SOUTH LA VOICES- “Fun in the sun!” Watts resident William Fabian wrote under the prompt “My South L.A. is…” created by organizers of the Visions and Voices panel, “Food, Recreation, and the Arts as Social Justice and Civic Engagement,” at USC last night. The panel was the second in a three-part effort by USC to engage some of the advocates doing work in the South LA area while taking stock of its role in the civic and community life of the area as it undergoes expansion.
“Fun in the sun” is generally not what first comes to mind for most people when they think about South L.A., much less Watts. But it helps illustrate why it is so important to hear directly from residents in marginalized communities, particularly communities that have been much maligned in the media.
Urban planners and others seeking to diagnose the problems facing communities like South LA sometimes seem to assume that the problem is, in part, one based in a lack of vision of what a functioning community or public space should be. And that “teaching people that their streets can be sites of recreation” is part of the remedy. (Read the rest)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 18
Pub: Mar 3, 2015
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