The business climate in South Los Angeles is changing: A microfinance company today released its first annual economic development forecast, and its new name — RISE. The company is feeling positive about the city, especially if businesses here can become more innovative.
On October 16, the grassroots civil rights campaign, Fight for Soul of the Cities, led a rally featuring drums, spoken word, and song in Leimert Park, seeking justice for Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old boy who, 600 days ago, was killed by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in Florida.
Youth from Boyle Heights sharing their appreciation for the events of the day.
“Is it my hoodie or my skin that’s probable cause/ For my people being slain by these racist laws?” youth from as far as Boyle Heights chanted at the community speak out, demanding the Obama administration do a full civil rights investigation and indictment of Zimmerman and the Sanford Police Department. A jury acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder charges in July 2013.
“The administration has not yet brought civil rights charges against either Zimmerman or Sanford, Florida Police Department, the indictment of the police being essential to confront this institutional form of racism,” said chair of the Labor/Community Strategy Center, Sunyoung Yang. [Read more…]
StoryCorps’ MobileBooth—an Airstream trailer outfitted with a recording studio
Starting Oct. 23 and running for three weeks, StoryCorps will team up with public radio station KPCC at South L.A’s California African American Museum to record and share the vibrant and varying stories of residents across South L.A. From there, StoryCorps will continue on a cross country MobileBooth Tour to mark its 10th anniversary.
If you want to share your story , reservations are now open: Call StoryCorps’ 24-hour, toll-free reservation line at 1-800-850-4406, or visit storycorps.org. [Read more…]
Located just south of downtown Los Angeles, this stadium hosted the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.
Read a roundup of recent news stories about South Los Angeles:
Historic South LA church considers rebuild after fire (KPCC)
Taste of Soul unleashes monster line up (LA Sentinel)
Mayor Eric Garcetti conducts first South LA help desk (The Wave)
First ‘Undocuqueer’ support network launches in Long Beach (New America Media)
Metro’s new light rail stop in Leimert Park could bring an end to L.A.’s historic African-American cultural hub. After three years of fighting to get the line to stop in the area, business owners now fear the area will be commercialized. About a dozen of Black businesses in the area have been notified that their leases won’t be renewed after investors started buying buildings in the area.
Laura Hendrix, owner of Gallery Plus, in Leimert Park. | Brianna Sacks
Laura Hendrix has owned an art store called Gallery Plus in Leimert Park for 23 years. While the owner of her space has not changed, she says many businesses around her have left or might be kicked out after investment companies recently bought several buildings housing multiple units.
“We are on edge because we don’t know what is going to happen to us,” said Hendrix. “This is a cultural icon and we worked hard to get it like this and want to keep it that way.” [Read more…]
Photo credit: Sam Bendall
The concept of “photoetry,” the artistic combination of photography and poetry, was born eight years ago when two college students attended an art gallery downtown.
Professor and poet Hiram Sims, a USC undergraduate at the time, was inspired to have his own work hung for others to admire after seeing what another local artist could accomplish.
Nearly a decade later, Sims has revived the concept in his recent book, Photoetry: Poetry and Photography in South Central LA.
This article was first published in www.neontommy.com
“Lagrimas de Agua Dulce,” or “Tears of Sweet Water” fully utilizes what theater as an art form uniquely offers—the ability to interact with its audience. “Tears of Sweet Water” is a play for the young and
old alike, with components to keep both parts of the audience engaged.
The play begins with a woman (played by Ana Zavala) in a traditional Mexican attire—skirt, apron, braided hair and a blouse with puffed sleeves—introducing herself to the viewers as an old woman who talks to herself to keep loneliness at bay.
She then goes on to tell the story of her granddaughter Sofia, by introducing puppets of Sofia and her friend Filipe. Zavala plays out a scene between Sofia and Filipe where Sofia confesses that when she cries, she cries buckets and her tears are sweet. Zavala gives life to her puppets by depicting their humanistic characteristics and mimicking their childlike voices. Within seconds, we forget Ana and start following the puppets. [Read more…]
Watts Towers | Photo taken by Xochil Frausto
Discovering my sexual orientation in a violent, poverty-stricken environment was not easy. I remember the first time someone called me a “dyke” at Markham Middle School. At that time I was a punk rocker, wearing ripped jeans and men’s shirts. I didn’t yet consider myself queer — or even really know what that meant — but I was already aware of homophobia. Not until junior year of high school did I begin to explore my identity. Jordan High was reflective of the area that I lived: It was dangerous. Race riots broke out between Latinos and Black students, and students were not welcoming of gays. I did not feel that teachers, administrators or counselors could support me. [Read more…]
Participants in Reporter Corps, a USC Annenberg program to train young adults from South LA to report on their own communities, created audiovisual introductions to their neighborhoods this summer. Xochil Frausto and Shanice Joseph take us on a trip through Watts and speak with residents about safety, pride, and history.
Xochil Frausto, 23, Jordan High School graduate
My parents emigrated from Baja, Mexico to Watts in the mid-1970s to realize the “American Dream.” But Watts was not how they had imagined America. Growing up I saw the cyclical reality of poverty, drug abuse and gang warfare. Walking to school I would see bodies, blood and altars. Although these circumstances brought many hardships in my life, I also feel fortunate to have grown up in a place that is so unique — from its historical role in the Black power movement, to the arts, to the cultural mixture of Blacks and Latinos. But Watts is too often voiceless. I want to share the stories of my neighborhood and bring forward a renewed perspective of South Los Angeles — issues that pertain to the immigrant community, gentrification, foreclosures and the Black community, and LGBT issues. I actively try to contribute to Watts whether through community organizing or through sharing my story of growing up in South L.A. I am also working to earn my degree in photography, and I write fiction and poetry about growing up Chicana.
Read about Xochil’s experience growing up Queer in Watts here.
Located in Inglewood, the Forum is where the Lakers won many of their championships
South LA news roundup from the weekend:
Eagles announce three more concerts for the LA Forum (News Day)
LAPD officer arrested for assaulting a handcuffed woman who died (Los Angeles Times)
Autism clinic for South LA (LA Sentinel)
Rapper Nipsey Hussle’s mixtape Crenshaw re-defines Gangsta Rap (The Badger Herald)
Inglewood races to save homes at risk along the river bank (Global News)
Inglewood woman donates life savings to charity (Daily Breeze)
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