OPINION: Why Latinos need to speak out for Black lives



Ferguson protesters reach the site where Ezell Ford was killed last August. | Daina Beth Solomon

Ferguson protesters reach the site where Ezell Ford was killed last August. | Daina Beth Solomon

By Alberto Retana, Executive Vice-President, Community Coalition 

How much unrest will our country experience before we substantively address the injustices acutely impacting Black people?

For months, across the nation, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand police accountability, transparency and justice for the families that have fallen victims to state violence.

I am Latino and I stand in support members of the Black community seeking justice for their children and families.  It’s time that we, as Latinos, boldly speak out in support of justice.  If we are to truly deal with racism in America impacting Latinos, we need to understand what is happening right now with Black America.

[Read more…]

Reporting on social change, 50 years after Watts



Erin Aubry Kaplan with her father, Larry Aubry. Kaplan covered the 1992 Riots, while Aubry covered the 1965 Riots. | Jenna Pittaway

Erin Aubry Kaplan with her father, Larry Aubry. Kaplan covered the 1992 Riots, while Aubry covered the 1965 Riots. | Jenna Pittaway

How is social change covered in the wake of civil unrest? Journalists, community organizers and students convened at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism on April 23 to reflect on the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Watts Riots — along with underlying issues, and how reporting can benefit the community. The event was the culmination of a months-long project that connects local and ethnic media outlets and organizations to investigate current structural problems and potential solutions in South Los Angeles. Through a partnership between USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism’s Metamorphosis Project, Intersections, five additional news outlets, six community organizations and a local high school, attempted to create a glimpse of contemporary challenges, as well as where change is happening that could be expanded.

Annenberg Civic Engagement and Journalism Initiative Director Daniela Gerson moderated a panel that considered how coverage of South Los Angeles can play a role in drawing attention to and alleviating structural inequalities that contributed to civil unrest and rioting. The panel included observations from two long-time South L.A. residents with first-hand perspectives on the unrest and coverage of it. Larry Aubry, a columnist with the Los Angeles Sentinel and civil rights activist who witnessed the 65 riots, exchanged thoughts with his daughter, KCET writer Erin Aubry Kaplan, who reported on the 1992 unrest. Among the questions they raised was: Just how should we refer to the event commonly known as the “Watts Riots?” Perhaps “culmination,” said Kaplan, indicating that such eruptions come from long-simmering issues and that terms riots, unrest, and rebellion do not encompass all of the elements.

Two of the project participants, KPCC Community Health Reporter Adrian Florido and Community Coalition press liaison Isaiah Muhammad shared the process of collaborating on an article about promoting healthy living, as well as some of the barriers for media to cover South LA such as an assumption of a violent narrative and lack of context. The four panelists agreed that many stories remain to be revealed in South L.A. — if only reporters can dig deep to the “grassroots level,” as Kaplan suggested. The audience divided into teams to do just that, meeting with community activists to discuss development, housing, jobs and health.

Visit the site at www.wattsrevisited.org.

Visit the site at www.wattsrevisited.org.

The event also marked the launch of WATTS REVISITED, a website that provides solutions-oriented reporting about challenges that South L.A. faces today. It was created by Intersections, the Metamorphosis Project and the Civic Engagement and Journalism Initiative, all hosted at the USC Annenberg School. Media partners included La Opinion, LA Sentinel, Hoy, LA Wave, KPCC, and students from the journalism program at Augustus Hawkins High School. Community organization partners included the All Peoples Community Center, Coalition for Responsible Community Development,Community Coalition, Community Health Councils, Esperanza Community Housing Corporation, and Trust South LA.

Read event highlights in the Tweets below:

South LA schools follow state-wide graduation trends



Crenshaw HS

Crenshaw High School

Nearly a dozen South L.A. high schools have followed a positive statewide trend of rising graduation rates while simultaneously lowering the percentage of dropouts, according to data from the California Department of Education.

Schools with the highest graduation rates for the 2013-14 school year include Thirty-Second Street USC Performing Arts with a 100 percent graduation rate; Foshay Learning Center and Middle College High, each with 99 percent; King/Drew Medical Magnet with 96 percent and the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies with 95 percent.

