Promotional Information

Understanding the past, present, and future of black life in Los Angeles.

Promotional Information

Understanding the past, present, and future of black life in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Darnell Hunt 1 Race, Space, and the Evolution of Black Los Angeles Paul Robinson 2 From Central Avenue to Leimert ParkReginald Chapple 3 The Decline of a Black Community by the SeaAndrew Deener 4 "Blowing Up" at Project BlowedJooyoung Lee 5 Out of the Void 6 Imprisoning the FamilyM. Belinda Tucker, Neva Pemberton, Mary Weaver, Gwendelyn Rivera, and Carrie Petrucci 7 Black and Gay in L.A.Mignon Moore 8 Looking for the 'Hood and Finding CommunityDionne Bennett 9 Playing "Ghetto"Nancy Wang Yuen 10 Before and After Watts 11 SOLARScot Brown 12 Killing "Killer King"Darnell Hunt and Ana-Christina Ramon 13 Bass to BassMelina Abdullah and Regina Freer 14 Concerned Citizens: Environmental (In)Justice in Black Los Angeles Sonya Winton 15 A Common Project for a Just SocietyEdna Bonacich, Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, Lanita Morris, Steven Pitts, and Joshua Bloom 16 Reclaiming UCLAAna-Christina Ramon and Darnell HuntBibliography Contributors Index

About the Author

Darnell Hunt is Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies and Professor of Sociology at UCLA. He is the editor or author of numerous books, including Channeling Blackness: Studies on Television and Race in America and Screening the Los Angeles “Riots:“ Race, Seeing, and Resistance. Ana-Christina Ramón is Assistant Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA and a social psychologist.

Reviews

"A true masterwork of urban studies. Taken together, these wide-ranging, diverse, original essays significantly expand our understanding of the African-American experience in Los Angeles. With breathtaking scope and vision, Black Los Angeles is a brilliant example of cutting-edge scholarship and a powerful corrective to the enduring image of a city of drive-by shootings and low-rise projects." - Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination "These beautifully-written essays cover the grit of everyday life (family, gangs, gays), cultural magic (art, music, media), and political action (labor, education, and environment). The diversity of perspectives and eight-year commitment by scholars and community collaborators make this a one-of-a-kind collection. The result is a realistic and uplifting portrayal. Anyone who wants to understand Los Angeles and Black America needs to read this book--now."- Michael Dear, author of The Postmodern Urban Condition "It's a deeper, better work of scholarship that wades into the history of this city, some of that history hundreds of years old, as a way of making sense of not just the present but the future as well. This wide sweep of Los Angeles history, and the role that black Americans played in its evolution at every level, is what sets this collection of supple, trenchant essays apart." - popmatters.com