National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day in South LA



By Claire Pires
Annenberg Radio News

In honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, “In the Meantime” provided free HIV testing and distributed condoms to the community.

image“We spend time in the black community because it’s one of the communities that’s most at risk in the United States. We’re talking about 12% of the population that’s responsible for 40% of the new infections,” said James Vellequette, director of condom-provider Condom Nation.

At the protest, USC student Kai Green rallied the crowd when he spoke of how he stands with the people “who dare to fight and say I am black and gay.”

Local South L.A. resident Vanessa Robinson was more skeptical of the movement because she does not want her son to grow up in “that type of environment,” and says she grew up attending church.

Homosexuality has not always been accepted in the church, but Reverend Russell Thornhill, co-pastor of the Unity Fellowship of Christ Church, urged the crowd to “stand” and support this new pro-gay movement. image

“It’s a call that says that we won’t stand for the transmission of HIV and AIDS in our community,” said Reverend Thornhill.

Members of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and TrueEvolution, Inc. also spoke and urged protestors and listeners to get tested for HIV in the buses behind them.

As they chanted in front of a bus covered in a large poster with “We get tested” printed next to two shirtless men embracing, the protestors waved posters and cheered with honking cars as they advocated to end discrimination against African American gay men.image

Southside Stories: A cut above the rest



This story is part of a semester-long project by USC Annenberg students spotlighting South LA. Stories featured on Intersections South LA have been written by students in USC Professor Robert Hernandez’s class. See more Southside Stories here.

By Jovan Buha
Contributer

Nothing is off topic at Lloyd’s Barber Shop.

Whether it’s sports, women, sex, drugs, alcohol or just a good old life story, the crew of tenured barbers like to have a good laugh, sit back and relax with their customers. Similar in their passion for haircutting, the five barbers at Lloyd’s couldn’t be more different in regards to their personality.

Roy, 53, is the manager with a thundering, low voice; Arnold, 55, is the quiet and wise voice of reason; Lenny, 39, is calm, cool and collected; “Big John”, 46, is muscular and serious; and Gerald, 39, is the wild card who loves to talk loud and crack jokes.

imageOutside Lloyd’s Barber Shop (Photo by Jovan Buha)

This diversity leads to a unique environment that has a little something for everyone. So much so, that the barbershop has cultivated a loyal customer base through its 30-plus year history.

Most customers have come to Lloyd’s since they were children, including Michael Johnson, 31, who’s had every haircut he can remember at the barbershop.

“This is all I’ve ever known,” said Johnson. “I feel at home here. I feel safe.”

“You can open up and talk about whatever you want to talk about: ladies, football, basketball, the do’s and the don’ts, the laughs and the jokes.”

Lloyd’s places a special focus on the community and its needs by charging $15 for a haircut, which is cheaper than most competitors. They’re open seven days a week, and, as a result, some of the barbers work longer than 40-hours a week.

“This shop never fell. You’ll always see a crowd. We do good quality work and everybody is professional,” said Arnold.

Part of that professionalism is accountability. Dozens of barbers have come through Lloyd’s, but one wrong move – such as stealing, lying or disrespecting a customer – and you could find yourself out of a job.

“There’s about three barbers that would do anything to come back, but they’ve burnt their bridge,” said Lenny.

That type of cold-hearted business is what makes Lloyd’s endearing. Each barber is his own boss and there’s no babysitting.

“Everybody is their own boss. You pick when you come and when you leave. We can’t tell them what to do,” said Arnold. “If they don’t want to make any money, they don’t have to come to work.”

Work, for the barbers, is much more than just showing up, cutting hair, and going home. It’s the relationships they build, the stories they tell, and the aura of the shop. It’s about the little things that add up to make Lloyd’s Barber Shop the type of place people will want to come back to.

What Lloyd’s lacks in appliances and features like a flat-screen TV, air conditioning, or plush designs, which seem to be the staple in modern barber shops, they make up for with a testosterone-filled atmosphere and an old-school feel. The shop has the same floor panels, paint and wall decorations that it did over 20 years ago.

