Stories that capture the role of religion in South LA as a tool to combat drugs, crime and gangs.
Celes King III gained national stature for his Republican politics and bailing out civil rights protesters. His son took over the family bail bond business, but only began his political advocacy when prison realignment cut out all his profits.
Though the U.S. teen birth rate has dropped to record lows, South L.A.'s teen birth rate continues to stay well above the national average and remains the highest in the county.
On a recent Thursday night, sounds of classical jazz melodies streamed out into the streets. Inside, heads nodded in time with the beat as men of all ages and shades approached the stage. Incense burned on a table in the front and musicians wielding oboes, saxophones, and trumpets collected at the World Stage to jam.
Eighty-one-year-old Van Gray entered the room with a grin on his face. In his electric wheelchair, he moved to the beat, calling out sounds of praise to his friends on stage. Born in Brooklyn, Gray takes the bus to Leimert Park at least once a week to hear classical jazz.
Leimert Park, a predominately African American neighborhood in South LA, has long been known for its unique blend of classic jazz, hip-hop and traditional African clothing, drumming and cuisine. For decades it has been an enclave for artists and musicians, but that mosaic is changing in Leimert Park. With development and rising rents, artists have been driven out and the elders of the neighborhood are working to make sure their village doesn’t fade away.
The World Stage hosts open-mic singing nights, others are for jazz and afternoons for African drumming. It is arguably one of the best places to hear live jazz in Los Angeles, say patrons. And yet, like other places in Leimert Park, the World Stage is at risk. The building is currently for sale, in fact, the entire block is for sale, since the building contains nine parcels.
“This is the happiest part of my week,” said Bill Kalmenson, a filmmaker and comedian who drives from Hollywood every week for the World Stage’s weekly Thursday jazz night. The non-profit establishment, which has operated seven nights a week for the past 23 years, survives on donations to pay the rent.
Longtime advocates of this neighborhood, including writer and professor Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad point out that Leimert Park has felt under-siege and in a state of flux for years.
“What can the creatives do when they are all renters? Renters never have power over landowners,” said Samad.
The loss of local shops like Fifth Street Dick’s coffee house, which closed in 2000 following the owner’s failed battle with cancer, removed much of the street life of the neighborhood, long-time residents say.
“People used to sit outside and play checkers and chess. That was a draw for that street; there was a lot of energy there. When he died, I guess there was no one else who could keep the spirit of the business going”, said Laura Hendrix, owner of Gallery Plus since 1992.
Another artist space lost in the past decade was a studio leased by Ramsess. An artist specializing in stained glass, mosaic, murals, and political cartoons, he had a gallery on Degnan Boulevard from 1979-2000, but moved out of Leimert Park due to rising rents. His former gallery space is one of the parcels currently vacant and for sale at 4342 Degnan alongside the World Stage.
“I remember when Ramsess had his studio next to World Stage, he would paint in the window and let people come by and watch him create art at all hours,” said Samad.
“Now you don’t see people out in Leimert Park past 10 o’clock.”
Samad, who also served as managing director of Leimert Park Community Development Corporation from 2001-2003, said he fought hard to get radio host Tavis Smiley to move his entire operations to Leimert Park. They put together the funding, identified a location, but ran into issues with the councilman at the time. When Smiley encountered the politics of the neighborhood he pulled out of the deal, said Samad.
Politics is a topic that comes up frequently when talking with shop owners and community leaders in Leimert Park.
“One of the things that’s good about Leimert Park, that’s also bad, is that it’s self-protective,” said Ben Caldwell, owner of the KAOS Network. Caldwell opened KAOS in 1984 as a place for young people to learn new forms of media and hold jam sessions. His artistic space, which he owns, continues to thrive today.
Shop owners, including Caldwell, are hopeful that the refurbishment of the Vision Theatre, which sits next to KAOS Network on 43rd Place, will increase foot traffic in Leimert Park.
The iconic art deco Vision Theatre was acquired by the City of Los Angeles after economic hardships forced the building into foreclosure in 1997. The towering structure has remained boarded up and out of use largely since that time.
“In regards to completion in full, you’re looking at two plus years,” said Leslie Thomas of the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. There is still money that needs to be raised to finish the building,” said Thomas.
As of now, the Vision Theatre itself is slated to open to the public no sooner than 2015, according to Thomas.
“There’s very little traffic on that street at all except for the last weekend of the month when the Art Walk happens,“ said Hendrix. She is hopeful the long-awaited renovation of the Vision will bring benefits to the community and boost nightlife and culture.
“We need more restaurants, more eating places,” said Hendrix. “That’s a draw for people.”
