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Marva Smith Battle-Bey Nurtured South L.A.’s Economic Development
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Marva Smith Battle-Bey Nurtured South L.A.’s Economic Development

Staff and Wire ReportApril 13, 2016

“Marva Smith Battle-Bey’s focused and consistently positive energy will be missed by all of us working to improve conditions in South L.A.,” said Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who like other community leaders, family and friends reached out to various media outlets recently, expressing their grief for Battle-Bey’s passing. “The shopping centers at Vermont & Slauson, which she helped develop and manage, are just a small part of her legacy. For many years she was a successful and positive role model for so many in the community.” Battle-Bey, who spent 30 years leading the Vermont-Slauson Economic Development Corporation died April 7. As

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The Fight To End Child Sex Trafficking In Los Angeles Continues

Brittany K. Jackson, Contributing WriterFebruary 3, 2016

On Saturday, January 23, Holman United Methodist Church (HUMC) hosted Not in Our Backyard, an important community forum highlighting the perils of child sex trafficking and the preventative steps needed to eradicate the worldwide issue, also prevalent in South L.A. The conversation, sponsored by HUMC, the Crenshaw/Watts Rotary Club and the Coalition to Abolish Slavery Trafficking (CAST), was moderated by HUMC Senior Pastor Kelvin Sauls and featured a series of well-versed panelist, speakers and community activists in the area of trafficking. Keynote speaker Avis Ridley-Thomas, wife of 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, kicked-off the conversation, describing her extended families’ personal

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Emergency Meeting Addresses Homicides in South Los Angeles

Shirley Hawkins, Contributing WriterSeptember 17, 2015

Despite the high temperatures and sweltering heat plaguing South Los Angeles, an overflow crowd of community residents, activists, gang interventionists and law enforcement packed into Hamilton United Methodist Church on Sunday, Sept. 12 to discuss the recent surge in homicides in South Los Angeles. The emergency meeting, organized by 8th District Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson and co-chaired by U. S Rep. Karen Bass and 9th District Councilman Curren Price, was called after statistics revealed that gang-related homicides and violent crime had risen sharply during the month of August with 39 reported deaths, the most homicides since July 2009. Nearly half of

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The Watts Uprising after 50 years

Thandisizwe Chimurenga, Contributing WriterAugust 12, 2015

He had been using his step-father’s name when he died. That’s why no one knew who he was. When Marquette Price passed away at the age of 42 on December 20, 1986, it took four days for the coroner’s office to positively identify him. “Positive” may not be the right choice of words.
Marquette Frye had been known as the young man who sparked the Watts Uprising on the evening of August 11, 1965, after being stopped by a police officer for suspicion of drunk driving. It was the infamy of that event that led Frye to use the name Price for the ensuing 20-plus years.

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Two South L.A. Churches Catch Fire

City News ServiceJuly 16, 2015

Two churches, one in South Los Angeles and a second nearby in the unincorporated Florence-Graham area of Los Angeles County, caught fire early morning on July 9, and authorities said the first blaze was arson.