For better or worse, it’s remained true to its roots.

“We’ve had the same soda sign for 10, 15 years. I don’t know any shops with pictures like these,” said Gerald. “A lot of good, old barbers have come through [here]. There’s a lot of tradition here.”

The barbers all have nicknames, and some of them even have handshakes with their loyal customers. Each person that walks through the door is treated like family, which may be why the barbershop has been able to endure financial hardships.

Next door to Lloyd’s is 43rd Street Barber Shop, a co-tenant that has been temporarily shut down for renovations. The shop started about a decade before Lloyd’s with much older barbers, who influenced the current group of barbers at Lloyd’s and helped them set a high standard. Part of Lloyd’s old-time charm can be attributed to the time spent with the 43rd Street barbers.

“They were serious barbers. We learned a lot from them,” said Lenny. “Just seeing them every day, they were slow and busy. It was their job.”

Lenny’s grandfather is Lloyd, the semi-retired owner and founder of the barbershop. Over an eight-year period, from 2001 to 2009, Lenny and Lloyd couldn’t agree on Lenny’s future as a barber. Lloyd wanted him to follow in the family footsteps, but Lenny wasn’t sure it was what he wanted to do with his life.

He said he lied to his grandfather that he was doing an apprenticeship when he wasn’t. Yet, Lenny eventually settled down and committed to becoming a barber. He even aspires to one day be the shop manager, a clear ode to his grandfather.

In a sense, Lenny has taken what his grandfather built and kept the tradition alive. Even though South Los Angeles may be a tough neighborhood, where a myriad of problems can arise, that’s never been the case at Lloyd’s Barber Shop, according to Lenny.

“Everybody knows that you leave the problems at the door and just come here for the cut,” he said.

None of the barbers chose to disclose their last name for personal reasons. Roy and John chose not to be part of the interview as well.

Obesity concerns still rank high in South LA



By Daniella Segura

Moving to South Los Angeles from her home of 18 years in Los Feliz, Marie-Alise de Marco expected many changes, but the lack of healthy food options in her new community was not one of them.

De Marco, 50, a manager at the Crenshaw Farmer’s Market, said she has always been health conscious, making sure what she makes for her husband and two boys are healthy. She tries to buy organic foods to prepare for her family and avoids other foods infused with pesticides and hormones. image

De Marco recalled how she went to a Ralph’s market in South L.A. to buy groceries for her family, soon after moving to the area in the fall of 2009. There was no organic milk or blue cheese that she wanted.

“It was just mind boggling that there was no choice,” she said. “There was nothing healthy, nothing organic…if you would have taken the name Ralph’s off that store, I wouldn’t have known I was at a Ralph’s.”

De Marco isn’t the only one affected by the lack of healthy options in South L.A. The region has long suffered from a lack of diversity in dining options.

About 70 percent of the restaurants in South L.A. are fast food restaurants, far higher than areas such as West L.A., where the figure is about 40 percent, according to the Community Health Councils, a non-profit, community-based health education and policy organization.

Paul Simon, director of the L.A. County Department of Public Health’s Division of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, said the abundance of fast food restaurants contributes to the high obesity rates in South L.A.

In 2011, about 33 percent of adults in South L.A. were obese, which is an estimated 12 percentage points higher than Los Angeles County’s overall rate, according to reports by the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

“We think [the obesity rate] reflects the types of foods that are available in that community,” Simon said. “It’s a very low income area of the county, and it seems to be filled with foods that are prone to making people overweight.”

City officials have recently taken measures to address the problem; passing a fast food moratorium that restricts the building of stand-alone fast food restaurants in South L.A.

Since the start of the ban in 2007, obesity rates among adults in South L.A. have fallen by about 3 percentage points, according to reports by the L.A. County Department of Public Health. The decrease marked the largest fall in obesity for any area in L.A. County since 2007. Yet up until 2011, South L.A. had the highest obesity rates for L.A. County.

