january 2013 issue

Publisher’s Note .......................................page 2

Community Calendar .......................................page 3

Church Calendar .........page 3

Letters to the Editor .......................................page 3

“View from District 2”by Council Member Dunlap .......................................page 6

“Greetings from Mike” by Council Member Stevens .......................................page 6

Dining with Rhonda (res-taurant review) by Rhonda Kuykendall-Jabari .......page 6

Book Reviews ...............page 9

D E P A R T M E N T S

contents

Dr. LeRoy Vaugn, MD.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2

Los Acosta Tacos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 2

Friends of the Inglewood Library. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4

Hoof Beats races over the year in review.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 5

Rhonda’s “Wellness” column debuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 5

Googie Architecturein Inglewood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 6

Your Block Rocks:Ash Avenue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 6Feature book reviews: The Tribunal and Bitter Inheritance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 7

The Wood Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 7Double-barrelled film review: Django Unchained. . . . . . . . . . . . pages 8 & 9

By Teka-Lark FLeming

When the owner and den-tist of Smile Studio, Dr. Carla Thomas was a little girl grow-ing up in the Inglewood com-munity of Century Heights she wanted to be a dentist. Smile Studio caught my eye while I was riding my bi-cycle up Morningside Park’s business district on Man-chester. It was a modern and beautiful facility. While at a community meeting in Briar-wood, I met the charming Dr. Thomas. She was discussing the importance of dental care. As a person who is regularly at the dentist office owing to doing ten years as brace face and a black coffee addiction the art of dentistry has be-come a major part of my life. I went to Dr. Thomas’ of-fice to find out about her lovely facility and to ask how did she come into the helpful field of dentistry. “When I was very small my mother took us to the dentist every six months. I had a re-ally nice dentist when I was a

child. He let me play with all the equipment and touch all the buttons. I was fascinated.” Dr. Thomas has always wanted to be a dentist. And it shows in her facility. Even sitting in the waiting room you feel at ease. It feels more like a health spa than the white bright dentist office you may be used to. “From the sixth grade I knew I was going to be a dentist and I would always say that. People said I would

change my major a few times once I went to college. I nev-er did. I have yearbooks from junior high through high school where they would ask you what you want to do, and all of mine said, ‘Dentist,’” said Dr. Thomas. Dr. Thomas did her under-grad work in biology at the University of the Pacific and earned her Doctorate of Den-tal Surgery at the top ranked University of Southern Cali-fornia. She has been practic-

ing dentistry in Inglewood for 16 years. Even though I regular-ly go the dentist I have many friends who are very nervous about going to the dentist. I tell them that it’s not that bad. “If you go to the dentist regularly, every six months and you do things that are preventative. Then it’s not as expensive,” she posited. Dr. Thomas office is relax-ing and tranquil. Her front

Stevens Opposes 728% Property Transfer Tax HikeCouncilman Mike Stevens favors modestly increased tax hike—but not at 728%By randaLL FLeming

District 1 council person Mike Stevens has announced that he wishes the recent-ly proposed property tax rate increase to be readjusted. A new rate was proposed by Mayor James T. Butts and was on the city’s agenda dat-ed December 18, 2012 but was not voted until the fol-lowing day. Inglewood has one of the lowest such property tax-es in Los Angeles County, at $1.10 per $1,000.00. Of that amount, $0.55 goes to the City of Inglewood. The may-or’s intention is to place the resolution on the April 2 bal-lot to increase the city’s tax portion 728%, to $4.00. Were Stevens to whole-

heartedly oppose the tax—which would be put into the city’s general fund and from which unions such as the SEIU could benefit—then it would not fare well for In-glewood’s on-going financial strife. However, the coun-cilman has made it clear that it is not a transfer tax rate increase he opposes, but a 728% tax rate hike. Stevens declared that he was “not against a transfer tax; I’m against a transfer tax that is extremely exces-sive, like this approximately 725% increase.” The trans-fer tax rate increase resolu-tion was pushed through by the mayor and was approved by District 3 and 4 council members Eloy Morales, Jr., and Ralph Franklin.

The resolution does not fully divulge the nature of the increase. By mention-ing only the portion that the

Danny Tabor Runs in D-1 Claims “No problem” regarding misappropri-ated Darby Park funds Former Inglewood mayor Danny K. Tabor filed his run-ning papers just in time for the city’s deadline on Mon-day, January 7. He had pulled his papers the previous busi-ness day (Thursday, January 3) just before the city clerk’s office closed at 12:30 p.m. Tabor, who has a political history as District 1 council member and a short-term mayor, was also known for a series of political and finan-cial concerns.

please see Smile, page 4

Smile Studio Lives Up to Its Name

Century Heights native Dr. Carla Thomas takes a moment to smile for the camera at her dental studio.

please see 728%, page 11

please see Tabor, page 9

District 1 council member Mike Stevens.

Ithe

morningside parkchronicleVol. 2, No. 1 B Informing Inglewood and the community January 2013B

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Morningside Park • Briarwood • Century Heights • Inglewood Knolls • Fairview Heights • Arbor Village • North Inglewood • Hyde Park • West Athens • Westmont • Crenshaw-Imperial • Lockhaven • Imperial Village • Downtown Inglewood

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a g r e at e s c ap e ?

—page 5—

Morningside Park Chronicle January 2013

MorningsideParkChronicle.com

On a Lark Manchester Boulevard is the jewel of Morningside Park; we sim-ply need to shine it up. When I walk along Manchester Boulevard and I

see the cute shops such as S & S Boutique and Sa’brak and the state-of-the-art medical facilities of Smile Stu-dio and Skin Essence, I see the potential of Manchester. I see the potential for Inglewood to do commerce bet-ter and smaller. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like big box stores. These multi-national corporations bring traffic and trash, and they take away from the charac-ter of the community. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have them, but Century Village should be the end of practi-cally free rent deals, “no taxes” and giant stores from out of state. We need local stores. We need local business. We need to encourage entrepreneurship. Inglewood has approxi-mately 700 non-profits. The median income in Haw-thorne is less yet they only have 289 non-profits. Why? Who are we helping? We need to encourage people to come to the commu-nity that reflect the demographics of our community. My neighbors have jobs and businesses. I don’t need free food or free healthcare or free anything else. I work and pay for things. I’m happy that those services exist for people who need it, but they need to be where they are appropriate not just in spaces where we have intentionally empty plots. Those empty lots can be community gardens, pocket parks, out-side libraries or public art. And I’m done with being silent about the 700 non-profits within the nine-square mile area of Inglewood. It makes no sense for those of us trying to make Inglewood the “City of Possibilities.” I’m taking my city back; please join me. Let’s take our community back from the media, from the exploiters of stereotypes, from the people who don’t live here and won’t respect the beautiful history of our wonderful town. Let’s make it hard for people who want to use and ex-ploit the community for profit; let’s make it easy for people who invest their own money, time and sweat into bringing the structure of Inglewood in line with the people. It won’t be easy, but spring cleaning is always a little bit challenging.Teka-Lark Fleming

A word from the publisher

By Gerald Morales

Most any Inglewood native will recall visiting Acosta Ta-cos to satisfy his or her ap-petite for authentic Mexican food. Jaime Acosta Senior created the original Acosta Tacos Mexican food chain in 1985 by opening eateries on La Brea Avenue, N. Prairie Avenue and Imperial High-way. After many years of ser-vice providing quality food to the Inglewood area he passed away in 1999. His sons and daughter managed the family business until 2011. For those who lament-ed the closing of Los Acos-ta Tacos, cry no more. If you’ve been craving a great burrito or some authentic ta-cos then you will be happy to know that Los Acosta ta-cos has reestablished itself. A new restaurant has settled nicely into a fairly new lo-cation in Morningside Park on the corner of Manches-ter Boulevard and Crenshaw Boulevard. Of course, the staff still aims at satisfying your cravings for authentic Mexican food. Upon the closing of Los Acosta Tacos, Julian Cesar

Acosta and his wife, Estela Acosta, ventured off and start-ed a Mexican catering service inspired by the Acosta Tacos menu. Soon after the two de-cided it was time to get Acos-ta Tacos back to Inglewood for everyone to enjoy on a regular basis. Los Acosta Ta-cos re-opened in February of 2012 with the same menu as the original chains as well as the additions of tortas, quesa-dillas and the burrito supreme. “I just want to continue my father’s legacy by providing

authentic Mexican food and to serve the Inglewood com-munity and surrounding ar-eas,” said Julian when asked about the re-establishment of Los Acosta Tacos. Be sure to check out the Tacos Acosta page at www.facebook.com/taco.acos-ta. And if you’re in need of catering service, please contact Julian Acosta at (310) 846-7370. Los Acos-ta Tacos is found at 8601 S. Crenshaw Blvd in Ingle-wood, CA 90305.

