ECHO PARK, Calif. — Shaved ice in Echo Park comes in many flavors, just like the community around it.

Clay Johnston, who is born and raised in the neighborhood, hopes to embrace that diversity if elected for City Council District 13 in 2022.

Johnston still has a couple of years before the election, but he has been investing in the community as an activist for years.

“I absolutely care, genuinely, wholeheartedly, for the neighborhood and community that I grew up in. Friends, family, generations before me, showed me how important it is to withhold the history of this community, and take care of the people in this community,” he said.

In addition to preserving the areas multicultural roots, Johnston is spending his time being the eyes and ears of the region. He is actually already friends with locals in the area who are struggling with homelessness. A challenge that has only increased since the pandemic.

“A lot of times, people get into office, and it seems like they disappear or they forget they actually have a community to walk around in and not only do paperwork for. I’d want to be that person that actually has physical and visual contact with the community,” Johnston explained. 

He does not take the opportunity lightly, as he rises as a leader. He is lifting up young people of color with him, and believes Black Lives Matters protests can and will mobilize a new generation of advocates who come from diverse backgrounds.

“I want that to continue. That is an energy that we need. So that our government, our local officials, our city, the people that are leading it, they also look different and they also look like the people that are out there protesting so they believe that they can do the same thing and make change as well.”

A change that Johnston said, is far overdue.