Antelope Valley is now marked with the unwelcome distinction as the county’s most obese area, according to a report by the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

Breanna Morrison, a health policy analyst at Community Health Councils, said a number of factors helped prompt the decrease in obesity, including the fast food ban.

“Part of the idea behind the fast food regulation was to not concede to allow McDonald’s and these other restaurants to monopolize the very little undeveloped land that we have left in South L.A.,” Morrison said. “Instead, let’s preserve it for the development of healthier alternatives.”

Since 2007, there have been six new grocery stores erected in South L.A., Morrison said. Among the newly built grocery stores are a Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market on Adams Boulevard and a Farm Fresh Ranch Market on Vermont Avenue.

She also said that from 2007 to 2009, the percentage of adults who consumed fast food in South L.A. four to five times per week fell about two percentage points, according to surveys done by the Community Health Councils and L.A. County Department of Public Health.

Morrison said the fast food ban was a good first step toward making South L.A. a healthier community, but she says more needs to be done, including building more parks and other recreation areas, which directly deal with the problem of obesity.

“What the policy has done is shown that the community is concerned about health,” Morrison said. “The community is the one that will drive the change to make South L.A. a healthier place. It’s all about them.”

Southside Stories: A melting pot of healthy flavors



This story is part of a semester-long project by USC Annenberg students spotlighting South LA. Stories featured on Intersections South LA have been written by students in USC Professor Robert Hernandez’s class. See more Southside Stories here.

By Ivana Banh

Walk into any restaurant on Slauson Avenue and you will most likely be offered greasy fried chicken, Chinese food, flavored with monosodium glutamate, or some sort of burger dripping with bacon grease.

Simply Wholesome is different.

The bright green building boasts glowing lights, floor-to-ceiling windows and a welcoming vibe. Inside the spacious restaurant, regulars are greeted with hugs from Owner Percell Keeling and the young staff. image

Upbeat jazz music plays loudly while blenders whip up protein shakes. The air is scented with blend of sweet potatoes, spices and freshly baked vegan cake.

As a former Redondo Beach health nut with a passion for distance running, Keeling knows what the human body needs to function properly. When he moved to Los Angeles in the 1970s, he immediately discovered that very few health-conscious restaurants existed.

The majority of South Los Angeles was African-American and tended to serve artery-clogging Southern meals. Keeling was often forced to drive out to South Bay, Hollywood or Marina Del Rey for more nutritious food.

His exasperation with junk food in the area would lead to something much bigger. One day, while he was voicing his complaints, a friend suggested he open his own restaurant. At the time, any type of establishment offering foods that were not deep-fried and bacon-adorned was practically unheard of.

“Everyone was saying to open the restaurant further west because black people don’t eat healthy,” Keeling said. “But I’m black and I eat healthy!”

In 1981, Keeling opened Simply Wholesome. For the first few years, the 1,000 square-foot restaurant offered a small selection of healthy sandwiches, salads and pastries. As the fan base rapidly grew, Keeling knew he had to expand in order to accommodate the diners. In 1995, he bought a 5,000 square-foot 1950s-style diner. He renovated the building to construct a dining area and a small health market.

Keeling and his staff work to ensure that the market is always stocked with organic cereals, frozen meals, coconut water and probiotic drinks. In addition, the market carries African-American hair product lines like Mixed Chicks and Kinky-Curly. Shoppers can also browse a wide selection of cookbooks and health literature.

Simply Wholesome’s extensive menu offers more choices than most health food restaurants. Many mistake Simply Wholesome as a purely vegan restaurant, but Keeling assures that meat dishes are also available. Their specialities include flaky Caribbean pastries filled with spiced chicken and vegetables, enchiladas, veggie burgers and hearty breakfasts. Those who prefer a more traditional meal often choose the “Down Home Sunday Dinner,” which consists of battered or grilled tofu, chicken or fish, candied yams, greens, rice and corn bread.

