On a warm Sunday afternoon in February, the Huntington Library was filled with Lunar New Year festivities and early spring fever. A dozen giddy preteens gathered at the entrance, eager to walk the pristine landscaped San Marino grounds. Wearing brown hats and screen-printed vests with colorful hand-stitched badges, they followed chaperones inside as guests waiting in line recognized them.
“Oh my god,” one fangirl said while another clapped. “This is the Radical Emperor!”
Remaining calm and composed amid thunderous applause, the group of girls dressed in bright red walked past calligraphy tables and tea ceremonies straight to the much-awaited ceremony at the Marylou and George Boone Gallery. “Radical History” Exhibiting six decades of Chicanx and indigenous resistance and cultural revival through printmaking.
“Standing Up With Ester Hernandez’s Striking”Sun Mad” Screenprinted, a satirical spin on the popular raisin brand logo, former Self Help graphics and art director and parent volunteer tour guide Marvella Muro reminded the monarchs of the basic rules – respect the space, respect the artwork and speak up – before noting some of the injustices that inspired the art on the walls before them. Muro discussed matters of farm workers’ rights, women’s rights, environmental justice, and cultural identity, before prompting a monarch to share a personal example of injustice.
“I wanted to play football in my school, but the boys wouldn’t let me play,” she said.
Artists and Parents Marissa Magdalena SykesJoe, who grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and is the first in her family not to work in the fields, spoke out.
“It’s OK to be disappointed,” Sykes told the girls. “You don’t have to be happy all the time, but it’s important to turn that frustration into something useful. Think about what makes you angry, and use that to change something you care about. HisStory.”
Quetzalli “Q” Domingo, left, and Ramona Sunshine Herrera play tag at a Radical Monarchs Legion meeting.
(Jill Connelly/For De Los)
When her fourth-grader wanted to join the Girl Scouts, the San Francisco native Annavete Rivera-Amador was torn. She didn’t want her to be the only brown girl in the army. A child of immigrants whose parents came from Nicaragua and El Salvador, Rivera-Amador wanted a more inclusive place for her daughter to build confidence, learn about social justice issues and give back to the community, not just sell cookies. When she realized that no such place existed, she and her close friend, Marilyn HollinquestMade one.
“I wanted a group that focused on her experience, talents and strengths as a young girl of color,” said Rivera-Amador, who has a master’s degree in ethnic studies from UC San Francisco. “A place where she can learn, think critically, and ask questions about her ancestors, culture, and political education alongside her peers.”
In 2014, Rivera-Amador and Hollinquest founded radical emperor In Oakland – Giving girls and gender-expansive youth ages 8 to 13 a safe space to practice self-love, sisterhood, and activism. Inspired by social justice movements like the Black Panther Party and the Brown Berets, gay-identifying activists held down full-time jobs while surveying the community, securing funding, and designing curriculum based on decades of youth development and education experience.
After years of being bombarded with requests to deploy troops across the country, the radical monarchs expanded to nearby cities such as San Francisco, Richmond and Alameda, and to Denver, New York and Minneapolis. In 2023, they became a 501c3 and launched in South Los Angeles and Long Beach the following year.
Last year, amid raids by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, radical monarchists launched a military offensive into El Sereno. The group brought together 17 girls from the Eastside and San Gabriel Valley to work on local community gardens in the San Fernando Valley and historic murals such as Judy Baca’s Great Wall of Los Angeles.
“LA is a special place that is close to my heart,” said Rivera-Amador, 45, who has a BA in Chicana/o and Central American Studies from UCLA and has family in the area. “There is so much history, community and resistance.”
A Radical Love badge and Radical Monarchs patch on Elle Fitch’s vest at a Radical Monarchs troop meeting.
(Jill Connelly/For De Los)
LA is also very different. LAUSD ranks The country’s top 10 most segregated school districtsCauses educational disparities and racial intolerance. A report of 2025 civil rights project found that black and Latino students were concentrated in schools with higher rates of poverty. While the Los Angeles Unified School District addresses inequities with programs like Black Student Achievement Plan And we are one Trump administration joins immigrant rights campaign trial An attempt to reverse decades of equity efforts. In the absence of ethnic studies, groups like Radical Monarchs help bridge the lack of racial diversity and cultural competency in schools.
