Get Ready to Walk the Talk!
Our joyous Walk The Talk parade / performance will take place on Saturday, May 23. The Festivities begin at 12 Noon at the Skid Row History Museum & Archive 250 S. Broadway.
The parade route is determined by the 9 people being honored for their community building work. The Walk the Talk brass band will lead the way and magnificent portraits of each honoree by painter Van Hanos will be held high – using specially designed rigs by sculptor Jory Rabinowitz. After 4 hours of non-stop fun, the parade will arrive at its last stop in Gladys / General Jeff Park, where we’ll tell the story of visionary housing advocate Anthony Ruffin.
The honorees are Iron Donato; Stephanie Bell; Al Ballesteros, CEO of Wesley Health Centers; Pastor Blue Founder and Senior Pastor and Amelia Rayno, Blue Hollywood Street Sanctuary; Tom Grode, Skid Row Action plan; Sean Gregory, LA Community Action Network, UCEPP, Venice Community Housing; Soma Snakeoil, Co-Founder and ED, Sidewalk Project; Anthony Ruffin, Staff Analyst, Harm Reduction division, DHS at the Skid Row Care Campus.
download the Walk the Talk 2026 tabloid newsletter
We are interviewing all honorees in the coming weeks at the Skid Row Museum, and everyone is welcome to join us to ask them their burning questions.
Here are the scheduled interviews on Thursdays:
January 20, 5pm: Soma Snakeoil
February 5, 5pm: Stephanie Bell and Iron Donato
February 12, 5pm: Anthony Ruffin
February 19, 11am: Al Ballesteros
February 19, 5pm: Pastor Blue and Amelia Ryano
February 26, 6pm: Tom Grode
March 26, 5pm: Sean Gregory
“Walk the Talk” is a parade with site-specific performances that acknowledge Skid Row residents and workers who have done transformative work in the community. The parade features a New Orleans style brass band, artist rendered portraits of each honoree, and performances by LA Poverty Department about each honoree – based on their interview.
You can see all 86 honorees, since 2012, in the Walk the Talk Archive
