A subtle detail in a Los Angeles City Council photo is drawing outsized attention.
At the center dais in council chambers, where power is concentrated and billions in taxpayer dollars are steered, Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson was seen holding a mug that reads: “Stay Woke.”
The image lands at a moment when Harris-Dawson has publicly called for unity.
During a heated debate Wednesday over pretextual traffic stops, he urged the city to avoid deepening divisions and instead build trust around fairness in policing.
It was framed as an effort to bring people together on one of the city’s most volatile issues. Harris-Dawson’s record adds context.
He rose from South Los Angeles activism, leading the Community Coalition before winning office in 2015. Inside City Hall, he has backed efforts to reshape policing and expand social programs.
LAPD City Hall Budget meeting. David Buchan for Ca Post
In 2020, he supported a move to cut roughly $150 million from the Los Angeles Police Department budget and redirect funds toward community-based alternatives.
He has continued to push for expanded unarmed response teams and limits on certain police stops, proposals that still divide the council.
On homelessness, he has supported some of the largest spending efforts in city history, including the $1.2 billion Proposition HHH bond, while championing a housing-first approach that has directed billions more into the system.
And the mug is not the only message.
In the days following a recent traffic stop controversy, Marqueece Harris-Dawson was photographed at home by the Post wearing a shirt that read, “Drink Water. Love Hard. Fight Racism.”
The Post reached out to Harris-Dawson’s office for comment.