Los Acosta TacosAn Inglewood Tradition is Re-born

Publisher Teka-Lark [email protected]

Editor-in-Chief Randall [email protected]

Design and Production: RD & F [email protected]

Display Advertising Sales [email protected]

Lead Writer: Gerald Morales

Contributing Writers: Birtram BirtranJudy DunlapAnn Cheek La RoseRhonda Kuykendall-Jabari Mike Stevens

Contributors: Milton R. F. Brown Vanessa Leigh Lewis

By Gerald Morales

Inglewood is home to one of the most renowned oph-thalmologists and black his-torians. Until now, many people may not have been aware of his presence. Dr. Leroy William Vaughn prac-tices eye care at 323 North Prairie Ave, Suite 217 in In-glewood 90301. He is a dia-betic eye specialist and well-known for his work regard-ing glaucoma too. He has re-ceived many awards over the years, one of which was from former President Bill Clinton thanking him for his service to patients. Dr. Vaughn has acquired many titles over the years: doctor, historian and African Chief. He received a Bach-elors of Science degree at Morehouse College in At-lanta, GA, before going on to acquire a medical degree

at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He interned at North Carolina Memorial Hospital and never ceased to slow in his practices once he started. So how did Dr. Vaughn become such a dynamic

person? A part of this sto-ry started in the 1990s. He was recognized in the field of history for his 2002 book, Black People And Their Place In World History. He has been studying black his-

Dr. LeRoy Vaughn, MD, MBA

Dr. LeRoy Vaughn (second row) with his staff.

Spotlight on Local Business

please see Vaughn, page 8

Morningside Park Chronicle/MPCPost Office Box 2155 • Inglewood CA [email protected]


January 2013

Ger

ald

Mor

ales

January 2013


Morningside Park Chronicle

letters readersfromour

Dear editor, I was looking for articles and information on develop-ment and city planning in In-glewood and came across an article that referenced the Morningside Park Chronicle. I am very interested in your paper. I will share this infor-mation my block club mem-bers. I feel there is a lot of po-tential for the Inglewood area and would love for our com-munity to be involved, en-gaged, and informed. I look forward to the next issue. I plan to attend one of the Inglewood meetings. I be-lieve there is opportunity for improvement and changes in the city.

-Tracie Spears

Dear editor,

I gave up on Inglewood long ago. What’s the point? There’s no civic pride,

“elected” officials are trying to bankrupt the city for who knows what. No one knows, no one cares, and all the money here disappears as fast as it is scammed. You shouldn’t even bother doing a paper.

-name withheld

The Morningside Park Chron-icle welcomes readers’ letters. Please write us at the address below. Please include full name and telephone number for verification purposes on-ly; if requested, names will be withheld from publication.

Winter Craft and Poetry at the Library/ Manuali-dades y Poesia a la Bib-lioteca Children’s RoomWhen: Thursday, January 10,at 4:00 p.m.Where: Inglewood Main Library, 101 W. Manchester 90301For more information, please call 310-412-5645 • Free

• • •UCLA Paramedic Program Student Information Session When: Thursday, January 17, 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.Where: 333 N. Prairie Avenue, Inglewood 90301 Student Information Session on 1/17 (formerly Daniel Freeman Program) This information session focuses on the UCLA (Daniel Freeman) Paramedic Program and is for EMTs (or soon to be EMTs) that want to learn about applying to the paramedic program. The information is presented in a fun and interactive manner by our experienced program faculty and staff. Please bring your ques-tions as we emphasize providing you with information! The paramedic program infor-mation sessions are only held a few times a year so don’t miss out.For more information, please visit www.cpc.mednet.ucla.edu

Martin Luther King, Jr Festival When: Saturday, January 19, at 12:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m.Where: Crozier Jr High 120 West Regent Street, Los Angeles 90301What: Food booths, crafts, merchan-dise and a teen and kid game and ride area.Radio Free KJLH also invites you to the Peace & Unity Parade Celebration on Saturday, January 19, 2013, commencing at 10:30 a.m. The parade will originate on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and Anaheim Street and will pro-

ceed North to Martin Luther King, Jr. Park. • Free

• • •Academic Enrichment for ChildrenWhen: Saturday, January 19, 11:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.Where: Darby Park, Inglewood 90305 Urban Scholar Athletes, Inc. will launch its Urban Scholar Sat-urday Enrichment Academy [Win-ter Term] on Saturday, January 19, 2013 at Darby Park Recreational Center, 3400 Arbor Vitae, Ingle-wood, CA 90305. The winter term will run from Saturday, January 19, 2013- Saturday, March 16, 2013. Urban Scholar Saturday Enrichment Academy is targeted for students currently in 1st-6th grade. Every Saturday, from 11:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., certificated& experienced teachers will help students explore specialized areas of science, reading, and math in fun and engaging ways as well as prepare students for the upcoming California standardized test. Cost: Program registration is $40.00, which includes the 1st session, t-shirt, and Scholastic Weekly Reader magazine subscrip-tion. Weekly classes are $20/week; sibling discounts are available. For additional information about the program, please call Alexis Coleman, Program Director, at (310) 528-3845, or e-mail him at [email protected] Information is also available at the website: www.urbanscholarathletes.org.

• • •Morningside Park Sus-tainable Talks presents

“(re)Think-Ing!” series 1: (re)Think Manchester When: January 23, 6-8 p.m.Where: District One Commu-nity Center 2901 W. Manchester, 90305 The meeting will start off with a

“(re)Think” of Manchester. What are your dreams for Manchester between Van Ness and Crenshaw Boulevard? Models, paint, and

paper will be provided for you to be creative. Valerie Watson will be the first speaker for our Morningside Park Sustainable Talks. Watson is the Assistant Pedes-trian Coordinator at City of Los Angeles and the Chair of Down-town LA’s Complete Street Work-ing Group. She has real vision. This is a community event. Feel free to bring a dish to share. Local fruits and veggies will be provided. For more information, please call 424-261-3019 • Free

• • •Home Buying Seminar When: Saturday, January 26, at 11:30 a.m. Where: Zahrah’s Book Store, 900 N Labrea, Inglewood 90302 Come learn how to prepare to buy a home and the various loan programs available! You may qualify to receive assistance with down-payment or closing cost! This program can help you achieve homeownership!Seating is limited; to regis-ter, please e-mail [email protected] or call (310) 592-8568.

• • •Poetry ReadingWhen: ThursdaysWhere: Vibrations 2435 W. Man-chester Blvd. Inglewood 90305 Poet’s Jazz House just some-where to go in the midst of search-ing your soul. Where spilling your Heart is Art & Searching your Soul is Mandatory to get in the door & The cover charge is always Free every Thursdee.We’re a beatnik Tea House Where there’s snapping instead of clap-ping. The atmosphere is Lax but it Sssizzles.Open Mic 8pm to Midnight, Thursday Nights Only!Host by Tha Spin-Doctor Special Musical Guest The FOUNDATION Band Produced By Tuesday Conner & Spencer AllenContact: 310-261-6463Free

Inglewood Community Calendar

Worship Services

Morningside United Church of Christ loving invites you to attend their Sunday morning worship service at 10:45 a.m. at 8722 Crenshaw Blvd., Ingle-wood. For additional informa-tion call (323) 750-2790 or visit www.morningsideucc.org

Faithful Central Bible Church invites all to their 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning services at 321 N. Eucalyptus Avenue, Inglewood. For ad-ditional information call (310) 330-8000 or visit the website at www.FaithfulCentral.com

Inglewood Church of Christ cordially welcome everyone to attend their 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Sunday church services at 323 S Eucalyptus Avenue, Inglewood. For additional

information, please call (310) 674-7690 or visit www.ingle-woodchurchofchrist.org.

Jacob’s Ladder Community Fellowship would be hon-ored by your presence at their Sunday services at 11:45 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. They are located at 1152 E. Hyde Park Avenue, Inglewood. Please call 310-674-0771 or visit www.jacobslad-derchurch.com.