As for the beverage menu, 45 different protein shakes and smoothies are available. Rather than using premixed blends full of sugar and artificial flavorings, Simply Wholesome opts for fresh fruit, soy milk and coconut juice. Customers often pay a few extra cents for add-ons such as wheat germ, bee pollen and ginseng.

“All our shakes are made from fresh, real ingredients so they’re not bland like the other juice places out there,” Keeling said. “It may cost more to do it this way, but the return in business volume is all worth it.”

Simply Wholesome’s large and devoted fan base has proven Keeling’s business theories correct. The restaurant is now more than a convenient stop for those passing through the South Los Angeles area; Keeling has met diners from dozens of miles away that make Simply Wholesome their breakfast, lunch or dinner destination.

The restaurant may sit in a predominantly African-American area of Los Angeles, but it receives customers of all ethnicities and backgrounds. Over time, the menu has also been influenced by the diversities in the Los Angeles community. Caribbean, American, Mexican and African flavors work together to create Simply Wholesome’s plethora of healthy selections.

“This place is like a melting pot, the energy here – everyone is one when they come through the doors,” Keeling said. “Everyone is cool.”

The Pasadena and the University of Southern California communities have encouraged Keeling to open Simply Wholesome locations in their neighborhoods, but he declined their offers.

When it comes to expanding his business, Keeling prefers to do so in a unique building, not a cookie-cutter spot in a strip mall. The down-to-earth owner prefers to keep it simple rather than opening several mediocre locations, and he chooses to provide quality service and food in one hot spot.

His goal is to foster an environment in which both his customers and staff feel comfortable and at home.

L.A. mayoral candidates debate at Empowerment Congress



By Max Schwartz and Rosalie Murphy
Photos By Katherine Davis

The Empowerment Congress kicked off its 21st annual summit at USC on Saturday. Its opening session was a debate in which the five mayor candidates who have raised the most money discussed arts funding, gun violence, homelessness and the Leimert Park metro station.

imageMayoral candidates Emanuel Pleitez, Eric Garcetti, Jan Perry, Kevin James and Wendy Greuel answer questions at Empowerment Congress forum.

Candidates Eric Garcetti, Wendy Greuel, Kevin James, Jan Perry and Emanuel Pleitez spoke at the forum hosted by L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents the Second District that covers South LA.. Candidates Yehuda Draiman, Addie Miller and Norton Sandler were not present.

Ridley-Thomas called the Congress to order shortly after 9:10 a.m. When he was a City Council member, Ridley-Thomas helped found the Congress in 1992 “to make government more accessible to the people.” He introduced Brad Pomerance, moderator of the debate. After the introduction, Pomerace discussed this year’s theme, “election connection.” He said the questions were submitted online and then chosen by the Empowerment Congress planning committee.

Garcetti, Perry and Greuel focused on their extensive records in city politics, while James and Pleitez positioned themselves as outsiders. “We have a jobs crisis, budget crisis, education crisis, transportation crisis, public safety crisis, corruption crisis,” James said. “We have a leadership crisis.”

South LA issues take center stage

All of the forum’s six questions came from Empowerment Congress members. One participant asked candidates directly if they supported a Leimert Park station along the new Crenshaw Line metro line. All five candidates said they support the station. “The community deserves it,” Greuel said.

Perry cited her work on the Expo Line, which opened in April, as evidence of her dedication to transit projects.

imageMayoral candidate Emanuel Pleitez, right, answers a question from the moderator at the Empowerment Congress debate.

Pleitez stood out for Brian Gaines, a University Park native. “The things that he said, it jelled… Being young and coming through the trenches,” he said. “I want to see something new… all the name-dropping wasn’t impressive to me either. But really, what are you going to do moving forward?”

James and Garcetti stood out to Sherri Bell, a South LA native who works with the Los Angeles Black Workers Center. “I definitely feel like I’ve been left behind,” she said. “It’s not just a gun problem, it’s not just a violence problem, it’s not just a lack of education problem. You have to really attack the things that contribute to that. I pay attention to the candidates who actually have a strategy.”

