we think about race

LOS ANGELES — For all of Natalia Molina's life, the sight of the San Gabriel Mountains has meant one thing above all: She's home. They loomed over the Echo Park house she grew up in. She sees them outside her office window at USC, where Molina is a distinguished professor of American studies and ethnicity. They rise above the landscapes and buildings of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and ...
Natalia Molina, shown here on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022 in San Marino, California, is a Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at USC, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and the current Interim Director of Research at the Huntington Library.

LOS ANGELES — For all of Natalia Molina's life, the sight of the San Gabriel Mountains has meant one thing above all: She's home.

They loomed over the Echo Park house she grew up in. She sees them outside her office window at USC, where Molina is a distinguished professor of American studies and ethnicity. They rise above the landscapes and buildings of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, where she's the interim director of research. They welcome her home from travels to give lectures around the world.

"They're a sign that I'm connected to Los Angeles," Molina, 51, told me recently at

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times4 min read
Project Roomkey: Lessons Learned From A Massive Program To Save The Lives Of Homeless People
LOS ANGELES — The state program that provided private hotel and motel rooms for homeless people during the COVID pandemic improved healthcare for thousands and provided valuable lessons for how shelters could better serve their clients, a two-year st
Los Angeles Times4 min read
Commentary: What A Quail Taught Me About Grief By Joining A Flock Of Turkeys
It’s dusk in spring, and the seven-year anniversary of my mother’s death from cancer is approaching, a death that marked the end of my biological family. I want to text my friend Margot, who lost her dad to AIDS in the spring years ago, and ask, “How
Los Angeles Times5 min read
Review: In The Sci-fi Thriller 'Dark Matter,' Joel Edgerton Battles Through Parallel Worlds
Blake Crouch has enjoyably adapted his own 2016 novel "Dark Matter" into a nine-episode series for Apple TV+, which aims to be your destination for classy sci-fi. It's got nothing to do with "dark matter" except as Shakespeare might have used the phr

Related