The Southern Christian Leadership Conference – Southern California Chapter will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington with a series of free public events starting Thursday, August 24, and continuing through Tuesday, August 29.
Legendary civil rights leader James Lawson will receive the Centennial Award at the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Gala sponsored by the Los Angeles Urban League (LAUL) on Thursday, June 30, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The police attack in Century City took place the year before a more famous LAPD abuse case involving motorist Rodney King. Millions saw the televised video of the police beating Rodney King as he lay on the ground. When the police were acquitted by a mostly white jury, the verdict triggered the 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest.
“Living Wage not Minimum Wage,” read some of the picket signs outside of the market as workers demanded a wage adequate enough for “one job” to sustain a living in the City of Angeles. The most recent contract, said workers, “offers slashed wages as much as 25 percent for checkers, offer less than one percent to other employees, eliminate some overtime, and put their healthcare benefits at risk of bankruptcy.”
A few nights ago, I had a terrible nightmare. In my dream, a casual conversation with a law enforcement agent resulted in my employment as an informant. In desperation, I screamed, “Oh no, what have I done? Will I have to kill and sabotage my people now? Black Lives Matter help me! Please get me out of this mess.”
Rev. Lawson served as the keynote speaker at Loyola Marymount University’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Interfaith Celebration & Prayer Breakfast
February is African American Heritage Month Bishop Richard Allen, the founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was also a successful businessman, civic leader and social activist. Born a slave in 1760, Allen bought his freedom while in his 20s and was ordained as a minister in 1784. In 1787, Allen and fellow preacher, Absalom Jones, established the Free African Society to assist freed slaves and migrants. He also persuaded Black Philadelphians to serve as aid workers during a yellow fever epidemic in 1793 and prepared the Black community to
Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund, was honored with the Inaugural James M. Lawson, Jr. Humanitarian Award during Holman United Methodist Church’s 70th Anniversary Gala at the Omni Hotel on December 4. Holman Senior Pastor Kelvin Sauls presided over the sold-out commemoration, which featured entertainment by the Holman Quartet, the Read Lead/Holman Freedom School Scholars, the Holman Singers featuring Linda Broadus-Miles and Christian comedian J-Red. Aundrae Russell, host of KJLH Radio’s Stella Award-winning program, “Spread the Word,” emceed the event. Holman’s 70th Anniversary Gala and the Inaugural James M. Lawson, Jr. Humanitarian Award were the