What to do with neighborhood councils

The forum’s fifth question was about how to engage the neighborhood councils in city decisions more. Each candidate agreed to empower them, but their methods varied. Gruel, for example, believes the councils need more power. She said that they have been “part of the decision-making processes” throughout her career and she will continue to “engage councils every step of the way.”

Pleitez added in his follow-up answer that council members need to be trained to deal with “real problems… It’s not about fighting for funding but actually being inside the decision-making process,” he said.

James proposed that each neighborhood council appoint a commissioner who would work directly with him.

Garcetti remarked, “[it is] time to start treating neighborhood councils like adults.” He said he would have the Department of Public Works talk to the neighborhood councils at the beginning of every year.

Finally, Perry defended councils fiercely. “It is life-changing to be able to listen to them,” she said. “It’s most important to preserve the neighborhood council system to continue discourse… We are not a threat to each other. We are partners with each other.”

The council discussion struck the forum’s attendees, too.

“I have watched them grow, I’ve watched them change, and it does take training,” said Dorsay Dujon, chair of the arts committee on the Arroyo Secco neighborhood council. “You just don’t go from your daily job and go into sitting on a board and recognizing and understanding all of the responsibilities that you have to that.”

Despite that need, Dujon believes much of neighborhood councils’ successes are their own. “It also takes a commitment on the part of the individual who’s on the neighborhood council to recognize that it’s not just about what you want for the community,” she said. “As much as it is a growing process for the councils themselves, it’s also for the neighborhoods to understand that they’re there for them.” Dujon supports Garcetti, Perry and Greuel; “in that order,” she said.

Other issues: Arts, homes, guns

The forum’s first question was, “How will you better utilize the power of the arts to revitalize South Los Angeles?” Pleitez, the first to answer, hesitated. He attributed the city’s unmanageable budget to pensions that “drain funds,” which means there is not enough money to spend on the arts.

Garcetti declared he would go to Sacramento in attempt to prevent additional cuts to public education, promising to “restore arts as the heart and soul of Los Angeles.”

imageMayoral candidate Jan Perry, center, answers a moderator’s question.

Perry promised to redirect the city’s public arts fee to private nonprofits. James agreed that the arts should be one of LA’s economic priorities, and Greuel argued for better supporting the entertainment industry.

Garcetti responded first to the second question: “Is the development of housing for the mentally ill homeless in your top three housing priorities?” He cited examples from his record as councilman for the 13th district. Perry also cited her record as councilwoman from the 9th district. “They need to have housing and a safety net,” she said.

James emphasized that this would be a priority for him, too. He said, “This crisis is not new…and has not [gotten] attention and priority it deserves.” Greuel added that also she wants to bring back the housing trust.

Pleitez agreed that this is one of his priorities if elected. However, he brought up the pension problem again and said pensions are his first short-term priority. He also discussed including mental health in public heath programs.

The forum also considered a timely national issue: “What will you do…that will actually reduce gun homicides?” Every candidate supports a comprehensive ban on assault weapons and background checks for concealed carry permits.

James added that he wants to “close the mental health records gap.” He also brought up an original idea, that of a “school marshal program,” which “provides anonymity and security” without actually stationing armed guards at schools.
Pleitez called gangs the city’s biggest purveyor of gun violence: he lost a friend in middle school to a gang shooting. As mayor, he wants to find a way to reintegrate gang members into non-violent life.

Greuel supports the plans put forward by President Obama and California Senator Dianne Feinstein. In addition, Greuel called for, “…prevention, intervention, and enforcement.”

Perry and Garcetti proposed regulations elsewhere: Garcetti plans to regulate ammunition sales, and Perry “introduced…divestment from companies that manufacture guns” as a councilmember.

Southside Stories: A haunting past, a new beginning



This story is part of a semester-long project by USC Annenberg students spotlighting South LA. Stories featured on Intersections: South LA have been written by students in USC Professor Robert Hernandez’s class. See more Southside Stories here.

