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MedianHousehold

Vol. 5, No. 1

RESEARCH REPORTOctober 2009

BLACK LOS ANGELES:A PREVIEW

Introduction

The majority of the settlers who founded LosAngeles in 1781 had African roots. That profoundblack presence has continued, over the years, toboth shape the city and to be shaped by it. Today,Los Angeles County has the second-largest AfricanAmerican population in the nation, and 54.4percent of California’s black population – morethan 1.3 million people — is concentrated in thefive-county area surrounding Los Angeles. Whilethis large black population represents a relativelysmall proportion of the region’s overall popula-tion, its social, cultural, and political impactcannot be overstated.

For the past eight years, the Ralph J. BuncheCenter for African American Studies at UCLA hasbeen engaged in a major research initiative, theBlack Los Angeles Project, which explores thehistorical and contemporary contours of black lifein Los Angeles. Bringing together the work ofscholars from across Southern California, theproject has produced a 16-chapter book titled,Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and RacialRealities (NYU Press, 2010).

Each chapter in the book presents a case study orhistorical vignette that engages with five centralthemes: communities and neighborhoods; reli-gious life; political participation; cultural produc-tion; and social justice. Collectively, these chap-ters aim to connect the dots between the past,present, and future of black life in the city.

Ernie Barnes was born in Durham, NC in 1938 andplayed professional football in the 1960s beforemoving to Los Angeles. The Bunche Centernominated Barnes as a UC Regent’s Lecturer forFall 2009, but he passed away in April of 2009before realizing the honor.

The following anecdotes convey the spirit of thechapters comprising each of the book’s foursections: Space, People, Image, and Action.

Figure 1. “The Critic’s Corner,” 2007, by Ernie Barnes. This image anchors the cover of Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities.

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Space

Mapping Black Los Angeles

by Paul Robinson1

In 1880, the black population in Los AngelesCounty numbered just 188 persons. Unlike inother areas of the nation, this population wasspread throughout the growing city and notspatially isolated from other groups (see Figure2). Sixty years later, however, Los Angeles’ blackpopulation had grown to 70,781 and was largelyconfined to a single area of Los Angeles (seeFigure 3). By 1970, the black population hadgrown ten-fold to 759,091, primarily filling outthe area of Los Angeles that had come to be knownas “South Central” (see Figure 4). Two decadeslater, the black population had grown by morethan 200,000 persons to 992,674 and was begin-ning to spread out into the desert communitiessurrounding the city (see Figure 5), while Latinoresidents increasingly moved into “South Cen-tral.” This trend continued into the early years ofthe 21st century. In 2008, the black population –944,798 — was less concentrated in “SouthCentral” than it had been at any point throughoutthe past four decades and resided in more areas ofthe Los Angeles region, particularly in outlyingdesert communities (see Figure 6).

Figure 3. Black Population and Relative Home Value, 1940.

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Winnie Owens homeCharles and Robert Owens family

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Black Households in Los Angeles, 1880,superimposed on contemporary streets

Figure 2. Black Households in Los Angeles, 1880.

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Figure 4. Black Population and Relative Home Value, 1970.

Figure 5. Black Population and Relative Home Value, 1990.

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People

Transfiguration Church in Leimert Park/Crenshaw District2

by Faustina DuCros

Transfiguration Catholic Church and School onWest Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. and 3rd Avenuein Leimert Park was one of the key Catholic institu-tions (among others) for the Louisiana migrantswho settled in this area of Los Angeles during the1940s through the 1970s. It remains such today,albeit on a smaller scale. The Black Louisianacommunity of migrants identified themselves ashaving strong Catholic and Creole roots. Here area few recollections by first and second-generationmigrants on the role Transfiguration, and theCatholic parishes in general, played in organizingtheir lives as migrants.

