Former gang members, gang interventionists, artists, and residents celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the Watts/L.A. Peace Treaty at Lighthouse Church and LocoL restaurant on April 29.
Panel discussions, free food, and music were just part of the festivities.
Attendees viewed film screenings of “Imperial Dreams,” the story of reformed gangster Bobby “Yay Yay” Jones, and “Jim Brown’s Amer-I-Can Dream,” which chronicles the NFL Great’s work with former gang members to end gang violence.
Before South L.A. erupted into violence, after a predominantly White jury acquitted officers indicted of the brutal beating of Black motorist Rodney King 25 years ago, young, Black men had already decided to cease fire and make their communities safer places to live, said Aqeela Sherrills.
Sherrills is a co-founder of the Amer-I-can Program (which teaches a life skills management curriculum) with NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown, and founder of the Reverence Project, a victim advocacy, leadership development, and wellness effort launched in 2007.
He feels times are similar.
“We felt like our cries for help were falling consistently on deaf ears, because of this label gangs that was put on us. It dehumanized the people behind it, desensitized the public to our plight,” Sherrills said.
After the Nation of Islam’s Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan galvanized Crips and Bloods when he brought his “Stop the Killing Tour” to L.A. in 1988, young gang members met consistently at Jim Brown’s house to work out their problems, he said. They decided no more violence, Sherrills said.
“It was a moment in which we redefined public safety. The Peace Treaty was a community strategy to address the heavy handed approach of law enforcement killing our children with impunity,” he said.
Other speakers were Rudolph (Rockhead) Johnson, former Compton Crip leader, now, coach of the I-Can Allstars Basketball program, Ms. Ferlin, Attorney Salamon Zavala, and panel facilitator Dr. Melina Abdullah, Black Lives Matter L.A. organizer and chair of the Pan African Studies Department at California State University L.A.
Earlier that day, the families of Rodney King and Latasha Harlins were interviewed about at the Future Fest rally at the intersection of Florence and Normandie in South L.A., where people gathered to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1992 L.A. Rebellion.
Latasha was killed by 51-year-old Korean grocer, Soon Ja Du, on March 16, 1991. Du, who received probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine, claimed the teen tried to steal a bottle of orange juice from her liquor market.
“I mean it still affects me day-to-day. It’s a struggle. You know, it’s a struggle,” said Kingean it still Lora Dene King, “It’s been adjusted and shifted, but I don’t think there’s been any change, and the magnitude of people dying is a serious matter,” she said.
“Things have gotten progressively worse,” said David Muhammad, Latasha’s uncle.
Reverend Benny “Taco” Owens of the Southern California Cease Fire Committee shared they marched to celebrate that the community has made it through 25 years. According to Owens, the committee is looking forward to another 25 years of community development and the peace movement.
“I think it’s something phenomenal that it’s taken [Peace Treaty] place. That it has been able to sustain itself. We would like to see more of it happening. It has still been in affect. We just want to make it more contagious and get it out throughout our communities,” Rev. Owens said.
Malik Spellman, a gang mediator, felt the commemoration represented a great beginning, grown from seeds planted 25 years ago. “It’s interesting to see that from the concrete grew the rose,” said Spellman. He feels the development for Blacks is still a little slow.
“But I think what we have here is a manifestation of the hard work, blood, and sweat that so many people sacrificed to bring forth this diverse group of people, and this diverse group of circumstances, and celebration. So it’s a celebratory moment for us, as human beings and a disenfranchised, gentrified community,” Spellman said.
(Photo Courtesy: Charlene Muhammad/LA Sentinel)