Prayer Breakfast

Breath of Life Worship Cen-ter will be having their Prayer Breakfast on Saturday, January 19th at 9 - 11:00 a.m., 425 S La Brea Avenue, Inglewood. This free community event starts the day with prayer, study and breakfast. For detailed informa-tion call (310) 674-4061 or visit www.isschristian.org.

Mass

St John Chrysostom Church holds mass daily. The church is located at 546 East Florence Avenue. For detailed schedule of services in English and Spanish, call (310) 677-2736 or visit the website at www.stjohnchysostomparish.org.

Church Anniversary Celebration

Guidance Church of Reli-gious Science will be celebrat-ing their 46th Church An-niversary on Sunday, January 20th at the 10:00 a.m. church service. The guest speaker will be Rev. David Phears of the Inspirational Living Center of Orange County. Guidance Church invites all to share in this grand festive event. They are located at 7225 Crenshaw

Blvd., Los Angeles. For infor-mation call (323) 778-0773 or visit www.guidancechurch.org.

Saturday Worship Service

Maranatha Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 3569 W Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. They would love to have you join them for their Saturday morning service at 11:00 a.m. For more informa-tion call (323) 971-3511 or visit www.maranatha32.adven-tistchurchconnect.org

Family Movie Night

Strait-Way Church will host a family movie night on Friday, January 18 and every third Friday of each month at 7:30 p.m. The movies are entertain-ing family friendly films. They also invite you to their

Sunday morning worship ser-vice at 10:00 a.m. The church is located at 102 East Kelso Street, Inglewood. Please call (310) 412-7472 or visit www.strait-way.com for more information.

Women’s Chorus Musical

New Mount Pleasant Baptist Church presents their Women’s Chorus Musical on Sunday, Jan-uary 27 at 3:00 p.m. They will also have guest singers to add to the excitement. This event is presented especially for the community to come together and enjoy the joyful gospel music. The address is 434 S. Grevillea Avenue, Inglewood. For more details, please call (310) 673-6250.

Inglewood Church Community Calendar

MPC, P.O. Box 2155, Inglewood CA 90305or via e-mail at: [email protected]

compiled By meL TayLor, rScP

Terrence McCain celebrates his 50th Birthday by inviting Inglewood to the Joy Party in late December 2012.

Joy Club



By anne cheek La roSe

Who are Friends of Ingle-wood Library? We are residents of Ingle-wood and surrounding com-munities who are convinced of the importance of the li-brary to all.

What is our purpose? To focus public attention on library services, facilities, and needs; to promote donations of books, CDs, DVDs, VHS and money donations and be-quests; and to sponsor pro-grams for all ages that will add to the cultural enrichment of Inglewood.

Why are you needed? To help the Inglewood Li-brary become a more vital part of the cultural fiber of our city; to read to the chil-dren at “Story Time”; to as-sist with programs in the Children’s Room; to volun-teer in the library to help staff as needed; and to sort books and help run book sales and other events.

The library has something for everyone:Art ExhibitsComputer lab / monthly com-puter classesMovies on DVD and VHS / music CDsReference books and rare booksPassports / tax forms / voter registration formBooks on CD / large-print booksGenealogy researchLocal history / mapsTypewriter rental/copy ser-viceStudy roomsChildren’s RoomSpanish language booksAfrican-American studiesPrograms and films in the Lecture Hall

Main Library: 101 W Manchester Blvd, (310) 412-5380Mon-Wed, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.,; Thursdays, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.; Closed Fridays and Sundays.

Crenshaw-Imperial Branch: 11141 Crenshaw Blvd, (310) 412-5403. Mon-Tues, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Thursdays, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Closed on Wednesdays and Friday-Sundays.

JOIN US! Ask library staff for an application. You’ll be glad you did! Membership is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. And, of course, don’t forget to get your library card.

Book a Membership with the Friends of Inglewood Library

Airport noise is indicative of poisonous air particulate matter—which is a proven hindrance to children’s health and well-being, negatively impacts health and is a proven factor in autism.

Be sure to call the number below when loud or low-flying aircraft are observed over your home.

424-64-NOISE424 (646-6473)To be sure that LAWA/LAX is recording and reporting your complaint, please e-mail the Chronicle via [email protected] and include the date, time, direction and general area. Anonymity is guaranteed, and there is no need to leave any identifying information.

A view from the third floor of the Inglewood Library, as seen from a patron’s eyes one winter afternoon in 2012.

office staff is warm and pro-fessional. Dr Thomas is also very enthusiastic about edu-cating people about oral hy-giene. “How you floss is you take the floss and form a c around your teeth. It’s to remove the plaque from the sides. Floss-ing is to remove plaque, not to remove food. It can re-move food, but it’s to remove plaque,” said Dr. Thomas. Talking to her made me think that I should probably carry floss around. Well, I do carry floss around, but possi-bly I should start using it. She could have put this hip dental office in downtown Los Angeles (where my for-mer dentist is located) or Cul-ver City, but she decided to put it in Morningside Park. She invested her own money to build the facility—a true business woman with respect for hard work. “I grew up in Inglewood. My mom still lives here. I am committed and loyal to the City of Inglewood. Ulti-mately my goal was to open a practice in Inglewood that the residents could be proud of, something that’s close to them so they don’t have to travel to far distances to re-ceive top-of-the-line care in a top of the line facility,” Dr. Thomas stated. She has indeed created a top-of-the-line facility, the start of a sparkling trend in medical facilities for the mid-dle class community of Ingle-wood. “I don’t want to be the typ-ical dental office. I want to make it comfortable. We have a boutique style, even

though we’re a large facility,” she said. Dr. Thomas accepts PPO insurance. My life opened up once I got PPO insurance. For me there was a direct correlation between horrible dentists and not having PPO insurance. While it’s not as predictable in regards to price for service, it’s a much better choice. It is especially appreciated with something like implants. Implants aren’t cosmetic. A PPO will make the option of implants a possibility. “Everyone wants to chew well,” she agreed. Implants make chewing and eating something you can do again. It’s been a life changer for my mother-in-law’s quality of life. The difference between PPO and HMO dental in-surance is your tooth being pulled out and being fit for partials and a good root canal with a porcelain crown. I like having teeth. And trust me it’s not expensive; it can actually be less expen-sive in many cases. “You don’t want someone sitting behind a desk at an in-surance company determin-ing your treatment,” warned Dr. Thomas. Smile Studio is a fami-ly dental practice. It also spe-cializes in cosmetic dentistry and dental implants. If you care about your smile, make your appoint-ment at Smile Studio. Mine is Thursday!

The Smile Studio3300 W. Manchester Blvd.

Inglewood 90305Visit the Web site at:

TheSmileStudioDentist.com

Smile, from pg. 1

January 2013



by Birtram Birtran

Hoof BeatsLIMITED

Hollywood Park race track (now known as Betfair Hol-lywood Park) finished its 2012 winter season of horse racing on December 16 and appears to have had a suc-cessful meet. The racing was great but the amenities were not meritorious when judged by other tracks for many reasons. A few “amenities” worth mentioning would be the lighting system in the off-track Finish Line lounge in the Casino as well as the in-ability of staff to control some of the over-zealous patrons who are excessive-ly loud. Last but not least, some of the automatic tell-er machines require a great deal of service because of constant malfunctions, such as giving out the incorrect-ly punched ticket number when betting multi-horse tickets while playing the ex-otic wagers such as the Tri-fecta and the .10c Super-fectas. But enough of the complaints; I will continue to visit them even as other horse players do. (It’s all in the game.) The main thoroughbred track on the scene now is Santa Anita. In the city of