Interview 33: [A]nd I remember telling all myfriends in elementary school at Transfiguration,“Oh, I’m moving over to Leimert Park over onNorton Avenue.” [...] [A]nd my parents alwayswanted to live in that area because the houseswere Spanish style, nice manicured lawns. Andyou know, we’d go there, you know, weekly to seeyou know, and my mother and father wouldalways say, “You know, someday we’re gonna findus a house over here and we’re gonna move overthere.” (Parents migrated 1956, second-genera-tion male, 50 years old)

Interview 35: [T]here’s a lot of history in LosAngeles of the Creoles because many of themmoved to the West from parts of Louisiana. MostlyNew Orleans. And they sort of invaded, I’ll say, theAvenues, which from Arlington going west.Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh,Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Edgehill off of Jefferson,down to Exposition. That was kind of the Creolearea. Then they had the Creoles that lived east ofCrenshaw, from Santa Barbara, which is nowMartin Luther, over to 39th, even to Exposition.The church, which is Transfiguration, on Fourth,where Leimert Boulevard meets Martin Luther.That’s where the Catholic Church was. (Migrated1931, second-generation male, 77 years old)

Interview 10: [...] [P]eople who migrated fromNew Orleans, they all stayed around Arlington, offof Slauson. My daddy’s friends all—up off ofJefferson. Everybody was kinda in the littleconfine. [...] So, when I first arrived, my husbandhad known that a lot of the Creoles were in the so-called Crenshaw area that—now they—everythingis Crenshaw area with a derogatory connotationwhen that wasn’t the way. So, we looked where ourfriends were located. [...] And they refer to thearea now as The Jungle, but, at first, this is where alot of the Creoles were living at the time, in the St.Bernadette’s Parish, up in that area, or—andTransfiguration’s Parish. (Migrated 1965, first-generation female, 70 years old)

Figure 6. Black Population and Relative Home Value, 2008.

5Dr. Lewis was born in New Orleans in 1924. Shepaved the way for a bourgeoning black art sceneto take off in Los Angeles when she moved to thecity in 1964 and created gallery space for blackartists and published scholarly books and jour-nals on black Los Angeles art.3

Hip Hop Ministries in L.A.

by Christina Zanfagna

On the corner of Western Avenue and 85th Streetstands the Love and Faith Christian Center—achurch straddling the border of Los Angeles andInglewood and known for its Coffee on the Cornerprogram. The church also is known for a weeklyholy hip hop ministry called Club Judah, whichwas created by Pastor Colette Toomer-Cruz for heradolescent, hip hop-loving daughter. On Saturdaynights, they roll out the pews, set up large circulartables with black table cloths, dim the lights andcreate a club-like atmosphere for young people toexperience God in a “hip,” relaxed environment.Club Judah falls between the cracks of the classicbinary of the church and the streets and is anexample of some of the new hip hop worshipexperiences that look to bring believers and non-believers into the same space, creating a kind ofsacred/secular borderlands.

While the club is in session the room remains verydark. The stage, which serves as the pulpit areaduring church services, is infused with coloredlights against a maroon curtain. The interiorspace, like the exterior of the building, is stark andunadorned. As the night comes to a close, every-one present helps to dismantle and re-convert theclub back into a church space for Sunday morningservice. The fluorescent lights flicker on; thosepresent fold up the tables and chairs and stackthem neatly in rows against the walls. The youthwho are invited there in the hopes of religiousconversion are also a part of the spatial conver-sion of the evening.

The site was home to a Western Surplus (gunstore) before the building was looted and burnedduring the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, the carcassthen renovated into a place of worship. Undergo-ing a kind of urban alchemy, the plain, unassumingwhite façade of the building now reads “House ofJudah.” In the Bible, “Judah” is known as thefourth son of Jacob and Leah—the forebear of oneof the tribes of Israel—and is now known to mean“praised” or “praise.” Therefore, Club Judah quiteliterally means Club Praise—a club where onepraises instead of parties and gets high on Christinstead of drugs or alcohol. It currently acts as themain consistent loci and crossroads of holy hiphop activity in Los Angeles.