By Andrea Alonso

Regina Clifton will never forget the violent sound of her 7-year-old self screaming, the glazed look in her mother’s eyes as Clifton was raped by her mother’s boyfriend.

“My mother put makeup on my face, she brushed my hair back, and she sat there and watched,” Clifton said. “That was the scariest moment of my life, and I will never forget it. I was screaming her name. I will never forget.”

Clifton can hardly say she had a childhood. She was born on August 2, 1987 in Stateburg, S.C. to a mother who never wanted a daughter.

“She always wanted boys. She got upset when I was born,” Clifton said.

At just 9 months old, while Clifton was sleeping in her playpen, her mother poured gasoline around the room and lit a match.

Clifton was rescued before she had been badly burned, but the fumes of the fire had done enough damage to convince the doctors that she would never regain consciousness. So her family waited, and all they could do was pray.

According to her family members, a woman with “cat eyes” approached them at night and reassured them that Clifton would wake up by 7 a.m. the next morning, but within minutes the woman had mysteriously disappeared.

“I guess it was an angel,” Clifton said.

By the time it was morning, the doctors were claiming they had all witnessed a miracle–Clifton had woken up, but doctors said she wouldn’t be completely normal from the damaging effects of the fumes.

“I’m a slow learner,” Clifton said. “It’s very, very hard for me to go to places and fill out applications on my own. Other things I can do on my own, but some things I just can’t.”

Clifton had survived, but it was just the beginning of a string of tumultuous years ahead.

Living in poverty with a mother who was constantly absent, Clifton was forced to take care of herself and her younger brother, Reginald, before she had even reached her teens.

Homeless, and with no money to spend, Clifton turned to stealing to provide for her brother.

“I had to steal clothes and shoes and food,” she said.

She and her brother stayed in abandoned houses, breaking in and staying in one place for just a few days at a time.

Clifton was around 9 years old when her grandmother found her and her brother in an abandoned house and brought them back to her home, where she raised them for a few years.

Clifton ran away multiple times, but was always found by the police and returned to her mother’s home.

It was on Clifton’s thirteenth birthday, while staying at her mom’s house, when she was raped again, this time by her stepdad, as her mother watched.

It happened multiple times before Clifton was encouraged by a close friend to stand up for herself and tell a school counselor.

“I was too scared to tell anyone because my mom’s husband threatened to blow my head off if I told,” she said.

Clifton was placed in foster care until she was 17, but her home-life only improved marginally.

“It was not okay. My house mother was very mean. We never got along. I got beaten by her,” Clifton said.

As soon as she turned 18, Clifton was finally on her own.

She met her husband, Shannon Strain, when she was 20 years old, just a few months after giving birth to her first son, Zyqwon.

A couple years later, and just three months after giving birth to her and Strain’s daughter, Maya, Clifton and her two children moved to Los Angeles to live with Strain and his son, Isaiah.

Strain, who had been living in Los Angeles for several years beforehand, but periodically came back to South Carolina, introduced his family to New Beginnings, where he had been living since 2000. Now 25, Clifton is living with her husband and three children at New Beginnings and has completely cut off ties with her mother.

She has lived there, on and off, since 2010.

Clifton is currently trying to enroll in a program to receive her G.E.D. and hopes to go to college and get a nursing license.

“I want to get a job and go out here and work so I can be independent and prove to my mom that I can do something with my life,” Clifton said. “My mother told me I would never be somebody. She called me ugly, she called me names. She said a lot of things, but I’m still standing from all that.”

Natural History Museum keeping the art of taxidermy alive



By Kat Bouza

Listen to an audio story from Annenberg Radio News

Tim Bovard handles dead animals for a living.

Now, the very thought of that might make most of us squeamish. But Bovard isn’t like most of us — he’s the head taxidermist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. When you ask him about his work, he’ll light up with an enthusiasm that your average adult would reserve for describing a relaxing vacation — not a life spent skinning lemurs that died in captivity, or bobcats hit by cars.