Arcadia, CA, approximately thirty miles northeast of In-glewood. Their winter sea-son started December 26. The difference in the Bet-fair Hollywood track and the Santa Anita track is their main surface track. Hol-lywood track has a syn-thetic track for all weath-er and Santa Anita has a dirt track. Both also have a turf (all-grass) track. That’s something you would like to know if you followed a particular horse’s prog-ress from track to track. It’s good to know which surface the horse seems to best race on. Tracks are pretty hard to handicap at the early part of the meet and many patrons go out to play their favor-ite jockey or their favorite trainer. The top jockeys at Betfair Hollywood park last season were E. Maldonado, R. Be-jarano and M. Garcia. The top trainers at Betfair Hollywood park last season were B. Baffert, J.W. Sadler and D.F. O’Neill. Note that these were just a few worth mentioning. Al-so note that these jockeys and trainers will be riding,

training and racing horses at Santa Anita this next winter season. The same precautions that I mentioned in previous ar-ticles about one track ex-ists on all tracks, regardless if you are playing your dol-lars or dimes. Check your tickets before you leave the window; check the automat-ic teller machine for mon-ey left by you; put your tick-et in a secure place on your person before the race is run (in case you get so excit-ed while the race is running that you drop your ticket on the floor); and, if you hap-pen to get lucky enough to hit a big score, be aware of those around you when you are cashing that ticket. Enjoy the season. Good luck, bet with your head and not your heart—unless you love that horse’s name. And to all of you out there: Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Welcome to Rhonda’s Wellness Corner. This is a sacred space dedicated to spreading the good word about health, wellness and natural living. The goal is to explore, discuss and resolve topics of health and wellness by sharing information that empowers readers to mini-mize pain, illness and dis-ease while maximizing good health, strength and vitality.Wellness is more than the ab-sence of disease. It involves choosing foods that feed and fuel the body with high-qual-ity nutrients over foods that are merely pleasing to the pallet. Wellness is a state of consciousness that listens and responds to the body’s need for nourishment, exercise and positive stimulation. Well-ness is the direct result of deliberate steps taken to bal-ance mind, body and spirit. It cannot be obtained from a pill, syringe, bottle or scalpel. It cannot be prescribed by a physician or purchased over-the-counter. Wellness cannot be found in a yoga studio, gym or spa. Authen-tic wellness occurs within. It doesn’t wait for illness to develop before doing some-thing about it. It is a subtle shift in thinking that nudges one to make informed, life-affirming choices about food, physical activities and mental stimuli. Wellness is an aware-ness of the role of everyday thoughts, actions and words in our quest to live an abun-dant, balanced, high energy, low stress life.This brief list scratches the surface of various aspects of wellness.• Sleep. Ability to sleep through the night (6-8 hours) without interruption by racing thoughts or night-time bowel and urinary tract elimination.• Nutrition. Makes nutri-tious food choices for the healthy development of cells and tissue, and opti-mum functioning of organs. Exercise healthy portion control and life-affirming food combinations.

• Adaptability. Adapts to change and loss, spending appropriate time in each of the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance).• Mobility. Able to sit up-right in a chair for much of the day. Able to move (walk, drive, wheel) independently from place to place without exhaustion or pain. • Mental. Expects posi-tive outcomes. Frames most situations in a positive or constructive manner. • Environmental. Seeks out positive stimuli in enter-tainment and relationship choices. Lives and works in a clutter-free environment. Spends time in the company of a consistent and persistent support network of friends and family. • Lifeskills. Exhibits ac-ceptable social behavior. Interacts with others with-out issue. Able to easily troubleshoot and solve life’s problems. Thinks clearly and exhibits decisiveness. Able to develop and follow simple processes from beginning to end. Accepts and lives up to commitments.• Emotional. Ability to identify and clearly state feelings to others. Enjoys feelings of happiness, joy and satisfaction. Able to bring about positive feelings using thought and memory. • Physicalstate. Body effectively fights disease through natural immunity. Able and willing to exercise daily with a goal to build stamina, increase endor-phins, and build stamina and healthy muscle tissue. Takes deliberate steps to prevent illness and maintain health and wellness. Together, let’s embark on a journey to living well through positive life choices. We will explore food, ex-ercise, mental and physical healthcare, complementary and alternative medicine and integrated approaches to health and healing. It’s never too late. Choose wellness. Choose life!

Get Set to Be Well

Rhonda’sWellness

Cornerb y r h o n d a K u y K e n d a l l - J a b a r i

Rhonda Kuykendall-Jabari is an Inglewood resident where she lives with her ‘tween’ son, Damani, and his father. She has a BA in Spiritual Healing and is certified as a Reiki Master Teacher and Holistic Health Practitioner. “Like” her page at www.face-book.com/wellness.uprising, or visit her on the web: www.wellnessuprising.com.

Ii-Spy...



By mike STevenS, inglewood council memBer, district 1

I was born and raised in Inglewood. I love this city! I remember when there was a Ralphs supermarket at Manchester and Crenshaw and a Safeway Supermarket across the street at 85th and Crenshaw Boulevard. I remember the 5th Avenue Theatre, the Academy Theatre and the Imperial Theatre on Imperial and Crenshaw Boulevard. Brolly Hut at Crenshaw and 111th had the best charbroiled

burgers to eat after racing your slot car at Dave’s Grand Prix Slot Car Track on Manchester Boulevard between 7th and 8th Avenues. It hurts me to see neglected infrastructure and the slipshod maintenance of streets The streets were once Slurry Sealed and paved; they were smooth as glass. Upon being elected councilman, one of my top priorities was to make District 1 stand out from the rest of the City of Ingle-

Inglewood the Beautiful in 2013

Inglewood District 1 Council Member Mike Stevens

By anne cheek La roSe

Googie: A structure with tapered columns, exagger-ated up-sweeping cantile-vered roof, walls of glass to meld inside and outside; us-ing the latest colors and ma-terials with shapes heavily in-fluenced by the space age—reminiscent of space ships and flying saucers; often with a spire piercing the roofline; and usually featuring tropical landscaping. It was utterly bi-zarre architecture in post-war 1950s. Googie’s Coffee Shop was built in 1949 on the Sunset Strip. The style was known as

“Coffee Shop Modern” until the shop appeared in a home magazine. Thereafter, Googie

was the term for this wild, fu-turistic, break-the-sky archi-tecture. The aerospace industry started here, so it is only nat-ural we have a remarkable number of Googie structures in and adjacent to Ingle-wood. The most intact and regionally famous is imme-diately outside our northwest city limits: Pann’s. About a mile northeast stands Simply Wholesome, formerly The Wich Stand. The one struc-ture that exemplifies not on-ly Googie but is known the world over for being quint-essentially Los Angeles is not far from Inglewood. It is the Theme Restaurant at LAX. This amazing build-

Googie Architecture in and Around Inglewood

The Googie restaurant on 115 S. La Brea Avenue, was formerly Farmers Restaurant. It is now Cafetales Restaurant.

[ ANNE on ARCHITECTURE ]

please see Beautiful, page 10

By Judy dunLaP, inglewood council memBer, district 2

History: The abandoned service station at La Ciene-ga / Fairview / La Tijera has been the number one eye-sore of North Inglewood for more than a decade. The property is privately owned by owned by Thrifty Oil. For many years it was leased to BP-ARCO, the cor-poration that also closed down the station. That long-term lease ended on May

2012. In 2008, in an attempt to bring about a solution to this eyesore, I was able to get the Inglewood Municipal Code (IMC) amended to permit ancillary uses of this parcel. The ancillary uses consisted of a park, community garden, dog park, parking lot, etc. Members of the community were hopeful that something was finally going to be done and attended the Planning Commission and city council meetings in full support of

the changes to the IMC. As a result of these chang-es, during 2010-2011 the former tenant, BP-ARCO went through the application process to request that the

Abandoned Service Station at Inglewood’s Northern Gateway

Inglewood District 2 Council Member Judy Dunlap

please see Park, page 10

please see Googie, page 11

By rhonda kuykendaLL-Jabari

The weekday lunch crowd was just arriving. The am-ple parking lot (valet is op-tional) is convenient and ac-cessible from either direc-tion on Prairie Avenue and on Manchester Boulevard if you’re traveling west. The restaurant is situated on the corner of Manchester Boulevard and Prairie Ave-nue, across from the soon-to-be-renovated Great West-ern Forum. This location was remodeled in 2009 and is used as a showcase for prospective franchisees. The

ambiance is warm, relaxed and welcoming. Though there were many people, the noise level was perfect for making conversation. The soft-pop music selection was a perfect complement. The service was excellent and the staff was very atten-tive. The Ultimate Shrimp meal comes with breaded shrimp, breaded jumbo shrimp and shrimp scampi on a bed of rice. Generous helpings of red seafood sauce and an absolutely delicious bang bang sauce are included for dipping. The salad bar

Sizzler on Manchester

Ash Avenue: Your Block Rocks!

Ash Avenue in Arbor Village.

