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From a letter pleading the case of the Watts Towers, by "Jose Citizen":
I was raised in the community of Watts one of the more recognizable areas of Los Angeles, home to the famous Watts Tower of Simon Rodia. As I was growing up in Watts, it was known as one of the most violent and poverty stricken communities in Los Angeles.... In my life there were only two things keeping me from a downward spiral leading to crime or drugs. One was my family, and the other was Cultural Affairs Department, through the Watts Towers Arts Center. It was my family that would always inspire and support me to become the best that I could in the hope that I might have a better life someday; it was the Watts Towers Arts Center that provided that way out. In the front lines of gang territory stood the haven that I and so many other children badly needed.
How can Los Angeles claim to be a hub of world culture when we can’t operate a tour program for one of the more recognizable landmarks that has been in this city for over 50 years? What kind of greeting will we give to the international community when we have one of the marquee sites of cultural tourism closed because of insufficient funding? How will Los Angeles and Hollywood cultivate talent from this city where there are no programs out there to help develop the arts in the inner city? Who will support the muralist from Echo Park, who will support the writer from South LA, who will play the music of Los Angeles, who will look to honor the Simon Rodias of this city?
Read the entire letter, and add your comments.
2001 LA Indymedia article about the re-opening of Watts Towers.
History on KCET Life and Times.
03/16/2004
Several large community meetings have already been held across Los Angeles to stop the proposed elimination of L.A.'s Cultural Affairs Department (CAD). There are few arts organizations or arts festivals in L.A. that do not benefit from CAD grants. Join with thousands of artists, arts professionals, arts advocates, and just plain art lovers in opposing the destruction of L.A.'s Cultural Affairs Department.
For the last month in northeast Los Angeles, the spirit of the buried North Branch creek has been stirring. A series of art and education workshops, culminating in a Creek Celebration on March 21st, were created as the first step in building public support for the daylighting of the North Branch of the Arroyo Seco.
Read the whole story...
03/20/2004
Los Angeles band Ozomatli, who developed a strong fan base among LA progressives by playing hundreds of benefit shows during the late 1990s, and who were at the DNC protests when the police started running down the audience as they waited for Ozo to start playing, found itself at the spicy end of the pepper-spray gun again. Wil-Dog, Jiro, and manager Amy were arrested after a scuffle with police resulting from a disagreement about whether conga lines should be allowed to wind out to the sidewalk, or remain entirely confined within a nightclub. Debate was squelched by volleys of pepper spray.
03/15/2004
LA's CAD is threatened with being shut down. Join the opposition. Follow the link for a discussion. Also, click on "Social Programs" in the left column for more info.
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