More and more, L.A. church buildings are used fora wide range of activities within the city. Forinstance, the Battle Zone, an annual hip hop dancecompetition that features the South Central-bornstreet dance called krumping – a hyperkineticdance resembling street fighting, moshing,sanctified church spirit possession, and aerobicstriptease – takes place at the Great WesternForum in Inglewood, Los Angeles. The Forum wasformerly the home arena for the Los AngelesLakers and now houses the mega-churchcongregation of Faithful Central Bible Church,where hip hop-inspired gospel star Kirk Franklinruns the musical program on Sundays and hosts abi-weekly hip hop “Take Over” service. To furthercomplicate matters, the Battle Zone competitionbegins with a Christian prayer, while youth atFranklin’s “Take Over” often krump duringChristian rap interludes throughout the service.The arena fuses elements of sport, competition,media, and religion and is shaped byentanglements of culture, power, and space.

Figure 7. “I See You,” (Linocut) 2005, by Samella Lewis.

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Image

Soul Train

by Karisa Peer

Soul Train4 was the first nationally syndicated, all-black dance show to hit American airwaves. DonCornelius, an established Chicago radio personal-ity, created Soul Train in 1969 in an effort topresent popular black music and trendy blackdance moves to a broader audience. With Sears asan initial sponsor, Cornelius used his broadcastingconnections to get Soul Train on the air.

Soul Train originally ran five times per week onlocal Chicago station WCIU-TV. Its continuedsuccess prompted Cornelius to move the show toLos Angeles. The Los Angeles show premiered onOctober 2, 1971, with musical guest Gladys Knightand the Pips. The program reached audiences inthe Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Cleveland,Houston, Philadelphia and San Francisco markets.Eventually, Soul Train was syndicated broadly,reaching national and international markets.5

Soul Train had style and elements that were newto television and uniquely Afrocentric. The “SoulTrain Line,” where two lines of dancers pair upand dance down the center of the line from thestart to the end, taking their place at the back ofthe line when they completed their dance routine,was a distinguishing characteristic of the show andwas soon copied by youth of all races in partiesacross America. Another popular feature of theshow was the “Soul Train Scramble Board,” wherescrambled letters were placed on a magnet boardand two dancers were given one minute to figureout and spell the name of the guest musical per-former or a famous historical African Americanfigure. Don Cornelius, who hosted the program forover 24 years, created the now famous greeting,“Welcome to the hippest trip in America” andsigned off the show with, “We wish you love,peace...and soul!”6

Soul Train was one of the longest shows to air onnational television, with episodes produced from1971 until the 2005-2006 season. During the1970s and 1980s, many top African Americanperformers graced the Soul Train stage, includingMichael Jackson, James Brown, and ArethaFranklin.7 Yet the Soul Train dancers (see Figure8), who created and showcased new dance movesbecame celebrities in their own right and spawnedthe careers of numerous performers, includingVivica A. Fox, Nick Cannon, Rosie Perez, Jody

Watley, Damita Jo Freeman, William “Tyrone”Swann, Sharon Hill, and Fred ‘Rerun’ Berry. In theearly 21st century, television shows such as “SoYou Think You Can Dance” and “America’s BestDance Crew” utilized many Soul Train elementsand incorporated them into their programs.8

In the 1990s and first few years of the 21st century,Soul Train began to shift its focus to hip hop andrap music, playing fewer traditional soul and R&Bsounds. Don Cornelius retired from hosting in1993 and guest hosts took over until 1997, whenthree young, black male hosts took over for therest of its television run.

In 2002, Don Cornelius began producing the SoulTrain Music Awards. Cornelius hoped to expandthe Soul Train brand while creating a space thatspecifically acknowledged black entertainmentand music.9 In June 2008, Cornelius sold the SoulTrain franchise to MadVision Entertainment,which planned to launch a new Soul Train website,create DVDs of past episodes, and reinvent acontemporary version of the program.10 SoulTrain, like Dick Clark’s American Bandstand,11 wasa television dance show pioneer. But unlike Clark’sshow, Soul Train featured black musical perform-ers and dancers, bringing African American musicand Black Los Angeles culture to a wider, main-stream audience and, by doing so, becoming astaple of American popular culture.