Of the South L.A. high schools, even those with the lowest percentage of graduates recorded graduation rates that were only 10 percent below the LAUSD district-wide graduation rate of 70.4 percent, with a majority of them on an upward trend. [Read more…]

South LA stunt pro sparks opportunity for protégés



La Faye Baker practices a car stunt. | Photo by Anna-Cat Brigida

La Faye Baker practices a car stunt. | Anna-Cat Brigida

La Faye Baker rolls up her cargo pants and slides on her kneepads. She pulls back the sleeves of her hoodie to secure her protective gloves. Without hesitation, she jumps on the hood of a silver SUV. She grabs the bar stretching across the roof and dangles her torso over the windshield. Her combat boots rest on the hood of the car as it kicks into gear. The car swerves, gently at first but revving up to 15 mph, as Baker thrashes around on the hood for about three minutes in a parking lot, practicing a stunt. When the car finally comes to a stop, she hops down, unfazed. Her gold eye shadow and shimmery lip-gloss show no signs of wear.

This is a typical day for Baker, one of Hollywood’s only Black stuntwomen for more than 25 years. Before Katniss Everdeen was the girl on fire, Baker was bursting into flames, flawlessly executing car stunts and performing fight scenes for movies such as Clueless and Fat Albert.

La Faye Baker | Photo courtesy of La Faye Baker

La Faye Baker | Photo courtesy of La Faye Baker

Nothing about Baker is timid. Not her job, her path to success, or her sense of style.

Instead of gaining household recognition through acting, her work is part of the Hollywood illusion. While action packed movies are typically associated with masculinity, Baker has filled the arena with girl power. In an industry where the #oscarssowhite, she breaks the mold.

Growing up in South Central, Baker lived on the peripheries of Hollywood’s entertainment business.

Instead of following the aspirational route of television commercials and movie extra roles, Baker performed in her own ways. At Crenshaw High School, she was a competitive gymnast and played basketball and volleyball. At 16, she landed a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for spinning 58 hula-hoops at one time after watching a group of girls hula-hooping in the park sparked a new hobby.

As she studied recreation administration at California State University, Long Beach, gymnastics became her focus but the cinema was always in the back of her mind. She briefly considered studying film, but instead followed her mother’s advice to pursue what she considered a more practical degree.

Baker took a job as a probation officer after college, even though she hadn’t completely shaken off her dream to work in entertainment.

There, a co-worker who worked part time as a stunt person introduced her to the world of dangling off the top of racing SUVs. Baker began attending training sessions. After working out with the group for a few months, she knew she had the style and ability to excel.

“I got flare,” Baker said. “I know that I can do this stuff.”  Baker became hooked on the excitement of driving fast cars and being lit on fire. With connections from her training group and her natural athletic ability, securing work came easily.

Since Baker’s first gig working in Atlanta for The Heat of the Night in 1988, she has worked as a stuntwoman or stunt coordinator in 47 films listed on IMDB. Baker estimates she has worked on more than 120 films total. Her credits include the Nutty Professor, Inspector Gadget and Baker’s personal favorite, What’s Love Got to Do with It, a 1993 film based on Tina Turner’s life and career. Baker has recently shifted her focus from starring in fight scenes to overseeing the process as a stunt coordinator.

Through all this success, she has still maintained her job working as a probation officer at a camp  in L.A. for young men in the juvenile justice system.

But Baker said she doesn’t let Hollywood get to her head. She rarely even watches the films that list her name in the credits. She still remembers hanging out with friends in the South L.A. neighborhood where she grew up and the scant opportunities for her to learn about the entertainment industry. She often drove across town for ice skating, tap dancing or skateboarding lessons.

“Being a minority and doing something that other people wish they could have done, it motivates me to keep moving,” Baker said. “I believe that if anybody else can do it, I can do it too.”

This philosophy propelled Baker into her career, and motivates her to encourage other young women and minorities. In 2005, she founded the nonprofit Diamond in the Raw to empower young women to pursue careers in the entertainment industry.

Diamond in the Raw participants at the annual Action Icon Awards | Photo courtesy of La Faye Baker

Diamond in the Raw participants at the annual Action Icon Awards | Photo courtesy of La Faye Baker

Among other programs, Diamond in the Raw organizes an 8-week summer “boot camp” to expose high school students to non-traditional entertainment industry career paths such as screenwriting, camera work and costume design.