It doesn’t hurt that Bovard has practiced taxidermy for most of his life.

“My parents would have said that they think I was born with this in mind,” Bovard reveals. “As a kid, I was already trying to do things, find animals, try and preserve them. I actually mounted my first animal to try and do a realistic life mount…was when I was 9, 10 years old. And it was a skunk.”

Bovard grew up in Southern California, and his family would often visit the Natural History Museum. His love of the museum’s intricate dioramas fueled his interest in the taxidermy profession. “A lot of people become somewhat fascinated because you never get to see the muscular typically of animals because they’ve got the skin on,” Bovard admits, adding, “And there’s not as much blood and bad smells and stuff as one might think of.”

The taxidermy process is surprisingly simple. Animal specimens are measured to ensure a proper fit over a polyurethane form, then skinned. The skin is salted and placed into a solution for pickling. “Pickling is just like doing pickles,” Bovard explains. “It’s an acid and a salt…same idea, pickling solution, couple of days.”

I follow Bovard outside of his office to a workspace covered in machinery, large plastic barrels, and buckets full of salt and animal fat.

He leads me to one barrel tucked away in the corner of the workspace and removes the lid. It’s filled to the brim with a briny, murky brown liquid. Bovard plunges his hand inside the barrel and fishes around until he produces a large, sopping wet — but extremely beautiful cow’s hide.

Bovard lifts up the hide to show where the skin has been shade as he explains the process: “You can see some lines or ridges in it,” he says, indicating to marks on the underside of the hide. “And what I’ve been doing is shaving it down. So, removing any excess tissue or flesh, but also actually shaving the thickness of the hide down. “

When the animal’s skin reaches the desired thickness, it’s put into a tanning bath then rubbed with oil to ensure the hide won’t shrink. From there, the skin is glued to the form. Glass eyes and clay features, such as noses and footpads, finish out the mount.

The entire process can take one or two days for small animals and birds. A larger animal — like the cow Bovard is pickling — can take several weeks.

Los Angeles’ Natural History Museum is one of only several museums that still employs a full-time taxidermist. Most museums use dioramas created at the beginning of the 20th Century. So, the need for artisans like Bovard has dwindled with the passage of time.

“When they had most of their exhibits built, why did they need a taxidermist anymore?” he says. “In most cases, their exhibits were behind glass and sealed up, so when the taxidermist retired, often they weren’t replaced.”

“Some of our dioramas bays, instead of saying, being installed in the 20s and never touched since then, have had three, four…different sets of animals in them…to kind of update our story. That is a unique part of this institution.”

A skilled taxidermist is intimately familiar with everything from anatomy to sculpture.

But the real artistry in taxidermy, says Bovard, is bringing dead animals back to life.

“You know, we like live stuff too,” he jokes. “That’s sometimes intriguing to people who think we’re just into the dead stuff. And if you think about it, it makes sense. Yeah, we are working with a dead animal, but we are trying to make it back to what it looked like in life. And that is a challenge…To me, kind of the ultimate challenge is to take that dead animal and get it back and capture some of the essence, some of the beauty of that animal.”

If Bovard decides to retire, that doesn’t mean the taxidermy department of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum will disappear. Bovard is currently working with two apprentices, ensuring the art of taxidermy will live on.

In South LA, the Art Doctors Are In



By: Danielle Tarasiuk

The Art Doctors might not be able to cure a crippling illness, but they may be able to provide a colorful cure for a bland t-shirt, shoes and even cars in South Los Angeles.

The list of artistic endeavors the Art Doctors take on is extensive: air brushing, silk screening, painting wall murals, logo and graphic design, car murals, illustrations, and graffiti art.

Owner Alan Araugo is passionate about his small store near the front entrance of Slauson Super Mall where they have been a main staple for over 20 years.

He is currently the only artist there, but occasionally take on apprentices.

During that time, they have been able to work with a long laundry list of celebrity stylists doing everything from music videos (their artwork appeared in Gwen Stefani’s music video for “Hollaback Girl”) to painting celebrities’ cars.