In April, Leimert Park hosted its largest Art Walk in history teaming up with the LA Peace Ride to host a car show alongside hip-hop concert, fashion show and sidewalk sales.
The Art Walk’s record turnout was an affirmative sign to some leaders in community. Whether that enthusiasm translates into economic growth is another question.
Hendrix said she was troubled by the presence of the car show and the fact that Degnan Boulevard was shut down, which is not typically the case with Leimert Park Art Walk.
“Closing the street is not good for businesses,” said Hendrix. “Do you know how much business I did that day? None.”
Hendrix said she’s been able to keep her gallery afloat for the past 21 years largely because her landlord has been good to her and other artists.
“My building hasn’t been sold. I’ve had the same landlord since ‘92 and he’s kept the rents low. He used to have a shop here as an upholsterer. So he felt the pain as an entrepreneur,” said Hendrix.
Sharron Peech Burton runs a woman’s clothing shop and salon on Degnan Boulevard, called Inspiration Studios. Unlike the majority of establishments on the block, her offerings are not traditionally African. She sells sexy animal-print dresses and fitted shirts bearing the motif of a woman with an Afro.
Burton said she was drawn to Leimert Park for its mix of cultural influences.
“As an African American, we don’t have a land or a place. I don’t know where I’m from. If I went to Africa, I wouldn’t be accepted there,” said Burton.
During the week, Burton works as an insurance agent to help support the cost of her shop, which she opens on the weekend. She described the current business landscape that surrounds her as “a struggle”.
And she’s not alone.
“It’s basically a rollercoaster,” said Delroy Beckford, owner of Akbee Bamboo. “Some days are good, some days are bad.” Beckford, his wife and daughters have owned and operated the Jamaican restaurant on Degnan Boulevard for the past nine years. As a result of a decline in foot traffic, they are focusing more heavily on promotions and advertising, he said.
“It’s hard to create a lunchtime crowd,” said Beckford.
Adding a metro stop in Leimert Park could help increase visitors to neighborhood shops, proponents have argued. Other shop owners express hesitation about how metro line rail expansions may threaten their livelihood.
“Hopefully if the get a subway station in here, it won’t drive the rents up and drive us all away,” said James Fugate, owner of Eso Won books. His shop sells popular and out of print books about African American life. On a Sunday afternoon, the store is busy with shoppers. And yet Fugate is visibly nervous.
The 2011 American Community Survey by the US census found that of Leimert Park’s 34,429 population, 75 percent of residents were African American. That is significantly higher than any other area of Los Angeles. In total, Los Angeles County is only about 9% African American.
Leimert Park has been predominately African American for the past several decades. Gradually, the neighborhood is getting more diverse.
The US census found that 33 percent of people identified as Hispanic or Latino in 2011. That number is double what it was in 2000. This is a significant increase of Latinos in Leimert Park.
Caldwell donates the KAOS Network to a group of rumba dancers one Sunday a month. On a recent Sunday afternoon, the space was packed with drummers, dancers and onlookers from Cuba and other Caribbean islands.
The ethnic blending of the neighborhood is going to continue as the expanded Crenshaw metro line moves into the area, Caldwell and other longtime Leimert business owners acknowledge.
According to the Los Angeles Metro, the 8.5 mile expansion of the Metro Expo Line at Crenshaw and Exposition to the Metro Green Line Aviation/LAX Station may include an optional Vernon Station at Leimert Park.
“We are currently in a blackout period. The question about the Leimert Park station will be revealed when we know the bids,” said Marc Littman of the LA County Metro.
A decision is expected to be reached about the Leimert Park station at the Metro Board’s June meeting, according to Littman.
On a Saturday afternoon in Culver City, hundreds packed into a back room of the Mayme Clayton library to watch a film on this history of Leimert Park. The documentary, made by local filmmakers depicted the emergence of Leimert as an African American artist enclave, and its later decline due to renovation of Leimert Park by the city of Los Angeles.
As the film ended many people rose to thank the filmmakers. Others raised concerns about changes taking place in their village.
“I think Leimert Park is in a fight for its life,” said Cynthia E. Exum, author of Images of America: Leimert Park, the first pictorial book about Leimert Park history. As a historian on the neighborhood, Exum has chronicled the struggles the artist community has faced first-hand.
Back in his studio on 43rd Place, Caldwell remained characteristically calm. As owner of the three-story building that houses the KAOS Network, he’s already thought about how he might help the World Stage. He’ll consider moving them into his building, if a buyer comes in and the place has to fold.
Reflecting on the experience of African Americans in Los Angeles history, he shrugged with a smile. “We’ve never been able to count on anyone to look out for us, so I don’t know why we’d start now,” said Caldwell.
The site: