Comment : Out of 'Blind Anger, Insight' JULIA WRIGHT, Author Richard Wright's gripping autobiography, "Black Boy," about growing up poor and black in the South early in this century split a Ventura County high school honors class early last month into opposing groups . Some parents of the Fillmore High School students objected to what they said are amoral and violent messages in the book and insisted that their ninth- and 10-grade children be given an alternate text. Below, we publish excerpts of a letter Wright's daughter wrote from Paris to the students and parents in response to the uproar.
Youth / OPINION : From the Ashes, a Neighborhood Is Reborn DANNA BROWNELL, Danna Brownell, 16, is a junior at Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena. Her essay won first place in nonfiction in the Cabrini Literary Guild's writing awards contest. and
Conversations With Jack Katz and Estela Lopez : The Fiesta Is 'Too Precious to Lose' Jack Katz and Estela Lopez, Gang disturbances forced the early closure of the Fiesta Broadway on May 1, resulting in 18 injuries and 14 arrests. The incident raises the issue of whether such gatherings are viable. In separate interviews, free-lance writer Catherine Gewertz talked to Jack Katz, a UCLA sociology professor who studies deviant behavior and crime, and Estela Lopez, executive director of Miracle On Broadway Corp., the nonprofit firm that co-sponsored the fiesta. Here are their views: and
What Ever Happened to Equal Access for All? ROBIN Y. DEANE, Robin Y. Deane is a writer who has been published in The Times and other newspapers. She presently works at KFI - KOST Radio in various capacities, including contributing editor for Cox Focus and fill-in editor in the News Department