Black Community

In response to Column One, "Blaming a Hidden Enemy," by David Treadwell, Sept. 17: Gee, I wonder where those disenfranchised blacks get their paranoid notion about a conspiracy against any coalition of power in the black community? The ruling elite of this country--wealthy white males, for the most part--represents the interests of a very narrow sector of the total population, in other words, a minority. The interests of the so-called minorities, women, blacks, Latinos, are not adequately represented, even though they are the interests of a large majority.

Los Angeles reached a benchmark half a century ago when the City Council's first African American was appointed to represent the area then known as South Central. Gilbert Lindsay, a former cotton field worker and city janitor, was chosen in 1963 to fill a vacant seat in the 9th Council District, which covered part of South Los Angeles. The appointment helped make "The Great 9th," as Lindsay took to calling it, a hub of black political clout. Two generations later, with the seat open and the March 5 election approaching, the area that gave birth to historic South Central Avenue and the city's black middle-class culture has a far different political landscape.

In response to Bill Boyarsky's column "Hahn Salute Foreshadows End of Era" (Metro, Sept. 21): The first portion of this article was very complimentary to Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and deservedly so. Boyarsky reported the comments of Drs. Joseph Griffin and E.V. Hill, in which they stated that Supervisor Hahn, although a white man representing the 2nd District which is predominantly black, "that the matter of color has never been brought up."...

Ayuko Babu, a co-founder and executive director of the 21st Pan African Film & Arts Festival, believes it is a good time for black filmmakers around the world. "Everywhere there is a resurgence of black films," Babu said. "With technology the way it is now, wherever there is a black community there are people making films. They want to tell their stories. As a result of the slave trade and colonization, Africans are split all over the world, so therefore a little bit of their story is everywhere.

Since the release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report about the growing number of HIV cases among young black men, lots of response has come from the traditional gatekeepers of community AIDS services. As always, these HIV/AIDS pundits blame everyone but themselves for the lasting and escalating epidemic. I don't find their blame game constructive.

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." Robert Frost made those lines famous in his poem "The Death of the Hired Man," and Michael Jackson, radiating scandal from his second charge of child molestation, has taken these lines to heart. The boyish man who is best friends with Elizabeth Taylor, married Elvis' only daughter and was accompanied to galas by a chimp named Bubbles, has added new friends to the retinue -- the Nation of Islam and Al Sharpton.

Although there may be truth in Jonah Goldberg's view that the Congressional Black Caucus doesn't always take positions that square with the majority opinion of the black community (Opinion, March 30), I would remind Goldberg that being the "conscience of the Congress" means not always making the most popular choices but making the morally appropriate ones. If he examined the positions of white members of the House Republican Caucus, he would find that although a majority of their constituents oppose continuing the current course in Iraq, congressional Republicans continue to support it. Likewise, the Medicare drug benefit plan that they enacted.

Their memories conjured up larger festivals in Southern towns and Northern cities: parades in Birmingham, Ala., three-day jubilees in Mexia and Fort Worth, Texas, block parties in Milwaukee. But Saturday in Oxnard's Community Center Park, black residents grilled ribs, churned ice cream and unwrapped deviled eggs in a smaller celebration of "Juneteenth"--a holiday marking the end of slavery in the Deep South.

Re "Remarks by Cosby Still Reverberating," May 30: I wholeheartedly agree with Bill Cosby's remarks. He could and should have gone further in his description of the knuckleheads he referred to. Far too many of us don't have good role models, starting in the home. Most of our professional athletes do not set good examples. Cosby was right on target when he said, "I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk, and then I heard the father talk." Children live what they learn. Other of our so-called black leaders should follow his lead and address this issue, even more strongly.

LeRoy Whitfield, 36, an activist and writer who focused on AIDS among black Americans, died Sunday at North General Hospital in Manhattan from complications related to the disease. He was diagnosed with the HIV virus in 1990, but refused to take antiretroviral medication because of side effects. Whitfield wrote that HIV had risen in the black community partly because of public housing, poverty and violence.