Shammah Tatum expanded her knowledge of the entertainment industry when she participated last year in the program, which costs $150 per person. Tatum, a 19-year-old Compton resident and aspiring actress, learned the ins-and-outs of the entertainment industry by pitching, writing and producing a short film throughout the summer.

“It’s important that young people know that there is way more behinds the scenes work that you can be involved with,” Tatum said, listing editors, producers or stylists as lesser-known positions. “They may find that they have another talent.”

While acting is Tatum’s goal, her experience with Diamond in the Raw gave her a deeper understanding of myriad efforts that create a film. After the camp, she used her new skills interning as a production assistant and then as a casting assistant. Other participants have gone on to work as broadcast news reporters or camera technicians. Tatum credits the program with connecting her with an industry that rarely reaches into Compton, or her previous neighborhoods in Inglewood and Carson.

By working with women like Tatum, Baker aims to bring Hollywood into diverse pockets of greater Los Angeles, pushing more women and minorities to fuel blockbuster success — even from behind the scenes

“There are so many different people with different stories to tell,” Baker said. “Now is the time to open up and be a little more accepting of different viewpoints.”

Like Intersections on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and sign up for the Newsletter to stay in the loop on news and views from South L.A. Email reporter Anna-Cat Brigida at [email protected] and follow her @AnnaCat_Brigida.

New name game: South LA or SOLA?



SOLA

What’s in a name? More than a decade ago Los Angeles officials decreed that the area south of the 10 freeway would no longer be referred to in official documents as South Central. Instead, to end the stigma of crime and violence associated with the area, officials rebranded it “South L.A.” but the area may soon see another name change.

District 8 Councilman Barnard Parks introduced a proposal last week to abbreviate South L.A. to “SOLA.” The proposed change is indicative of a larger trend at promoting city nicknames: West Hollywood has been embraced as WeHo, and Downtown has taken on the moniker DTLA for locals.

Read the original City Council file on changing “South Central” to South L.A.” in 2002.

As far as South L.A. residents? “They see these other communities reinvigorated by these contemporary names,” Parks told the L.A. Times. “And they wonder, at times, why their community is lagging behind.” [Read more…]

South LA residents march to protest neighborhood oil drilling



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By Diana Lee, Intersections South LA and Pierce Larsen, Annenberg TV News 

South L.A. residents protested against oil company Freeport McMoRan yesterday by marching through Jefferson Boulevard in their fight against disruptive – and potentially hazardous – drilling operations.

This isn’t the first time Freeport has clashed with residents over their concerns about noxious fumes, truck traffic and health hazards. The company, which runs 34 wells in Jefferson Park near the University of Southern California, faced numerous criticisms from residents when it tried to get a permit to expand its site last November.

The oil and gas group announced yesterday that it would be conducting a “routine cleanout,” according to issue advocacy group RALLY. In response, locals traveled to the drill site on Jefferson while holding signs and singing, “Stand together!” Others followed with: “…against neighborhood drilling.”

But the trucks didn’t come rolling in like the residents expected. In a gathering before the march, community organizer Niki Wong told residents that 15 minutes before the scheduled 7 a.m. visit, she got a notification that Freeport had cancelled.

“There is no maintenance work planned for today,” Freeport told Intersections in a statement.

Wong, who represents the Redeemer Community Partnership, decided to continue with the protest.

She said what the company calls a “routine cleanout” essentially refers to acid drop, in which they bring tens of thousands of gallons of hydrochloric acid and corrosive liquids to put into the area’s wells.

“The process for why they do it and how they do it is not very clear,” she said.

Wong believes the company has not been transparent about its practice to the residents, who only began getting work notices since 2012 through the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the agency in charge of air pollution control for Los Angeles. She wondered if the company got tipped off about their planned march and decided to call off their visit.

The company said it provided notice to the management district to conduct “routine and conventional well maintenance work,” comparing the task to what might be performed on water supply wells in Los Angeles, as well as all over the world.

Freeport said in a statement: “The work is designed to remove calcium deposits from building up inside the well bore. Rumors and assertions that hydraulic fracturing or well stimulation work are being planned are not accurate.” The notice given to the SCAQMD shows there was no plan for hydraulic fracturing, a process of using high pressure to pump liquid down a well and fracture the rock.

