KCET / Los Angeles Times
Journalist and columnist at KCET and contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times; author of Black Talk, Blue Thoughts and Walking the Color Line: Dispatches from a Black Journalista and the forthcoming I Heart Obama, an exploration of Obama's cultural and historical meaning to black Americans; board member of the UCLA Black Alumni Association
What Kind of Change Will the NFL Stadium Bring to Inglewood? Over 250 people are working on the design of the new NFL stadium and its surroundings. DnA talked with just a few of the people shaping the ambitious project: developers Chris Meany and Gerard McCallum, architects Mark Williams and Lance Evans, and landscape architect Kush Parekh.
Which Way, LA? The Question that Won't Go Away 23 years ago, the fires of the Rodney King riots were burning and the sirens wailing when KCRW first asked, WWLA? We've been through fires, floods, earthquakes and massive social, cultural and economic change. While this is the last program titled WWLA? the question still needs to be asked. We talk with a group of important and thoughtful people about what LA has become and about the challenges to be faced in the future…as we continue.
Racial Diversity at UCLA…before and after Prop 209 "What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?" That question was asked today by John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the United States. The court was re-considering the case of Abigail Fisher , a white woman who sued the University of Texas, Austin, for admitting black students while rejecting her.
What Watts Means 50 Years Later Fifty years ago today, police clashed with a black motorist in Los Angeles, beginning what came to be known as the Watts Riots or the "rebellion." The violence began after two policemen scuffled with a black motorist in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. Thirty-four people died and $40 million in property was destroyed.
Charleston Killings Hit a Nerve in Los Angeles The violent racism that appears to have spurred a gunman to attack Emmanuel First AME Church has Americans trying to come to terms with what it means for race relations in 2015. We hear from Angelinos in this special live edition of Which Way, LA?
The Passing of LA's Unofficial Poet Laureate, Wanda Coleman Wanda Coleman grew up in Watts in the 1950's. She described her own childhood as unhappy, and was outraged by racism and hatred. She went on to write 20 books, including novels and collections of other works. She won poetry prizes and was a finalist for the National Book Award. She died last Friday after a long illness at the age of 67.
Trees Ripped Out in Inglewood to Clear Way for Endeavour Next month the Space Shuttle Endeavour's will go to its final resting place: the California Science Center in downtown LA. But getting it there won't be easy. From LAX, it'll be trucked down the streets of LA and Inglewood, requiring removal of hundreds of trees.
LA Before It Erupted The Rodney King beating was videotaped by a bystander and broadcast on newscasts worldwide. Two weeks later, a 15-year-old black girl, Latasha Harlins, was shot to death by a Korean-American liquor-store owner, Soon Ja Doo. That incident was also videotaped by a surveillance camera and was repeatedly broadcast.
Remembering Soul Train's Don Cornelius Soul Train was one of the longest-running shows in television history, a Saturday afternoon event that helped spread black music and culture to the rest of the world. It was started in 1970 by a Chicago disc jockey named Don Cornelius , who died early this morning at his home in Sherman Oaks of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Barack Obama and Black America Since the election of Barack Obama, the economic plight of blacks has declined more than that of whites and other Americans. Has he ignored the crisis? When the President addressed the Congressional Black Caucus a week and a half ago, he said black unemployment is almost 17 percent, the highest in almost three decades.
Barack Obama and Black America Since the election of President Obama, black unemployment has risen to twice that of whites, and white families have 44 times more wealth than black families. The President's support has declined among black voters, and black leaders have been divided over how much to criticize America's first black president.
Standing in Line to Cast a Ballot Record numbers of voters are turning out in California, just as they are in the rest of the country. In Los Angeles County, several polling places were able to open up even after power outages caused by early-morning rain. Barack Obama 's expected to win big here.
Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson and Political Expectations In the studios of Fox News, Rev. Jesse Jackson did not know the microphone was on, but was recorded saying to another guest, "Barack's been talking down to black people." Then he added a crude remark about wanting to cut off part of Barack Obama 's anatomy.
How is Obama victory playing out in Los Angeles? Hillary Clinton's looking for a big win tomorrow in West Virginia, and she claims she'll have totaled more popular votes than Barack Obama by the time it's all over. That would have to include votes from Florida and Michigan, which are still in legal limbo.
Who are the political players in the LA teachers strike? Thousands of LA public school teachers are going to be back out on the picket lines for a second day. They walked off the job Monday after failing to reach a contract agreement with the LA Unified School District, despite months of negotiations.
Definitely not talking about Julian Assange Fine, maybe we talk about him a little. Plus, Paul Manafort’s flawed redacting, and we still don’t know much about the secret foreign company subpoenaed by the federal prosecutor who could be the special counsel.
Best of KCRW Podcasts: Forces of Nature This is a special holiday episode highlighting the best KCRW podcasts of 2018. After a year of fires and mudslides, who doesn’t think about how to reckon with the forces of nature? In a story from the newest podcast in the KCRW fold, Nocturne , we learn how animals deal with the most destructive force of nature: humans. Then, KCRW’s podcast The Organist tries to convince us that plants have secret lives, and to embrace the overlap of science and art.