Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr SALSA & MERENGUE DANCING Dance Downtown kicks up its heels tonight for the first installment of the summer-long Friday night series. Free admission to anyone who feels like trying a little salsa out on the Music Center Plaza. Beginner lessons are at 6:30, and a live DJ provides the tunes from 7:15-10. 6:30-10 p.m. // Music Center Plaza // 135 North Grand Avenue,......

Hmm, I wonder what the mean blood alcohol level is at Churchill Downs. | Photo courtesy of Jacdupree via Flickr Below, you'll find some short reviews of three documentary films that will only be in theaters for a couple more days. They each tell very different stories in unique ways and all of them are worth your time and money. I've said it before (and I'll keep saying it until my nemesis, Per Degaton,......

Photo by mil8 via the LAist Featured Pools on Flickr Yesterday marked 40 years since Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. But did you know this? MLK Jr spoke at a packed congregation in Los Angeles just three weeks before his assassination: The 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. comes as a poignant reminder of the day the civil rights leader stood in the pulpit at Holman United......

Since February is Black History month, we asked our friends at Eso Won Books in Leimert Park to recommend ten history books that would provide a balanced overview of black history, filling in any gaps in the American educational system. Included are a number of books that specifically focus on the history of African-Americans in Los Angeles. Before the Mayflower Lerone Bennett "The black experience in America--starting from its origins in western Africa up to......

Today marks Jackie Robinson's 89th birthday, and the Dodgers are celebrating it by educating the youngins. The Dodgers, in partnership with the Jackie Robinson Foundation, will celebrate the first "Jackie Robinson Legacy Day" at the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium telling the story of Robinson to over 200 school children. School children from Mayberry Elementary, Atwater Avenue Elementary, 42nd Street Elementary School, Jackie Robinson Academy, and Roynon Elementary School along with Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars......

The community of Watts seems to be undergoing a shift in atmosphere, reports the Daily News, as the area's gang violence has been decreasing, thanks in part to the Watts Gang Task Force. In terms of statistics, homicides were halved last year from the year before--11 in 2007 as compared to the 24 in 2006, and 2007 saw "a three-month stretch without a single slaying. Gang homicides for the approximately 1-square-mile home to an estimated......

Science and art rarely mix. And yet, despite the near polar opposite natures of these two fields, there's something that makes a collaboration between science and art undeniably captivating. Perhaps it's because behind the often sterile and calculated shell of the world of science, there lies the same human stories we find in every other area of life. And while we regularly see tales of greed, corruption, triumph, racism, fame, and passion acted out......

The courts once again sided with the Bush administration in its warrantless spy tapping program. This time, the liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to rule against the government in its handling of the war on terror. Somewhere, Abbie Hoffman is crying. Following an incident at Cal State Fullerton, in which nooses appeared on a clothesline at an anti-hate rally, civil rights leaders are calling for a federal investigation. College officials quickly took......

He seems so nice on tee vee, but in real life Dog The Bounty Hunter is more like Dog The Hate Mongrel. The National Enquirer has just released audio of the A&E star explaining that he wants his son to break up with his "nigger" girlfriend. TMZ reports that Rev. Al Sharpton has already been notified and has begun polishing his black ass for the upcoming press summit and standard butt-smooching slash apology slash......

In 1966, Huey Newton & Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party. A militia organization, made up of black men & women to fight for their rights, and defend themselves against “capitalist pigs” (the US government). In the politically charged-era of the civil rights movement, the party reached out to their wide membership, with distribution of a newspaper entitled The Black Panther. The publication featured regular artwork from its Minister of Culture, graphic artist Emory......

Cornell Greathouse was shot in the throat with a stray bullet from a gangster's gun in 1993 that left him paralyzed. He was dancing at the time. The injury made him a quadriplegic and confined him to a wheelchair. In January of 2005 while he was being arrested by four Pasadena police officers, he was removed from his chair and hung across a concrete wall so he could be searched. Because the quadriplegic are......

Most Gay and Lesbian literature uses the initials LGBT to describe the community. It stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. But the bisexual part doesn't usually get a lot of attention. MTV's new dating show, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, has made bisexuality public. I normally would not have watched a show with some random Myspace chick, but this set-up, with straight guys and lesbians duking it out for the same......

The only one of the accused 6 to not post bail, Mychal Bell, is expected to receive his sentencing today in Jena, Louisiana. Local officials tried to impede the traveling march from entering the small town of Jena (population: 2,971) by limiting 5 buses to enter the city limits per 12 minutes. Most locals have fled the city, businesses have closed down. While the arrest stems from the fact that 6 black teens beat a......