[ GREETINGS from MIKE ]

[ NEWS and VIEWS from DISTRICT TWO ]

[ DINING with RHONDA ]

please see Sizzler, page 9

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January 2013



ARTSIT’STHE

The TribunalResponses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raidedited by John Stauffer and Zoe Trodd It is said that “to the victor goes the spoils,” and among such spoils is the pen with which to write history. Af-ter all, it is difficult to refute an account when one is dead. In his letters John Brown un-derstood this intimately and foresaw a day when his cam-paign to be Moses in North America might fail. While the 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry did indeed fail soon after its start, Brown’s campaign lives on. Granted, history has do-ne as much as it can to erase the significance of the events leading up to the raid; have a gander in any pre-2000 histo-ry book published in the Unit-ed States and read what little is offered. Thus it is that The Tribunal has been published to fill that peculiar void.

A compilation of letters from Brown, editorials about the raid, letters to newspapers, interviews (including one re-corded by Brown as he lay injured very soon after his capture), speeches about the

By geraLd moraLeS

What do you consider yourself? Are you low-, mid-dle- or high-class? Do we even have to distinguish our-selves based on how much income we make? Regard-less, there’s a different kind of class sprouting up that aims at creating an image for all class types, and it’s called the Wood Class. Upon conceiving the idea in 2007, Guadalupe and Da-vid Gonzales had no idea how big things would be-come over the next few years. The Brothers Gonzales were contemplating start-ing a T-shirt company but wanted something with a lit-tle more substance. Pursu-ing endeavors as a DJ, Gua-dalupe—also known as DJ Coast—decided to es-tablish his own clothing line. When discussing this with his brother David they weren’t sure about the direc-tion they wanted to take the clothing line. One day they were in a discussion about the direction of their appar-el when Guadalupe asked David, “What do you iden-tify as: middle-, low- or high-class?” When thinking about this question further, the brothers decided that

they did not identify as any type of economic or social class. “I’m the Wood-class,” replied David. This gave birth to the idea that the clothing line they wanted to create shouldn’t have to conform to serv-ing one type of class either, and that was how they were going to distinguish them-selves. When you are wear-ing gear from The Wood Class you are represent-ing their belief. In their own words, “The Wood Class goal is to create one brand for every individu-al to express himself or her-self. No matter of class: high, middle, or low. The name matches the belief in a brand for everyone regard-less of class. WE ARE ALL

THE SAME!” When the Gonzales broth-ers started, they did not re-ceive the type of recep-tion they had hoped to get right away. It wasn’t until 2011 that they decided to di-rect their focus on caps. It was also the year when their popularity grew. After ca-sually browsing the Internet, a friend brought it to their attention that one of their caps was being featured on a blog from NewerCapTalk.com. They investigated the matter and were surprised about the positive reception they received. Soon after they were receiving e-mails and letters from people ask-ing about The Wood Class. Things seemed to spring

The Wood Class

Even on the Blue Line, the Wood Class stands out.


please see Wood Class, page 8

Page 7

Feature Book Reviews

Bitter Inheritancewritten by Dr. Mildred Dumas

A rich dead white man leaves his African-American assistant a sizable inheritance and no one’s happy about it. In Bitter Inheritance, Dr. Mildred Dumas has written a harrowing morality tale. It’s L.A.-style noir set in the fic-tional southern flavored town of Baltonville, Mis-souri. It has class warfare, inter-racial relationships and gen-erational conflict. It is an ex-citing story that examines people’s perception of each other and the world’s per-ception of individuals owing to race, class and gender. After the death of the very wealthy William Colby his wife kills herself and his es-tranged daughter, Sonya, shows back up to claim what she feels is rightfully hers. There is only one problem,

Velma Hannah her father’s assistant. Velma was left a sizable inheritance from So-nya’s deceased father. Sonya spends the novel plotting re-venge against Velma. But between the drama of attempted murder there is also class warfare. William’s maid, Callie (also African-

please see Tribunal, page 9

please see Bitter, page 9



Books

Postcards

Brochures

Magazines

Newsletters

Business Cards

and, of course,

NewspapersRD&F pRint | [email protected]

tory since the 1960s and is very knowledgeable in black people’s true place in history. Dr. Vaughn became an Af-rican Chief after he made trips to Nigeria to provide free eye care to villages that had no such services. His most recent ventures to Ni-geria lasted three consecu-tive years until 2008. Dur-ing his two-week visits, he would travel from village to village working with pa-tients. At times the facili-ties at which he worked had minimal equipment, and he was forced to improvise. He would find himself us-ing flashlights and the anes-thesia he brought on his own to perform surgery on pa-tients. Despite the long days he found himself enjoying the company of the locals and helping them with their eye conditions. Each village has a leader, and they were very appreciative of what Dr. Vaughn and his team would accomplish. He was granted

the title of African Chief for all his hard work and selfless acts. The trips he made to Ni-geria were sponsored by the Anambra State Association (ASA) / USA Medical Mis-sions. He would receive do-nations from companies that would sell him medication for his personal practice. In addition to venturing over-seas to help those in need, Dr. Vaughn also had most of his staff members go on his most recent trip with him to help provide eye care. The country provided room and board, but staff members were responsible for pay-ing for their own vaccina-tions and airfare, which eas-ily added up to several thou-sands of dollars. Having his staff on hand made the process easier for Dr. Vaughn; he was able to see more patients on a dai-ly basis. Some of the vil-lages they visited included Abagana, Onitsha and Iha-lia. Going to Anambra State in southeast Nigeria was not

an easy decision to make. Throughout the entire trip the doctor and his team had to have with them a guard armed with a machine gun. Despite the existence of danger Dr. Vaughn enjoys helping those in need. Despite the costs and se-curity concerns, Dr. Vaughn remains jubilant in his work.

“Providing free eye aid is a great experience. Volunteer-ing can be addictive because of the euphoria you get from helping people. It’s a re-warding feeling to help peo-ple that don’t get that type of aid regularly. I would love to help more, but I have an office to run and I can’t pay the bills giving away every-thing for free.” Dr. Leroy Vaughn is a true hero, and we applaud his on-going efforts to help those in need as well as his endeavors to help maintain the history of a people who have a rich one. For more information, please visit the website at www.LeroyVaughnMD.com.

Vaughn, from pg. 2

up overnight for the broth-ers after being featured on the Web site. Shortly after-ward, their popularity grew immensely. People through-out the United States as well as Europe, Australia and Germany were eager to get their hands on The Wood Class apparel. They were asking if placing orders was

possible. With their popu-larity on the rise, the broth-ers knew they were in a prime position to make a re-al name for themselves. These days The Wood Class receives orders for their items every day. Ce-lebrities such as Chuey Mar-tinez from KIIS FM can be seen wearing hats embla-zoned with The Wood Class. The great thing about

Guadalupe and David is that they give back to the com-munity. Every year they host a toy drive during the holiday season to provide presents for the unfortunate. Visit their website at www.TheWoodClassLA.com if you’re interested in apparel from The Wood Class. Their Facebook page can be found at www.face-book.com/TheWoodClass.

Wood Class, from pg. 7

Well, the Peck’s bad boy of Black Films has done it again! No, not Spike Lee—I’m talking about Quentin Tarantino and his latest re-lease, DJango Unchained, starring two Oscar winners, Jamie Fox and Christoph Waltz among others. Since I have often faulted Taranti-no’s nonlinear story struc-ture, and felt Mr. Fox’s Os-car-winning portrayal of Ray Charles was more “imi-tative” than “creative,” I was light-years from being fair-minded when I sat to see the movie. Tarantino has a long his-tory for being controver-sial—particularly, when us-ing African-Americans (which is often) in his mov-ies. His ground-breaking Pulp Fiction featured two mob hit men, one black and the other white, who liked to banter about cheeseburg-ers while casually shooting their victims. More distaste-ful was having a mob boss played by a hulky, African-American, Ving Rhames, kidnapped and hog-tied by two, nutty white sadists and tortured during an all-night session of anal intercourse! Brutally funny, the movie was a huge success and gave Tarantino the gravitas to follow with another Afri-can-American, Pam Grier, in Jackie Brown, which was a spin-off of the younger character she played in the 1974 blaxploitation flick, Foxy Brown. For starters, Django-Un-chained shares a lot more with Spaghetti westerns than it does with American

history. It is rooted in films like A Few Dollars More and Django-1966. From the latter is the revenge-seeking hero; from the former is the teaming of two bounty hunt-ers, Fox and Waltz. The premise is from the famed Japanese filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa’s film, Yojimbo. Even the battle to the death set piece between two Man-dingo slaves is bogus. Then, too, were the Russian Rou-lette “suicide set” scenes in the Oscar-winning The Deer Hunter. By now you should get the drift: Good movies rely less on facts; more of-ten than not, they are based on other good movies. That said, Django Un-chained is set two years be-fore the American Civil War and deals with slavery in full bloom. Nevertheless, watching dogs maul docile slaves and seeing too many blacks’ backs whipped does not make for good entertain-ment. But when Django and his German émigré partner come to the rescue, we are reminded that this movie is a revenge-fantasy and not a documentary! At first, the mayhem was refreshingly cathartic and enjoyable. As it went on, it became gratuitous; I had to remember Clint Eastwood’s film, Unforgiven, where he avenges the killing of Mor-gan Freeman’s character and shoots everyone in a sa-loon—including the ornery sheriff played by Gene Hackman. That’s the stuff of American Folklore: where a lone individual

