As Mayor Karen Bass walked into the crowded Tom Bradley Observation Room on the 27th floor of City Hall, African American women who are members of Our Authors Study Club, (OASC) their honorees, and guests clapped and cheered loudly.
“I am proud to carry on the tradition of Our Authors Study Club,” Mayor Bass said. In 1950, OASC founder Vassie D. Wright approached Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron to recognize what was then Negro History Week.
Since then, every L.A. mayor and OASC have jointly held a city-wide celebration of what has become African American Heritage Month. Mayor Bass, the 9th mayor to do so, is second African American mayor of this city. Mayor Bradley was the first.
As Mayor Bass spoke, she addressed her priorities in the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that destroyed lives, families, homes, schools and many other buildings last month.
“We are going to recover, and rebuild out city,” she exclaimed. “We’ve done it before. We will do it again.”
OASC President Dr. Lura Daniels Ball noted, “Black history is American history.”
The organization, founded in 1945, is the Los Angeles Branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) established by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. This prominent historian, college professor and journalist started the first celebration of Negro History Week on February 7, 1926.
The 2025 national theme is “African Americans and Labor.’
At City Hall, the six-hour celebration included the ribbon-cutting that opened a photo exhibit by Leroy Hamilton; recognition of the OASC honorees by the Los Angeles City Council, an African drum procession, and a luncheon moved inside because of the rain.
Several honorees spoke before the council. George Weaver of Brotherhood Crusade described losing hundreds youth to gang violence but saving thousands more through his program. United Teachers Los Angels President (UTLA) Cecily Myart-Cruz talked about fighting for LAUSD’s 38,000 teachers.
Actor Richard Brooks “reflected on the journey that bought me here.” At 18, he moved from Cleveland to New York. “When the world told me to give up, my Mom was always there” he said as she stood next to him. “She prayed with me. She prayed for me. Just let me make it one more time. I did and here I am.”
Popularly known for his role as Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette on the long-running TV show, “Law & Order,” Brook has performed in films and on stage, including originating the role of Corey in August Wilson’s play, “Fences.”
During the luncheon, awardees spoke about how they got their start or succeeded.
Educator Mary Louise Reeves and longtime OASC member, got a standing ovation. “I am 102, and I hope have 10 more!”
She taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District for three decades, and was an early member of UTLA who helped energize the first teachers strike. Today, she continues in her commitment to increase the recognition of African American history and literary achievements.
Trailblazing physician Dr. Jessie L. Sherrod picked cotton for 2-cents a pound in Mississippi, became the first Tougaloo College graduate to attend Harvard Medical School. And did research that changed medical care. A former LA County public health commissioner, she founded the Association of Black Women Physicians Los Angeles, which has provided more than $1 million in scholarships.
Additional honorees are Dr. Mike Davis, former assemblyman and president pro tem emeritus of Los Angeles Board of Public Works Commission; Dr. Darnell Hunt, until recently the interim chancellor of UCLA, an expert on race and media; Yvonne Wheeler, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the honorary chair of the OASC Black History Month celebration; and Dr. Richard Allen Williams, who graduated Harvard at 16, became a prominent cardiologist fighting for access to medicine and social justice — and a trumpeter mentored Miles Davis.
Not present, Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, founding dean of the Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine, and prize-winning journalist Lynell George, English professor at Loyola-Marymount College and author of “A Handful of Earth. A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler.”
As they left City Hall, many honorees and guests, viewed veteran photographer Leroy Hamilton’s “The Story of Us” exhibition in the Henry P. Rios Gallery, also known as “The Bridge” on the third floor of City Hall.
Among his images: Vice President Kamala Harris and Mayor Bass at her inauguration, Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson with rapper/activist Nipsey Hustle, a young Magic Johnson, and Ice Cube in a tuxedo on his wedding day. Open to the public, the display runs Wednesday, Feb. 26.
To learn more about Black History Month events, visit www.oascla.com.