Araugo said they have even gained notoriety due to different mentions in pop culture. The Art Doctors and the Slauson Super Mall were mentioned in rapper Dr. Dre’s song, which brought attention to the store, he said.

Since he mostly works with stylists and not directly with celebrities, he has been able to remain under the radar. Araugo refers to himself as a “ghost designer” and prefers to remain that way.

“It’s crazy that people don’t know who you are, but you’ve done so much work,” said Araugo.

Despite the Art Doctors’ success, Araugo has no interest in moving his shop to other areas of Los Angeles where the urban art scene is booming.

The entire artistic movement in California was born out of South Los Angeles and Araugo likes staying close to his roots.

He said he has seen friends and colleagues move their business, become successful for two or three years then after a short period of time close down.

“For some odd reason, being here [Slauson Super Mall] is kind of timeless,” said Araugo. “People come here regardless.”

Najee Ali publishes his autobiography



imageCivil rights activist Najee Ali is a familiar name to South LA. He is founder and Executive Director of Project Islamic H.O.P.E. (Helping Oppressed People Everywhere) and has been on the frontlines of many movements and issues in South LA. — everything from racism to police brutality to prostitution and more.

Ali hails from Gary, Indiana and made his way to South Central LA where he had numerous brushes with the law. In 2008, he was sentenced to state prison for trying to bribe a witness in a criminal case involving his daughter. But Ali also found his way to community activism and became a well-known crusader and fighter of injustice. His new autobiography called “Raising Hell: A Life of Activism” details 18 episodes of that activism.

Ali, a USC alumnus, talked about his book and his involvement in issues like the LA civil unrest from the Rodney King verdict in an audio interview with Kristen Nakashioya of Annenberg Radio News.

Voices against Prop 34 on the death penalty



By Kat Bouza

Listen to an audio story from Annenberg Radio News

imageFormer Governors Gray Davis, Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian gathered with victims’ families Tuesday in Downtown Los Angeles to gather last-minute support against abolishing the death penalty.

While the death penalty is often considered a moral issue, Proposition 34 has instead focused on the high cost to California taxpayers.

Supporters have indicated stopping the death penalty would save the state nearly $100 million dollars — something the Superior Court deemed hyperbolic and forced Prop 34 supporters to remove from campaign materials.

Still, the race remains tight.

Numbers released today indicate that 48 percent of voters are against Proposition 34, compared to the 41 percent who wish to eliminate capital punishment.

Joe Bonaminio opposes the initiative. His son, Riverside police officer Ryan Bonaminio, was gunned down while on duty in November 2010.

“I don’t know about the financial end of it,” Bonamino admits. “Personally speaking, there’s no way in this world I would want to see the death penalty abolished. If you read the stories about the victims, I think you’d have a better understanding of why we want the death penalty.”

A non-partisan study by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office concludes that any projected savings due to the initiative may be off by “tens of millions of dollars.”

Governor Wilson underscored the potential threats to public safety, saying, “There is nothing that is more important than a climate of public safety for our citizens. There is nothing I would argue that possibly allows justice to be subordinated to false claims of savings, or even legitimate claims…There’s nothing in Prop 34 that guarantees that. “

But financial concerns aren’t what victims’ families care about.

Last December, Catherine Burke and her husband experienced the unthinkable — their 18 year-old daughter, Saskia Burke, was stabbed to death in the family’s Murrietta home by an acquaintance.

Burke says that, while seeking the death penalty for her daughter’s killer carries its own moral weight, nothing can match the suffering experienced by the Burke family: “I carry that guilt, I carry that regret and that shame and that horror. And he carries none of it. He smiled as he stabbed my daughter…Where do we draw the moral line for those that will never feel moral obligation or responsibility in society? We can’t call them moral creatures.”

Whatever the moral argument, if Prop 34 is defeated, all present today admit it would still only be a small justice for the many victims of those on California’s death row.