Django UnchainedFilm Review

please see Django, page 11

January 2013



This coffee table tome is neither by Taschen nor is just for the table; it is meant to be examined for the cumulative testimony created during the 19th century. Taken primarily from the venerable Harper’s Weekly during the period of the American Civil War through Reconstruction, Overton re-produces images that helped shape Americans’ percep-tions of ethnic groups. While many of the images by re-nowned illustrators such as Thomas Nast and Joel Chan-dler present exaggerated car-icatures of black people, ma-

ny of the images are more subtle and remain in use to this day. One need but read any daily edition of the Wall Street Journal to find articles that constantly link black people with only crime and poverty, or open one’s mail to find circulars that promote “the good ol’ days” by sell-ing “free” civil war anniver-sary coins that celebrate the FIRST Battle of Bull Run. No lesser authority than the Washington Post has rec-ognized the problem, even if the vast majority of Ameri-can news media has swept it back under the rug. In the

1974 book Of the press, by the press, for the press (And others, too), published by the Washington Post and Dell, Richard Harwood, in a me-mo dated 18 March 1971, noted that “[I]f we decide that the only ‘newsworthy’ facts about black people are facts about crime, public welfare and revolutionary rhetoric, we create a stereo-type and deny the diversity of 20 million people.” It is a fact that has not been over-looked by the people who bring you Jerry Springer, MTV’s Real World and

The Media: Shaping the Image of a People written by Bill Overton

BOOK REVIEWS

This is not a review. It is not a review because I have not seen the film. It is not that I don’t care for Quentin Tarantino’s work; I love his film obsession and constant play on the genres—not to mention his obsession with words. I love Tarantino’s bor-rowing from Django (1966), Mandingo and Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles. Brooks’ 1974 effort was the first film of which I know to ref-erence a Black person in the old west; it was a very fun-ny movie touching on racist themes. Tarantino is great at doing film mash-ups and he does them well. It is not that I won’t see the film; I will probably re-serve it on Netflix and with

relish look forward to its be-ing sent to my door. Being a movie lover who forgets what movie I’m see-ing as the lights dim, I get so excited at seeing a film in the theater as it was meant to be seen. But I will not go to the theater to see Django Unchained. It doesn’t offend me: the premise, the ode to Black exploitation films, or even that a white filmmaker is again tackling the sub-ject. (It is the second of two mainstream films dealing with the United States’ dirty little past of slavery.) I won’t be seeing it just yet because it would be painful for me to sit in a film where people are laugh-

can be added as a side and comes with your choice of a dinner roll or Sizzler’s sig-nature cheese bread. My companion purchased the steak and baked potato. The cooked portion of the meal arrived quickly and was served warm and fresh. The fried shrimp was aver-age, but not great. The rice was very good and burst-ing with flavor, but a little sticky. The shrimp scam-pi was under-cooked and nearly raw, and there was no scampi sauce in sight. Since the platter is heavily laden with meat and starch (three types of shrimp, two breaded, and rice), the salad bar (which also comes with bread) is a good way to bal-ance out the meal with veg-

etables. Unfortunately, the small plate makes it a lit-tle inconvenient to pile on enough to offset the other portion of the meal. Howev-er, the salad bar is “endless,” so you can return as often as you like. The broccoli salad was superb. The Asian salad was mediocre and the won-tons were stale but sparse, so they were easy to eat around. My dining partner ordered the steak (medium rare) and baked potato. The steak was still too raw in the middle for his liking. The baked po-tato got a solid thumbs-up! The cost of the Ultimate Shrimp Platter and salad bar is $18.55. For nearly $20.00, this lunch fare is OK, but may get a pass in favor of fast food or other nearby restaurants.

Sizzler, from pg. 6

please see The Media, page 10

Django UnseenFilm View

please see Unseen, page 11

raid and essays made in the aftermath as well as some years later, this 500-page document is one that is not just for the library that re-serves space for the topic of slavery in the U.S.A. but the basic history of this nation. It is divided into several sec-tions: Brown’s own words; Northern, Southern and in-ternational responses; and civil war/postwar respons-

es. One would be mistaken to think that all the Northern responses were pro-Brown, or that Southern respons-es were in unison against the man. There are also surprises found in the post-war words by Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, Henry Thoreau, Mark Twain and John Wil-kes Booth. In this day and age, such a title is sure to inspire and inflame the topic of slavery and being black in Ameri-

ca nearly to the degree that it did when the raid occurred. Brown is said by many to be the spark that started the American Civil War; up-on taking the time to read this collection one will un-derstand why there has been such a campaign for so long to suppress them.

Hardcover, 640 pp.The Belknap Press

of Harvard University Press•www.Harvard.edu

Tribunal, from pg. 7

American), isn’t that fond initially of Velma. The of-fice staff at the firm William owned—and where Velma was the assistant, but then moved up to general manag-er after his death—are suspi-cious as to why Velma was left an inheritance, in partic-ular an African-American gentleman named Bradley Morris. Race is a constant theme in this book. The book has a vintage 1980s night-time soap opera feel to it, but the kitsch only adds to the sus-

pense and makes it easier to swallow hard discussions on race and class. It is also a character study of Velma. A woman who is at a crossroads—in age, class and in her love life. The one love of her life is dead. She crossed a line she thought she would never cross. Is she be-ing punished for it? Bitter Inheritance is as much a tale about race as it is about the tribe of woman-hood and class. What hap-pens when you have the privilege of being born into money? What happens when you have the privilege of be-

ing young? What happens when you have the privilege of being born pretty? Privi-lege opens your world to more choices. Those choices are clearly demonstrated by the women in this story. For some of the characters more choices just seems to turn into more trouble. It’s a fascinating thriller with an unexpected ending. The bitter ending is juicy.

($14.95 from Professional Publishing Company: www.

professionalpublishing-house.com/millbook_anno-

tations/mb_bitter.htm

Bitter, from pg. 7

In June 2009, City of Ingle-wood Treasurer Wanda M. Brown accused Tabor of cor-ruption regarding a bond measure that involved Rice Financial. It was not to be the last such outburst against Tabor. During the brief time he was mayor of Inglewood, he cut services and oversaw a num-ber of development deals that have since soured and are presently under scrutiny by a

number of federal agencies. Tabor also remains under investigation for his intimate involvement with Sportsman Little League (SLL), a com-munity organization presided over by Bourbon Street Fish owner and real estate agent Derrick Anthony Brown. “I was just a volunteer,” claimed Tabor when asked why he was named in a me-chanical lien of $55,000 from one contractor who was hired by SLL to do work at the baseball fields at Darby

and Rogers Parks. When asked why he personally oversaw Parks & Recreation employees and equipment in 2011-12, Tabor claimed he has always been involved in community service. Discussing the “allegedly” misappropriated funds meant for the parks, Tabor made it clear that it is some-thing “[SLL] treasurer Hali-ma Ginyard would know, but the city manager, Artie Fields, saw [all the paper-work] and said, ‘Fine.’”