Figure 8. Jocelyn Banks and Fred Camble on “Soul Train” television program, Calif., 1975. Source: Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library.

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Figure 9. “Olympic Neighborhood Games,” 1984, by Ernie Barnes.

Barnes transitioned into art from a career as an NFL footballplayer. Early in his art career, he created sports-themed paint-ings, such as this representation of the 1984 Olympic Games inBlack Los Angeles.12

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Figure 10. “Sam & Sidney,” 1988, by Ernie Barnes.

A Jewish and African American art collaborative formed in the post-Watts Riots erathat helped provide black artists space to feature their works. The shows from thesepartnerships highlighted Jewish themes, such as this painting, which depicts anAfrican American and Jewish man walking together through a Jewish neighbor-hood in Los Angeles.13

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Action

Womanist Leadership and Systemic Confines

by Melina Abdullah

When one typically imagines “womanist” leader-ship, tax structures and budget battles don’timmediately come to mind. Toward the end of thefirst decade of the 21st century, however, thebudget and tax structure emerged as two of thethree top priorities for California Speaker KarenBass – the first black woman in America to lead astate legislative body.14,15 So how does a womanistleader define her role in the immediacy of thebudget battle as a part of a broader, more transfor-mational vision? In what ways might a womanistelected official engage a system that is essentially“anti-womanist” (i.e., rigid, hierarchical and builtto sustain rather than transform itself and theexisting political structure)? Is transformation oreven non-reformist reform from within the exist-ing system possible?16

The 2008-2009 California budget battle stands asa very tangible example of the rigidity of existingpolitical structures in the face of efforts to—evenminimally—reshape societal commitments andrethink individual obligations to collective em-powerment. As she prepared to do battle over thebudget in the fall of 2008, Bass, who resides in theBaldwin Vista area of Los Angeles, observed:

The budget is thrust upon me. I walkedinto the $15 billion deficit, so I have nochoice but to make that front and center.What is important to me is to look at theroot causes and that leads me to the taxstructure. Our tax structure was estab-lished in the 1930s for an industrial-basedeconomy that doesn’t even exist any-more... If we could figure out how tomodernize our tax structure, I couldactually leave office feeling like I hadmade a huge contribution toward thestabilization of revenues so that everyyear we’re not faced with constantlycutting safety net programs, because, tome, that should always be my number onepriority...worrying about the social andeconomic conditions in my community.Even though the tax structure is 40,000feet away, it is absolutely a root causebecause every time we have a downturn inthe economy, what affects us is what getscut the most.17

So was Speaker Bass actually able to use thebudget fight as one means of restructuring the taxsystem? In short, the answer is no. In one of themost drawn out fights in legislative history,Speaker Bass, a womanist and a self-definedprogressive, found herself forced to make conces-sions that placed her at odds with some whowould seem to be natural allies. Her vision ofoverhauling the tax structure was challenged withferocity, and the notion of increasing revenues toretain and invest in the “safety net” programs shecommitted herself to was flatly rejected by theRepublican minority in the legislature. Californiarequired a two-thirds vote to pass a budget, whichgave the minority party a great deal of power.

In her efforts to get the budget out, Bass oftenfound herself at odds with AssemblymemberSandre Swanson of Oakland. Swanson was notsimply any Assemblymember, but the Co-Chair ofthe Legislative Black Caucus and one of the mostprogressive members of the Assembly. Groomedby famed Congressmember Barbara Lee, Swanson“voted his conscience,” opposing a budget dealthat capped spending and included a limit on the

Figure 11. Honorable Speaker Karen Bass. Source: Office of Speaker Karen Bass, 47th Assembly District.

