THIS IS FILLER: How do we grapple with the lives that flicker across the screen, at once captured and yet exceeding the frame? This question lies at the heart of our initiative as we delve into the archives of KTLA — the oldest television news station west of the Mississippi. Over a transformative period from 1965 to 1992, KTLA’s coverage offers a window into a city torn by conflicting narratives of progress and decay, visibility and erasure. During these years, communities across Los Angeles faced systemic disinvestment, increased police violence, and aggressive land development that fueled gentrification. The archive focuses on moments of unrest like Watts, the Chicano Moratorium, and the various organized community actions. But it often failed to capture the enduring vitality, hope, and refusal that sustained the people who continued to forge connections and envision a better world amid the forces of erasure.

Our initiative seeks to transform this archival material into a living, breathing space for dialogue, reflection, and action. In exploring the "trims and outs" of broadcast footage — unaired or discarded memories — we linger with the blips, glitches, and raw emotions that mark the footage and the performances it documents. These fragments, often erased from official narratives, hold the potential to disrupt and expand our understanding of history. By engaging with these records, we are creating a counter-broadcast — a stream of signals from worlds across the city erased by time. This effort is not undertaken alone — it is powered by a collective of community members, cultural creators, and activists committed to building commons to find one another and our intertwined pasts. Power is central to this initiative’s “liberatory memory work” — empowering communities to represent themselves while providing material resources to do so.

Through digital and physical gatherings, both in Los Angeles and online, we are weaving a tapestry of diverse experiences and perspectives. Our collective effort will culminate in an early 2025 capstone event, presenting a mosaic of visions and shared dreams. We invite you to join us — whether by attending events, contributing your stories, or helping to build this counter-archive. This initiative actively participates in the reconstruction of our collective memory, forging a path toward a more equitable and interconnected future.