Tabor, from pg. 1



wood. It then followed natu-rally that when my friends and neighbors contacted my office about trees needing trimming, abandoned or burnt out houses, overgrown and trashy landscaping, graffiti, abandoned furniture, dumped refuse and other such issues, I followed up with an intense passion. A lot of follow-up calls and e-mails later, to a num-ber of city employees up to and including the city man-ager, and taking property owners—some of which are large organizations—to task to do a better job of mainte-nance and cleanup of their property, and I am sure you’ll agree we are seeing some improvement. I feel there are more to come in 2013. As an example, I had a very difficult time of con-vincing the previous owner of the Forum to do a better job of keeping the grounds maintained on a regular ba-sis. I had to personally write the owner letters from my office because upper city management at that time simply would not cite them for the upkeep of their own trees and shrubs. There was a great amount of paper and debris that would blow around the parking lot too. My philosophy is, “What is good for the resident is good for the multi-million dollar corporation.” Since the new owner, Madison Square Garden Company (MSG), purchased the Fo-rum, the grounds have been better maintained. They have hired a landscape maintenance company, and the new Forum management has told me that the parking lot will be repaved and the landscaping improved this year. Sadly, the most difficult property-owning organiza-tion to deal with has been the City of Inglewood. When I first arrived at city hall, I repeatedly asked the city manager to clean up the lots, to fix the fencing, and to better maintain city-owned properties. I had lit-tle success. One example was the city-owned property on the southeast corner of Florence and La Brea. Requests to re-pair the tattered fencing and the sand bags rotting from years of neglect were all but ignored. It has taken a one-man campaign of tenacity,

dedication and relentless hands-on determination to prompt upper-level city management to undertake a

“let’s beautify Inglewood” campaign. Even better, the city council—as members of the Successor Agency—recently voted to replace the dilapidated fencing around ALL former Redevelopment Agency-owned properties. Our new Public Works Director has heard my mes-sage and is currently work-ing with MTA attempting to do a better job of keeping the rail line along Florence cleaned up. So far this is a work in progress, but I can assure you I will be follow-ing up. The city manager is also becoming more respon-sive to my clean-up requests of properties owned and controlled by the City of In-glewood. On a related note, I wish to extend a very special

“Thank You” and honorable mentions to Ms. Martha Hunter, Ms. Ethel Alexan-der, and Ms. Mildred Hack-ett, the members of the Dis-trict 1 Beautification Com-mittee. I am very proud of them for responding to my call for such a group—and you should be proud of them too. Last spring these three ambitious residents of Dis-trict 1 volunteered to be-come the District 1 Beautifi-cation Committee. Their successes are visible all over District 1 as well as throughout Inglewood. They have called in to report landscaping maintenance or cleanliness issues to city employees or my office, if necessary, for remediation. With the help of my office and city employees, they have contributed signifi-cantly to the ongoing clean-up and improved mainte-nance at the District 1 Com-munity Center on 7th Ave. and Manchester. they have also prompted the cleanup of business facades, empty lots and landscaping on Manchester from Crenshaw Boulevard to Van Ness Av-enue. Improving and maintain-ing the beauty and cleanli-ness of our wonderful City of Inglewood is something we can all participate in. I know many of us are al-ready doing a fantastic ef-fort. I’ve seen plenty of my friends and neighbors sweeping between the weekly street sweeper visits, cleaning the streets in front

of their house and landscap-ing the front yards of their homes so beautifully they could grace the cover of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. For those of us trying to make a difference in Ingle-wood here are some tools. It is a directory of commonly needed city services to help us succeed as a team in fur-ther beautifying the great City of Inglewood:

Code EnforcementSupervisor Woodrow Taylor (310) 412-5590 [email protected] Linda Tatum (310) 412-4255 [email protected]

Tree Trimming and City Property MaintenanceSupervisor Rita Gardner (310) 412-5623 [email protected] Sabrina Barnes (310) 412-5609 [email protected]

Street and Sidewalk Repair, Street SweepersManager Harry Frisby (310) 412-5333 [email protected] Works Director Louis Atwell (310) 412-5333 [email protected]

Trash Pickup, including abandoned furniture and dumped refuseAngela Williams (310) 412-8722 [email protected] Works Director Lou-is Atwell (310) 412-5333 [email protected]

City Manager: Artie Fields (310) 412-5424 [email protected]

And, of course, if the city management employees noted above are not being responsive to your requests, please contact the District 1 Council Office at (310) 412-8602. If you have access to e-mail I prefer to document these types of requests in writing. My e-mail is [email protected]. Also, see my of-ficeholder website at www.CouncilmanMikeStevens.com to easily access the City of Inglewood online service request system.

Happy 2013!Sincerely,Councilman Mike Stevens

Beautiful from pg. 6

site be converted into a small parking lot. Their plan was to tear down the current structures, install a grassy mound around the perimeter of the property to make it appear more “park-like” when viewed from the sur-rounding streets, and build approximately 20 video-monitored parking spaces. There was to be no over-night parking; vehicles that violated this statute would be subject to immediate towing. At the request of neighbors, the cut-out on the La Tijera side where ve-hicles currently park was to be eliminated. The estimat-ed cost of these improve-ments was $150,000 and was to be borne solely by BP-ARCO. The community would have preferred pure open space but the decision was not ours to make. After all the approvals for this project had been grant-ed to BP-ARCO, a final sign-off was required of the owner, Thrifty Oil. After first granting their approval at the Planning Commission level, Thrifty Oil changed their mind and notified the City that they would not permit the new use. Thus, the application “died” and the property remains in the same blighted condition that we see today. For those of you who have done research on this matter over the years, you know that there is a statute in the IMC that requires aban-doned service stations to be torn down if they are blight-ed and are no longer opera-ble. However, a legal opin-ion from Inglewood’s city attorney informed the City Council years ago that this code section, if acted upon, would subject the City to potential litigation and therefore was unenforceable. Update: Thrifty Oil re-cently approached the City

with a proposal to clear and landscape the property and install a two-sided V-shaped LED billboard, with one sign facing southbound La Ciene-ga and one sign facing north-bound La Cienega. The sub-mitted design has the display boards sloped in such a way as to diminish the light that might affect the residential properties to the west. The residential properties to the east would be mostly look-ing into the backside of the billboards where there is limited illumination. Current zoning (R-1) does not permit the installation of billboards. In addition, bill-board regulations in the IMC requires that seven square feet of existing bill-board space must be elimi-nated for every one square foot of new billboard space being created. We are all tired and frus-trated with the status quo blight and the rag-tag north-ern entrance into our city. At the District 2 Town Hall meeting held on October 25, 2012, copies of Thrifty Oil’s proposal were distributed to those in attendance. If you would like a copy of this proposal, please call my office at (310) 412-8601 or email us at [email protected]. In Conclusion: This prop-erty was NEVER in a Rede-velopment Project Area, the City has NEVER had excess General Fund money with which to purchase it nor did we ever have any control over this property, and our attorneys would NEVER al-low staff to enforce the IMC statute which demands that the blighted structures be de-molished. The city’s hands have been tied. Please contact my office to let me know what you think about Thrifty Oil’s proposal to clear the site and install an LED bill-board. Thank you!

Park, from pg. 6

VH1’s Flavor of Love. Overton’s book is a mas-sive endeavor that seeks to offer research into a peculiar problem by offering com-mentary, quotes and images from a narrow period. There are the rare instances where the burden seems to teeter (such as the spread that fea-tures a photo each of Liz Taylor and Snoop Dog; I was unable to understand the rela-tion other than the two being

popular celebrities), but that may be owed to his being in-timately associated with the entertainment industry. De-spite the one or two reserva-tions, The Media is a book that deserves its place among too few titles that have been published on the topic of news media and skin color.

www.ProStarPublications.comor

$45.00: ProStar Publica-tions • 8643 Hayder Place

Culver City, CA 90232

The Media, from pg. 9

January 2013



ing was conceived and built by a team of engineers and architects that included Paul R. Williams (who is interred at Inglewood Cemetery) and Charles Luckman (who de-signed the Forum). In our heyday, Inglewood had four Googie coffee shops, a bowling alley, drug-store, motel, and three car washes. Only two each of the coffee shops and the car washes remain. The coffee shop that re-mains intact is Cafetales Res-taurant, located on 115 S. La Brea Ave. just north of Manchester Blvd. It’s been through several incarnations since it was constructed in 1958. Sheri’s or Sherry’s was the first name, then Farmer’s Restaurant for a long while. GG’s followed, but closed in 2008. Its paint job has seen better days, but the sign and the interior are intact. The other coffee shop re-maining is Norma’s on 4410 W. Century Blvd., west of Hawthorne Blvd. It started life as a Norm’s, but the ex-terior has been so altered on-

ly the name reminds of its Googie past. The motel was on Century, next to the 405 North Free-way on-ramp. Thrifty was the drugstore in the Googie style. It was located on Im-perial east of Crenshaw. The store was looted, burned, and closed during the 1992 riots, never to reopen. Tropicana Bowl was located on Prairie in the 111th block. Two of the car washes, Jet on 941 W. Manchester Blvd., and Century on 4700 W. Century Blvd, retain the orig-inal Googie signage. The Im-perial on 3245 W. Imperial Highway at Lemoli has had all its Googie traces removed. There is one contemporary example of Googie in Ingle-wood: the In-N-Out Burg-er sign on 3411 W Centu-ry Blvd. The modern version shows a solid yellow arrow, while the original arrow was made of yellow lights. The next time you’re out and about, keep an eye open for these wonderfully extrav-agant examples of our Goo-gie history. They are another example of our history hid-ing in plain sight.