It's history they were talking about. The verdict that landed like a slap in the face. The smoke that rose over the city in columns of protest. The rampant looting and savage beatings. They were talking about nothing less than the evolution of a city and their place in it, of their crushed hopes and surviving dreams. Twenty years have been wiped off the calendar, but for a dozen regular customers who gathered in L.T.'s Barber Shop to hold forth on the riots Thursday, there is no separating today - or what may come tomorrow - from those epic days in April of 1992.

The two suspects in a shooting rampage that terrorized the black community in Tulsa, Okla., over the weekend have confessed, police said Monday. Tulsa Police Department arrest report s obtained by The Times say 32-year-old Alvin Watts confessed to shooting two people and 19-year-old Jake England confessed to shooting three. England's arrest report says he drove during the shootings and led police to the weapon. Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham told The Times that the gun and a truck were seized in connection with the shootings.

To think deeply and compassionately about South Los Angeles as we approach the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots is to inhabit a middle ground between optimism and bleak defeat. A lot of good is going on in the inner city. But the last two decades have also underscored how many problems remain, as stubborn and persistent as a strangling weed. "It's been a schizophrenic journey, these 20 years," said John Mack, my tour guide to riot ground zero a few days ago. SHARE YOUR STORY: L.A. riots South L.A., Mack said, "is a mix of success and failure.

Take one newly drawn congressional district. Add three Democrats competing for it. Mix in some racial twists, and you have an unusual political stew heading into next year's political campaigns. The working-class district that extends north from the Los Angeles Harbor area is strongly Latino but was drawn under federal civil rights law to encourage the election of an African American. Rep. Janice Hahn (D-San Pedro), who is running in the district, is white. Two black candidates, both Democrats, are also in the contest: Rep. Laura Richardson, who represents the Long Beach area, and Assemblyman Isadore Hall III of Compton.

Susan Koch opens her compelling, consciousness-raising documentary "The Other City" by posing the question: Which city has the highest HIV/AIDS rate? Port au Prince, Haiti; Washington, D.C.; or Dakar, Senegal? The answer is the American capital, where an estimated 3% of the population is infected. Throughout the film there are glimpses of the White House, the Capitol and other majestic landmarks, providing an ironic contrast to Koch's gallery of individuals and organizations struggling to combat the long-running disease in the face of declining funding and " AIDS fatigue.

When the congresswoman entered, the crowd rose up like a congregation on Sunday morning for one, two, then three standing ovations. Rep. Maxine Waters (D- Los Angeles) stood facing her cheering supporters. She wore a pencil skirt, pearls and a smile that looked curiously triumphant, considering the month she has had. Waters, 71, has been at the center of a political battle since the House Ethics Committee revealed that it was investigating whether she had used her influence to gain advantage for OneUnited, a Massachusetts-based bank in which her husband has a financial interest.

A new coalition aimed at unifying several factions within Pacoima's black community that have been at odds in recent months was formed Saturday, said a longtime activist who was elected as the group's spokesman. "This is the first real step toward a total community effort," said William Huling, a counselor and psychology professor at Cal State Northridge. "The black community was too fragmented."

Inglewood officials are glowing over a new U.S. census report that says black residents there are better educated and employed at a higher rate--and enjoy higher incomes--than those in any other major black community in the nation. The officials and civic boosters say the report only confirms what they have known all along, despite a widespread perception of Inglewood as a troubled minority city. "The report is no surprise to me or other people who live here," Mayor Edward Vincent said.

Hair is nothing if not a powerful subject for African Americans. In Chris Rock's new documentary "Good Hair," which opened Friday, he sets out to explore the complexities of living with black hair. He visits beauty salons, hairstyling competitions, science labs and Indian temples. He interviews a cavalcade of celebrities, salon owners and their clients in multiple cities. Through the ages, people of all ethnicities have obsessed about hair. Ancient Romans, Assyrians, Greeks and Egyptians wore wigs; so did Marie Antoinette and Thomas Jefferson.

It was a point I hadn't considered. But just before the Nov. 4 election, a black friend told me his theory: The attitude toward homosexuality and gay marriage won't change dramatically in the African American community until someone comes out of the closet and makes it more socially acceptable. "There's no Elton John or David Geffen in the black community," said my friend, an AIDS-prevention activist. I suspected this had to be wrong, so I began racking my brain to come up with such a person.