The agency received 29 order complaints about the oil company’s practices in 2014, according to spokesman Sam Atwood. After investigating these claims, SCAQMD issued two violations to Freeport over air pollution and odor.

Atwood said he thinks the oil company was told about the protest, but is unsure if that was the reason it called off their plan for maintenance acidizing.

Whether the trucks carrying toxic chemicals are responsible for health problems is still unproven.

But Kathryn Wiley, co-founder of Church of the Redeemer, said her sons now experience asthma and bloody noses. She worries that air pollution caused by oil sites is the culprit.

“I physically have seen these trucks come in and out around 6:30 or 7 in the morning,” she said. “They have people standing out, rushing them in before anybody could see them.”

Like Intersections on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and sign up for the Newsletter to stay in the loop on news and views from South L.A. Follow the author on Twitter at @atdianalee.

Also see this story at Annenberg TV News.

Immigration documentary explores meaning of ‘American’



By Heidi Carreon, Neon Tommy

As the sun beat down on day two of the L.A. Times Festival of Books, visitors stayed cool in the University of Southern California’s darkened Ray Stark theater. But the room was silent as a documentary opened with bustling scenes of Manila, capital of the Philippines, flickering across the screen.

“I always knew I was going to America,” the words of Jose Antonio Vargas, activist and Pulitzer Prize Winner, echoed throughout the room. “America seemed…inevitable.” [Read more…]

South LA’s District Square: Big plans and a long waiting game



DistrictSquare1Slider

The lot slated to become District Square, seen in mid-March, 2015. | Ciara Lunger

By Ciara Lunger

A shopping center that was supposed to break ground in South L.A. three years ago is still slated for construction, according to officials who envision an economic boost for the Crenshaw district.

The 6 1/2 acre retail establishment, called District Square, is planned for the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Road. Local organizations hope it will not only improve the financial climate but also bring in-demand shops and services to the neighborhood.

“There are a lot of missing elements in the neighborhood as far as access to basic goods — not a lot of clothing stores, still a need for groceries,” said Tunua Thrash, executive director at the West Angeles Community Development Corporation. District Square is slated to replace a Ralphs and Rite Aid, which, according to Thrash, were aging and needed aesthetic upgrades. [Read more…]

Activist and political commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson talks racial tensions



By Max Schwartz

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Photo by Angela Hoffman

Earl Ofari Hutchinson | Photo by Angela Hoffman

Activist, author, columnist and political commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson called in to The Hot Seat to discuss his background, the case of Marlene Pinnock and the broad issue of racial tension in the United States.

The case of Marlene Pinnock, the woman who was beaten by a California Highway Patrol Officer, is in the news again because her attorney, Caree Harper, was held in contempt of court. Host Max Schwartz and Hutchinson disccused the issue of Harper making $600,000 from the Pinnock case, the resignation of the CHP officer involved and changes the agency has put into place. The two also talked about the results from the changes that have already been put into affect, and they talked about the remaining reforms Hutchinson expects the agency to make.

Schwartz and Hutchinson also talked about racial tension in the United States. Two key points of the discussion were the starting point for increased racial tension in the recent past and the reasons for the current racial tension.

Reach The Hot Seat here; follow Max on Twitter here. Please use #TheHotSeat and #ASCJ when Tweeting about The Hot Seat.  Like Intersections on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and sign up for the Newsletter to stay in the loop on news and views from South L.A.

A garden sprouts at South LA Library



RonFinley1

Lush greenery shades the street on Ron Finley’s parkway in South LA. | Marisa Zocco

From a tiny seed, a mighty garden may grow. This is precisely what Ron Finley is aiming for as he kicks off the development of his Vermont Square Library garden project in South Los Angeles.

Finley, a South L.A. native, plans to turn the library’s yard into an open-air library beginning May 28, complete with string lights and swings hanging from the trees. The transformation will coincide with L.A. Design Festival, running through June 14. During the time, tutorials will provide instruction on how to make Adirondack chairs out of palettes, graffiti artists will paint murals on giant panels, and movies may be shown al fresco. [Read more…]