Latino families transition from unemployment to work

June 15, 2015 By Leave a Comment


By

Araceli Martínez Ortega | La Opinión (text)
Brian Watt | KPCC (audio)
Maya Sugarman | KPCC (photo)

This story is available in Spanish here.

This article was produced for Watts Revisited, a multimedia project launched by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that explores challenges facing South L.A. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots. Learn more at www.wattsrevisited.com.

David Williams, who works at Homeboy Industries, fills out paperwork to enroll in a seven-week construction course at Los Angeles Trade Tech College on Monday, April 1, 2015. The class is put on by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in partnership with LATTC. | Photo by Maya Sugarman for KPCC

David Williams, who works at Homeboy Industries, fills out paperwork to enroll in a seven-week construction course at Los Angeles Trade Tech College on Monday, April 1, 2015. The class is put on by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations in partnership with LATTC. | Photo by Maya Sugarman for KPCC

Last September, Abigail Flores arrived heartsick at the WorkSource Center, a work placement agency in South Central Los Angeles. She had spent at least seven months unemployed, depending upon public assistance to support her three young children.

“What I encountered here was beautiful. They helped me in everything. The work that they found for me was at a Dollar Tree shop. Then the hours were decreased. Once again they found me another job in a hamburger restaurant where I made minimum wage,” said Flores, a resident of South Los Angeles and a 34-year-old single mother. Her children are 6, 7, and 14 years old.

At the same time that Flores returned to the labor force, and to be able to provide for her family, the WorkSource Center, located inside LA Trade Tech College at Vernon-Central, began to provide her with training in the hotel industry.

With these new skills, Abigail will be able to make a transition to full-time work with a better salary and benefits. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Education, Featured, Featured Story, South Central LA, Watts Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Reinvigorating empty lots of South LA

May 26, 2015 By Leave a Comment


By

Shawnte Passmore | LA Wave (text)
Gary McCarthy | LA Wave (photo and video)
Kevin Tsukii | Intersections South LA (video)
Deepa Fernandes | KPCC (audio)
Susanica Tam | KPCC (photo)

This article was produced for Watts Revisited, a multimedia project launched by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism that explores challenges facing South L.A. as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Watts Riots. Learn more at www.wattsrevisited.com.

Barbara Stanton stands in front of a rendition of the Wattstar Theatre. | Photo by Gary McCarthy for LA Wave.

Barbara Stanton stands in front of a rendition of the Wattstar Theatre. | Photo by Gary McCarthy for LA Wave

For community stakeholders interested in transforming vacant lots, it may seem easier to clean up blighted areas than to change public opinion about the area of South Los Angeles widely known for its infamous riots. Yet, several community-based organizations are determined to do both.

Barbara J. Stanton grew up in a different kind of Watts, a place that had plenty of stores to shop along 103rd Street and a movie theatre before the riots or as locals call it – Watts Rebellion – broke out Aug. 11, 1965.

After the rioters looted and burned 600 buildings in Watts and neighboring communities, business owners were slow to return, if they did at all. The only movie theatre in town did not return.

For over 20 years, Stanton has been trying to bring a theatre back to the area but with a twist: featuring an educational and job training facility for those wishing to work behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. Her nonprofit organization, Watts Cinema and Education Center (WCEC), expects to hold a ground-breaking ceremony before September in a vacant lot on Graham Avenue next to a Metro Blue Line station. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Development, Featured, Featured Story, Watts Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Watts residents call for neighborhood improvements

February 26, 2015 By Leave a Comment


Residents rally at the corner of 92nd and Bandera Street in South L.A. | Photo by Leah Harari

Residents rally at the corner of 92nd and Bandera Street in South L.A. | Leah Harari

Fifty years ago, pent up frustration and racial tension became fuel for the Watts Riots, in which 34 people died. And on Thursday, union activists and Watts residents cited the 50th anniversary of the riots to express their frustration at how little attention their streets receive from the city.

A small crowd rallied at the corner of East 92nd and Bandera Streets, where since 2001, residents have been asking the city to install a stoplight. The intersection is across from a senior citizens apartment building and just a few blocks from 92nd Street Elementary School. [Read more…]

Filed Under: More on Intersections, Watts Tagged With: ,

Room on the road for bike route to Watts

February 17, 2015 By Leave a Comment


Can I get a lane? More than 200 people took to their bikes for the Ride to Love.

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An East Side Riders member shows off his biker vest. | S. Monte

Lowriders, fixies, and three wheelers all shared the road Saturday during the bike Ride for Love in Watts.

It was “a time to be free in your community,” said Fred Buggs, President of the East Side Riders Bike Club. More than 200 cyclists of all ages cruised from Ted Watkins Park to the Watts Towers, resting at a few notable intersections and pit stops along the way. The event was organized by East Side Riders, Los Riders, United Riders bicycle clubs, and C.I.C.L.E working in collaboration.

People outside their homes and walking along the sidewalks waved and cheered as riders passed through neighborhoods at a steady 5 mph. Many drivers honked and smiled. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Arts, Community, Culture, More on Intersections Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Watts Towers makes list of America’s Endangered Landscapes

October 27, 2014 By Leave a Comment


wattstowerThe Watts Towers was declared an endangered site last week by The Cultural Landscape Foundation. The iconic South L.A. art piece was one of 11 landscapes that made the “Landslide” list of at-risk landscapes. The foundation cited “thermal effects, vibration and earthquakes” which have cracked the cement case around the towers’ wire structure.

