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In LA, the South Bay (Compton, Inglewood, Hawthorne and other inland neighborhoods) has strong presence but not as much as Oakland/ Richmond, where a higher proportion of the population is Black, and just reflects a stronger cultural feel in that way.
The answer is probably Oakland. Blacks have been leaving Los Angeles also at a rapid pace.
Correct....There was roughly 600,000 African-Americans in LA proper in the early 80's now I think there's about 400,000. Living in 60 miles North up in Lancaster-Palmdale, or 35 miles East in Pomona, West Covina, or 72 miles further out in San Bernadino is not really the LA area. In some parts of the city you can go ALL day and not see but a few black faces. As far as culture concerned there's far more to it than some Hip-Hop. Central Avenue has been pretty dormant over the years, it was a very powerful place in the city of LA when it came to black owned businesses, concert halls, movie theaters, cabarets, jazz clubs, politics, etc...
Even Crenshaw and the beloved "Lemeirt Park" is just a small three or four block of South-Central with about 15 barbershops, 10 Korean owned wig shops (selling Indian hair) a Mc Donalds, and a hand full of shops selling some clothes or art.
Head futher out towards Jefferson and all the black bikers hang out in the Weiner Snitchell parking lot....OR over in the Ralph's parking lot outside of Friday's & Starbucks.. I may have missed a few things but I AM SURE not much. I've been working up in the Bay Area for the past couple of months and I'm really liking Oakland outside of coming to a Raiders game and really enjoy the vibe up here.
LA and Oakland are the only two west coast cities worth mentioning in this regard at this point. That being said, anyone who's spent significant time in both LA and Oakland knows that Oakland culturally, demographically and otherwise has been a "black city" for decades in a way that Los Angeles has never been. Oakland may lose that status in the near future but LA isn't getting any more black anytime soon.
That is not to say that LA black neighborhoods have not been very influential and important; they have. However, when you go to East and West LA their influence and impact wanes... There really isn't anywhere you can go in Oakland where you don't see the impact that blacks have had on the city with the lone exception of the northwestern hills. Also, blacks live pretty much everywhere in Oakland... the same is not true at all of LA.
LA and Oakland are the only two west coast cities worth mentioning in this regard at this point. That being said, anyone who's spent significant time in both LA and Oakland knows that Oakland culturally, demographically and otherwise has been a "black city" for decades in a way that Los Angeles has never been. Oakland may lose that status in the near future but LA isn't getting any more black anytime soon.
That is not to say that LA black neighborhoods have not been very influential and important; they have. However, when you go to East and West LA their influence and impact wanes... There really isn't anywhere you can go in Oakland where you don't see the impact that blacks have had on the city with the lone exception of the northwestern hills. Also, blacks live pretty much everywhere in Oakland... the same is not true at all of LA.
Yup.
Blacks are a major presence in most of Oakland, even as their numbers decline due to many middle class black households moving to larger, newer, more afforfable homed in suburbia and the Central Valley.
As far as culture concerned there's far more to it than some Hip-Hop. Central Avenue has been pretty dormant over the years, it was a very powerful place in the city of LA when it came to black owned businesses, concert halls, movie theaters, cabarets, jazz clubs, politics, etc...
I'm glad you brought up Central Avenue in South LA, specifically from the '20s to the '50s. I hope more people read up on it. It was a fascinating time. It was once the heart of the African-American community in LA, which was the result of the mass migration of African-Americans in the early 20th Century out of the South to the North and to the West, and the center of African-American culture, and was the jazz/R&B hub of the West Coast. The area was dubbed "Little Harlem."
"Loyd Robinson compares Los Angeles’ Central Avenue in the 1940s to Las Vegas. “It was like The Strip - it never did go to sleep,†said the 75-year-old Central Avenue native. From the 1920s to 1950s, Central Avenue was known as the jazz hub of the city. Deemed “Little Harlem†by some, the street attracted entertainers, performers and Angelenos looking to hear the sounds of trumpets and saxophones..."-Spirit of jazz clubs revived during Central Avenue Jazz Festival | OnCentral
Check out the Central Avenue Jazz Festival. It's awesome. And the historic Dunbar Hotel which is under renovation is where musicians like Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton stayed many years ago since they were not allowed to stay in the white hotels.
Are we really comparing Oakland to LA for black culture presence? Lets do an apples to apples comparison otherwise its like asking which city is crack more prevalent Chicago or East St. Louis?
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Are we really comparing Oakland to LA for black culture presence? Lets do an apples to apples comparison otherwise its like asking which city is crack more prevalent Chicago or East St. Louis?
Well, I see you are living up to your screen name...
In LA, the South Bay (Compton, Inglewood, Hawthorne and other inland neighborhoods) has strong presence but not as much as Oakland/ Richmond, where a higher proportion of the population is Black, and just reflects a stronger cultural feel in that way.
California Black Demographics
LA: 1,230,023 Oakland area: 471,566
Using the percentage logic, that means that Memphis must be more of a Black capital than Atlanta or NYC is. In the real world though, when I think of a Black Californian, I think of Los Angeles.
Quote:
That is not to say that LA black neighborhoods have not been very influential and important; they have. However, when you go to East and West LA their influence and impact wanes... There really isn't anywhere you can go in Oakland where you don't see the impact that blacks have had on the city with the lone exception of the northwestern hills. Also, blacks live pretty much everywhere in Oakland... the same is not true at all of LA.
That's also because Oakland is a considerably smaller city than LA. Draw a 400 square mile area around Oakland and you tell me if the whole area is "black" and it most likely will not be.
I don't know why these is some obsession on City Data on making Northern California as relevant as Southern California when the real world evidence proves that the former is nowhere near as relevant as the latter in any sphere except maybe technology. Is it political correctness?
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