“It was a good opportunity for them to connect with other Latina and African American students,” said Vanessa Mendez, whose 9-year-old daughter attends a majority Asian elementary school in San Gabriel and joined the Radical Monarchs in June.
In 2023, Angela McNair, an LA attorney who had inquired about radical monarchs for her daughter, pulled her two children out of Highland Park’s majority-Latino LAUSD elementary school after her son was called the N-word by students.
“The level of anti-Blackness at his school was unreal,” said McNair, who enrolled his children in a nearby private school. “I spoke to the principal and the local district, but no one saw how devastating an impact it had on him. No one acknowledged that this was hate speech. I had to keep him at home and eventually withdrew him from the district. He missed a month of fourth grade, but at least I knew he was safe.”
Although the school principal coordinated a presentation to students by a licensed LAUSD clinical social worker on the history of the N-word, restorative justice Practices were not implemented. Nor were there bilingual parenting workshops about systemic racism.
As parents struggle to raise empathetic children amid a post-pandemic mental health crisis with major concerns about the negative impact of technology and a bleak political climate, groups like Radical Monarchs are essential socio-political support systems.
“I want him to be aware of the social issues that exist in our community and make a change,” said Marylou Castillo, whose 9-year-old daughter attends a dual language school in Alhambra and El Sereno is in the military. “Parents are stepping up. We, as a collective, as a community, are helping to raise our children.”
In El Sereno members of the Army of Radical Monarchs create a zine.
(Jill Connelly/For De Los)
Monarchs meet twice a month for a three-year cycle, earning badges with names like “Radical Love,” which explores self-love and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as “Radical Roots,” which taps into BIPOC history and cultural empowerment, or “Pachamama Justice,” which teaches the importance of caring for Mother Earth. Soldiers attend city council meetings, collecting money for tasks such as Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and contribute to local mutual aid efforts.
Enrollment is on a sliding scale – anywhere from $90-$280 per year – and each troop has three adult volunteer leaders who are trained on the curriculum, facilitate meetings and communicate with parents. Although some parents say it can be a struggle to motivate their daughters to attend meetings over the weekend, when they get home they are excited to talk about what they learned.
“I want to expose him to new ideas and get him involved in the community,” said El Sereno Legion leader Francesca Lafayette, 43, who grew up in San Diego and Dallas and learned about the radical monarchs by watching them. documentary On PBS. “We don’t have any family locally, but we have built a network of friends and aunty-like figures so that my daughter feels safe and loved.”
documentary, “We are radical emperors,” It debuted at SXSW in 2019 and followed the first group to take to the streets in support of Black Lives Matter, participating in the Women’s March following Donald Trump’s first election victory and meeting with policymakers in Sacramento. The film also features attacks from conservative TV commentator Sean Hannity, who accused the parents of exploiting the girls, fueling a right-wing media frenzy, and even threatening the organization.
“The safety of our children is always No. 1,” said Martínez, who prefers that the monarchs remain anonymous.
Last year, the organization was hit hard by anti-diversity, equity and inclusion funding cuts imposed by Trump and had to lay off half its staff. Rivera-Amador, Hollinquest and some contractors are on the payroll.
“We are a national organization, and we are managing it ourselves,” said Rivera-Amador, who wants to replace two El Serenos. army leader Who could not continue due to personal reasons. “It’s really hard. It’s very hard right now to raise money to do the work we do.”
The age range covered by Radical Monarchs is an important time for girls, as the transition to puberty and middle school can be challenging. Parents say it’s important to have positive women of color as role models to build confidence in girls of color. It also helps to be surrounded by like-minded families while the community is being attacked by ICE.
“This is a scary time in history,” Mendez said. “The girls got to pick apples and berries on the first day of orientation. Knowing that this group would be held in a place like the orchard… there’s something therapeutic about that.”
The 8-year-old emperor named Margaux agreed.
“I love doing all the fun things like gardening and making new friends,” she said.