According to Lucy DeLatorre, a tour guide at the Watts Towers Arts Center, Simon Rodia singlehandedly made the towers of recycled materials, including steel bar, wire mesh and cement. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Arts, Community, More on Intersections, Watts Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Redefining environmentalism in South LA 

August 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment


By gardening and keeping lights low, a family in Watts

challenges mainstream notions of “environmentalism.”

Ashley-Enviro5

Ashley and her mother in the garden at their Watts home. | Ashley Hansack

“Turn off the damn lights! You act like I have money coming out of my ass,” yells my mom.

It’s not: “turn off the lights because you waste energy,” “turn off the lights because we need to reduce fossil fuels,” or “turn off the lights because we need to conserve resources.”

It’s: “Turn off the lights because I cannot afford to give up an extra ten dollars to pay the bill. I told you once and I don’t want to have to tell you again: turn off the damn lights.”

There are 13 light switches controlling the visibility and the mood lighting throughout my family’s house in Watts. In every bedroom, hallway and common living space, there is a light switch waiting to come to life and shine.

Enter the bathroom. Light on. Exit the bathroom. Light off. Enter the bedroom. Light on. Exit the bedroom. Light off.

Again and again, I turn the lights on and off without ever stopping to think about where this light comes from and how I have the great magical power to bring light into a room with the effortless flick of my wrist. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Contributor, Environment, More on Intersections, Opinion Tagged With: , , , ,

From Watts to Walla Walla: The burdens and the blessings of my college education

July 28, 2014 By 3 Comments


Alisha Agarde (l) and author Ashley Hansack (r) at a First Generation Mentorship Program Dinner at Whitman College in 2013

Ashley Hansack (right) with a fellow student at a First Generation Mentorship Program Dinner at Whitman College in 2013. | Ashley Hansack

During the fall of 2010, I applied to eighteen colleges and universities across the United States. As a first-generation, working-class, Latina applicant, college counselors prompted me to highlight my diversity in my college essays.

“You are different,” they would say. “Use that to your advantage,” their smiles would imply. Essay upon essay, I would highlight characteristics about my family, my school, and my community that seemed trivial and unimportant to my identity. Yes, my blood runs with 100% Mexican heritage. Yes, my mom raised my four sisters and me on her own under a housekeeper’s salary. Yes, I grew up living in the ghetto streets of communities like Watts and Compton. Yes, unemployment and food security were at the forefront of many family discussions. I would be praised by my mentors and counselors, who urged, add more details here, a little more pity there, and girl, you have yourself an award-winning essay. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Contributor, Education, More on Intersections, Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Snapshots from the Watts Senior Citizen Prom

July 14, 2014 By Leave a Comment


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Whether walking in heels or hobbling with walkers, the guests made their way to the Watts Senior Citizen Center last Friday in style – the women in bright dresses, the men in dapper suits and all wearing white rose corsages with “Watts Senior Prom” printed on black ribbons.

Inside the “ballroom” they found a dozen tables draped in black cloths dotting the room among bunches of black and silver balloons. Smooth jazz played in soft tones. Servers in starched dress-shirts served glasses of pink lemonade along with soul food from the Watts Coffeehouse.

District 15 Councilman Joe Buscaino, who planned the event, said he wanted the longtime residents of Watts to feel gratitude and respect – and have fun, too. Looking at his parents, who sat at one of the front tables together, he said, “You can be a senior and still party, ma!”

Buscaino had planned to take his grandmother for a spin on the dance floor, but she had recently taken a fall and didn’t feel up to the festivities. When the councilman, wearing a black suit and silver tie, said his nona would turn 94 in August, the crowd broke out in cheers and applause.

Intersections South LA spoke with some guests about their long lives spent in the ever-changing neighborhoods of Watts and South Los Angeles.

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[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, More on Intersections Tagged With: , , , , , ,

First person: City Year tutor in Watts encourages others to mentor

May 20, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Vanessa Gonzalez with Superintendent John Deasy and Allison Graff-Weisner | City Year LA

Vanessa Gonzalez with LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy and Allison Graff-Weisner, executive director of City Year LA | City Year LA

By Vanessa Gonzalez

Growing up, I was a shy, self-conscious, but studious girl. I was afraid that I might become involved in gangs—a common occurrence in my neighborhood. My parents tried their best to help with schoolwork, but their limited education and language barriers were challenging for all of us. The lack of books and computers also made it difficult for me to learn.

I struggled with my self-confidence and circumstances, until one person changed my whole perspective. My amazing high school science teacher, Ms. Tam, told me that she genuinely believed in me and that I was capable of accomplishing anything I put my mind to. From that moment on, I was excited about the future and ready to show the world all that I could offer. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Contributor, Education, More on Intersections, Opinion Tagged With: , , ,

New development breaks ground in Watts

May 19, 2014 By Leave a Comment


Congresswoman Janice Hahn, Rodney Shepard, and others break ground on Lanzit Industrial Park (Matthew Tinoco/Neon Tommy)
Dozens gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new industrial building in Watts last week, the first such project for the South L.A. community in more than 40 years. The building, a project of Lanzit Industrial Park LLC, will be about 46,000-square feet and house space for both offices and light manufacturing.

The industrial park promises to bring some much needed employment opportunities to the neighborhood.

“Today we can rejoice with the knowledge that new jobs are coming to Watts,” said Rodney Shepard, the South Los Angeles land developer leading the Lanzit project. “This development will bring economic security and good, stable, manufacturing jobs back here where they belong.”  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, More on Intersections, Watts Tagged With: , , ,
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