Black Los Angeles: American Dreams and Racial Realities

Contents

v Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction: Dreaming of Black Los Angeles 1 Darnell Hunt Part 1 Space 1 Race, Space, and the Evolution of Black Los Angeles 21 Paul Robinson 2 From Central Avenue to Leimert Park: The Shifting Center of Black Los Angeles 60 Reginald Chapple 3 The Decline of a Black Community by the Sea: Demographic and Political Changes in Oakwood 81 Andrew Deener Part 2 People 4 “Blowing Up” at Project Blowed: Rap Dreams and Young Black Men 117 Jooyoung Lee 5 Out of the Void: Street Gangs in Black Los Angeles 140 Alex Alonso 6 Imprisoning the Family: Incarceration in Black Los Angeles 168 M. Belinda Tucker, Neva Pemberton, Mary Weaver, Gwendelyn Rivera, and Carrie Petrucci 7 Black and Gay in L.A.: The Relationships Black Lesbians and Gay Men Have to Their Racial and Religious Communities 188 Mignon Moore vi Part 3 Image 8 Looking for the ’Hood and Finding Community: South Central, Race, and Media 215 Dionne Bennett 9 Playing “Ghetto”: Black Actors, Stereotypes, and Authenticity 232 Nancy Wang Yuen 10 Before and After Watts: Black Art in Los Angeles 243 Paul Von Blum 11 SOLAR: The History of the Sounds of Los Angeles Records 266 Scot Brown 12 Killing “Killer King”: The Los Angeles Times and a “Troubled” Hospital in the ’Hood 283 Darnell Hunt and Ana-Christina Ramón Part 4 Action 13 Bass to Bass: Relative Freedom and Womanist Leadership in Black Los Angeles 323 Melina Abdullah and Regina Freer 14 Concerned Citizens: Environmental (In)Justice in Black Los Angeles 343 Sonya Winton 15 A Common Project for a Just Society: Black Labor in Los Angeles 360 Edna Bonacich, Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, Lanita Morris, Steven Pitts, and Joshua Bloom 16 Reclaiming UCLA: The Education Crisis in Black Los Angeles 382 Ana-Christina Ramón and Darnell Hunt Bibliography 407 Contributors 425 Index 429 ...