Googie, from pg. 6

achieves justice by taking the law into their own hands. Yes, Clint was a white man killing other whites to avenge an in-nocent black man—that too, is American Folklore, and it won the film an Academy Award. The question is whether a white writer/direc-tor can enter the cannons of Black Film Folklore. Few would argue that a white writer, Margaret Mitchell, made the first con-tribution to Black Film Folk-lore when she created Mam-my, the loyal black house-slave in Gone With The Wind who raised Scarlett O’Hara and the other O’Hara siblings. Mammy’s exalted status out-ranked all other slaves on the plantation. She even had “talk-back” privi-leges with most white folks and provided the actress Hat-tie McDaniel with the first Oscar ever awarded to an African-American. Of course, not all Americans were pleased with either the role or the award. They didn’t ar-gue whether Mammy was a true depiction. The resent-ment was in Ms. McDaniel’s willingness to bring so much pride and dignity to a char-acter that many deemed was an insult to a progressive mind-set. Apparently, Taran-tino has his own take on the issue. Setting aside Django’s he-roics, Tarantino’s major con-tribution to Black Film Folk-

lore is in creating Stephen, the “house negro” who runs the Candie Plantation. Tar-antino one-ups Margaret Mitchell big time! As played magnificently by Samuel L. Jackson, Stephen is a lot more than a slave who says,

“Yassah.” He is the man who runs things; the power be-hind the throne. He is also evil incarnate! It does not take long to realize that with-out Stephan’s able and rueful assistance, a strong argument can be made that white folks truly aren’t smart enough to manage and perpetuate slav-ery on their own! It’s the

“house negro” who comes to their rescue and keeps the ship afloat; who alerts Mas-ter when there’s trouble brewing; warns Master when a slave revolt was in the making. Stephen’s power is the Master’s power, and the Master’s power is Stephens! Make no mistake about it, the head-butting conflict that results when Django runs up against Stephen, is worth the price of admission, alone! I doubt whether a black film-maker could’ve presented this conflict any better than Tarantino! He focuses on raw, gut-wrenching power; how to gain it by serving those who have it, and savor-ing a little piece of it for one-self! Finally, I applaud how Django frees himself from a seemingly impossible situa-tion—handcuffed and guard-ed by four armed men.

That’s when Django guile-fully uses psychology and appeals to his capturer’s, greed, gullibility and stupidi-ty—exemplifying a brand of American “can-do” excep-tionalism that draws the sub-tle admiration from another slave and vaults Django into the cannons of Black Film Folklore. In summary, Mr. Taranti-no takes the oppressed his-tories of African-Americans and retells them as a re-venge fantasy where the ta-bles are turned—no, not just turned—flipped end over end! Yes, he uses a heavy dose of violence and may-hem—because everything about America’s past is vio-lence and mayhem—to pro-duce a dark, cathartic re-lease that winks and hints,

“this is how things could’ve happened” if life only worked the way it should! In the process, Tarantino has become a great, unap-preciated Liberator of Black Film Folklore. He has paved the way to free the minds and passions of future film-makers and writers from the burden of being constantly factual, educational and bor-ing. He has provided them with permission to soar. So let’s not discourage or dampen Quentin Tarantino—let’s clone him!

By miLTon r.F. brown,reTired Tv wriTer and execuTive Producer

For incomTv

Django, from pg. 8

ing while the N-word is be-ing used in every frame, as I am told by friends who saw the film. Historical context doesn’t make that less pain-ful for me. I am glad to hear that the content does not shy away from the ugly truths of the time. I think that’s im-portant. I think what bothers me about sitting in a theater where by and large is that the patrons, seemingly born in or after the 1990s, have likely never seen anything of substance or historical on slavery. That perception on my part and being barraged by the N-word, just doesn’t sound good to me. It sounds painful to me. It hurts me to think that this will be the first in-depth view of slav-ery for many. That it will be made somewhat palatable is a hard pill to swallow, but whatever gets you thinking, right?

Maybe if there was a viewing of the 1977 TV mini-series Roots before? I’m just joking—sort of. Roots is an eight-part mini-series, based on a novel by Alex Haley, about three generations of slaves from 1750 to the end of slavery. My mother told me that to this day she still gets choked up at the “breaking” of Kun-ta Kinte; the act of a young boy being beaten, whipped and brutalized until he ac-cepts his slave name is what she means. Kinte is played by Levar Burton, my favor-ite nerd crush while growing up and who is best known afterward for his Reading Rainbow series and Star Trek: Next Generations role. Hard to imagine “Geordi” as a slave, isn’t it? Film and art take liber-ties with history all the time, it is to be expected and of-ten applauded, but I would hope that people would ed-ucate themselves on reali-

ty too. Two film documenta-ries worth viewing are Slav-ery: The Making of Ameri-ca and Slavery By Another Name. Both are available to watch online. I am long past ‘soapbox-ing’. I am just a movie lov-er sharing some personal per-spective on a film I fully in-tend to love, I just happen to prefer to see it with peo-ple coming from an informed place. I will see it and judge it on my own terms. Away from the sensationalist head-lines of Spike Lee’s “opin-ion” on the film, Tarantino’s claims of “authenticity” and fans ranting about who is and who is not racist. Because all of that is just white noise. Perhaps Django Un-chained will open up the op-portunity for people to ed-ucate themselves on U.S. History and gain their own context for the film. I hope certainly so.

By vaneSSa LewiS Leigh

Unseen, from pg. 9

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City of Inglewood will re-ceive—$4.00 per $1,000.00 of a “property’s assessed val-ue”—residents may be un-aware that the entire amount to be collected per $1,000.00 would be $5.10. Such tactics to obscure the entirety of a tax hike appear to have been employed by City of Inglewood executive staff in the past. Referring to a 2008 utility tax rate hike named Measure

UUT, Inglewood city attor-ney Cal P. Saunders released an “impartial analysis” that stated, “The proposed ordi-nance would reduce the com-munications tax rate from 10% to 8%, resulting in an overall 20% utility tax re-duction to taxpayers.” What was not disclosed was that Measure UUT reduced the existing utility users tax in Inglewood from 10% to 8% but extended it to more utili-ties, thus creating an overall tax increase for the city.

728%, from pg. 1



We like Mike!

Paid for by Committee to re-elect Councilman Mike Stevens 2013

On April 2, vote for our children’s future. Re-elect Councilman Mike Stevens!

I like Mike!

Who likes Mike?

above: Inglewood Fantasia Dance Ensemble thanks Councilman Mike Stevens for having dance mirrors (seen at rear) installed for their dance class.

District 1 Councilman Mike Stevens is working to make a better Inglewood for our children.

Residential Sound Insulation ProgramTo save our children from air quality-related health issues like asthma and autism as well as to provide the peace of mind required to focus on their studies, Stevens has fought tirelessly for many years to get houses sound-insulated and air-conditioned.

Crenshaw Light Rail CrossingsStevens has spent significant time performing outreach to his constituents as well as MTA and CPUC representatives. He has written and presented seven Council Initiatives to the mayor and city council for approval in an on-going campaign to get the dangerous street-level LAX/Crenshaw Light Rail crossings—which are close to schools, churches and parks—placed below grade in Inglewood.

http://CouncilmanMikeStevens.com

january 2013 issue

Documents

thomas office

white bright dentist

carla thomas

really nice dentist

council person mike

council member stevens

practicing dentistry

inglewood librarypage