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Notes

1 Paul Robinson, “Race, Space and the Evolution ofBlack Los Angeles,” in Black Los Angeles:American Dreams and Racial Realities, ed. D.Hunt and A. C. Ramon (New York: New YorkUniversity Press, forthcoming).2 Interviews from Faustina DuCros’ doctoralresearch (in progress), Department of Sociology,UCLA.3 Paul Von Blum, “Before and After Watts: BlackArt in Los Angeles,” in Black Los Angeles:American Dreams and Racial Realities, ed. D.Hunt and A. C. Ramon (New York: New YorkUniversity Press, forthcoming).4 WCIU-TV and first-run syndication, 1971 to2006.5 Steve Holsey, “Three Decades Later, Soul Train isstill on Track,” Michigan Chronicle, May 15, 2002,http://proquest.umi.com (April 9, 2009).6 Ibid.7 Brian Stelter, “After 38 Years, ‘Soul Train’ GetsNew Owner,” New York Times, June 17, 2008,http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/business/media/17soul.html?_r=2 (April 10,2009).8 Ibid.9 Charles Reeves, “The Soul Train,” PhiladelphiaTribune, June 30, 1996, http://proquest.umi.com(April 9, 2009).10 Brian Stelter, “After 38 Years, ‘Soul Train’ GetsNew Owner,” New York Times, June 17, 2008,http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/business/media/17soul.html?_r=2 (April 10,2009).11 ABC, 1952 to 1989.12 Paul Von Blum, “Before and After Watts: BlackArt in Los Angeles,” in Black Los Angeles:American Dreams and Racial Realities, ed. D.Hunt and A. C. Ramon (New York: New YorkUniversity Press, forthcoming).13 Ibid.14 The third priority is foster care.15 Karen Bass, interview by Melina Abdullah andRegina Freer, Los Angeles, California, August 8,2008.16 Manning Marable, Black Leadership (New York:Columbia University Press, 1998).17 Karen Bass, interview by Melina Abdullah andRegina Freer, Los Angeles, California, August 8,2008.18 Steve Harmon, “Oakland Assemblyman LosesChairmanship Over Vote,” Oakland Tribune,March 4, 2009.19 Manning Marable, Black Leadership (New York:Columbia University Press, 1998).

wages for home healthcare workers at $9.50 perhour. In response to his refusal to follow partyleadership, Bass stripped Swanson of his positionas Chair of the Labor and Employment commit-tee.18

The budget deal, including the spending cap,ultimately made it out of the legislature, despiteSwanson’s opposition. It included cuts to safetynet programs and an extension on state salestaxes—which Bass admits is a regressive tax onpoor and working-class people.

Bass continued to infuse her womanist identityand progressive vision into her leadership, butoften found herself limited by the rigidity of thesystem. In his discussion of non-reformist re-forms, Manning Marable19 is careful to note thatthe reforms are not, in and of themselves, thetransformation sought. They just make transfor-mational efforts more possible. Perhaps transfor-mative efforts belong to political outsiders.Perhaps Speaker Bass will again turn to hergrassroots alliance partners—including thePeople’s Council that she initiated—to push forstructural transformation. As a political insider,Bass will soften up the ground for transformationfrom the outside. Through 2009, the system hadproven to be too rigid to allow for one person—despite her title or commitment—to create funda-mental change from within.

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About the Ralph J. Bunche Center forAfrican American Studies

Established in 1969 as an organized research unit(ORU) of the University of California, Los Angeles,the Ralph J. Bunche Center is one of the oldestcenters in the nation devoted to the study ofAfrican American life, history, and culture. Formore information, please visitwww.bunchecenter.ucla.edu. You can also findthe Bunche Center on YouTube and Facebook.

Editors

Darnell Hunt

Ana-Christina Ramón

Support the Bunche Center

For more information on how to support the RalphJ. Bunche Center for African American Studies atUCLA, please contact Sabrina Burris, Director ofDevelopment, at sburris@support.ucla.edu or310-825-7403.

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