2,000 DWP customers lost power today in Sun Valley. At noon, power was threatened to be cut from large energy consumers. But as the afternoon progressed, the Stage 2 was unlikely to happen. Yes, this is a heat wave. At age 18, having a DUI conviction, being a tagger and dealing in drugs is bound to get you caught up in murder charges in Van Nuys. A brush fire broke out in Castaic today......

Last night the Pasadena City Council voted unanimously to abandon a proposed Ordinance which would have prohibited cyclists from traveling more than two abreast on any city street. The proposal was championed by Police Chief Melekian and was a direct response to the popularity of the Rose Bowl area for cyclists who ride Peloton style on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Melekian and Rose Bowl Management have claimed that user group conflict between the pedestrians and......

As Bill Moyers and his guests, constitutional law expert Bruce Fein and political journalist John Nichols, made abundantly clear in their discussion on PBS' Journal (catch the whole episode here), the question that ought to be asked isn't, "should we be discussing impeachment?" but, "why haven't we seriously started discussing impeachment yet?" Even though a recent public opinion poll from the American Research Group revealed that 45% of Americans favored impeachment hearings for Bush......

Starting today, audiences in Los Angeles can take their first worthwhile break from the summer blockbuster madness with one of the few award-worthy pics released so far this year (other than Ratatouille). First, a disclaimer. Do not let the trailers for Talk to Me, the new biopic starring the always excellent Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor, mislead you. This is not a film about the civil rights movement, or race in America. Those who......

Last night I put on a white “I Love WeHo Dykes” t-shirt, merged with the throng of Dyke March 2007 attendees, and paraded down Santa Monica Boulevard, a street coincidentally named in honor of the patron saint of abused, victimized, and neglected women. It may seem strange to some that I would do such a thing given that I am not Dyke, Lesbian, or Queer. But as a woman, a West Hollywood resident, and......

While Paris might be getting her first full night of sleep in her West Hollywood digs, she won't be sleeping in tomorrow morning after gorging on cupcakes, as she has been ordered to go back to court tomorrow at 9 a.m. and face the judge who put her in the clink in the first place. Apparently, even though the Sheriffs department, can alter the terms of a prison sentence (as they did when they......

LA’s Stones Throw Records are quickly becoming the most important purveyors of independent hip-hop in the new millennium, much like East Coast indie stalwarts Rawkus were in the late 1990s. There is, however, one particularly notable difference between the two. While both labels are known for their independent spirit and bohemian rosters of hip-hop artists (Stones Throw with Madlib and his many aliases, MF Doom, J Dilla, et al and Rawkus was with Mos......

The LAPD's civil rights consent decree just got extended this past summer for another three years. Do videos like this and witness accounts help end this decree and get more officers back on the street instead of desk duty for consent decree paperwork? Not really. Here is some excerpts from Daniel Hernandez's blog: "The sight of cops standing shoulder-to-shoulder menacingly holding batons drew more onlookers, which drew more cops, which drew more onlookers. The......

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam died yesterday in a car crash in Menlo Park, CA. He was 73. Halberstam’s work as a journalist ranges wide and delves deep. He covered the Korean War, the Vietnam War and civil rights but he was also fascinated with the humanity and spectacle of sports. He did not simply document the history he lived through – he explained complex societal constructs and cultural shifts in a way that anyone......

In an earlier roundup of the day's news Tony noted the brouhaha over a series of Republican-financed anti-abortion radio ads, one of which calls black women "Hos." "If you make a little mistake with one of your ‘hos,' you'll want to dispose of that problem tout suite, no questions asked," one of the men says. "That's too cold. I don't snuff my own seed," the other replies. "Maybe you do have a reason to......

LAPD and union organizers joined forces to script a protest march during Thursday afternoon rush hour near LAX. Hundreds of people were arrested according to plan. The arrestees, who were registered with LAPD and took a class in preparation for the event, even got t-shirts and a gift package that included a meal (put together by union organizers, not their cellmate). I’ve worried that unions have embarrassed themselves in recent years, becoming top-heavy machines......

Many moons ago when LAist was in high school, some of our most favorite memories revolved around sweating it out on a parking lot, wearing funny hats, and rolling in school busses while being part of the marching band. Yes we got teased and taunted, but it was truly a remarkable activity. That's why we're stoked that Fairfax High will be fielding a marching band after 20 years of being without. And it seems......

In a novel way to combat gang-related crime, the Federal government is currently trying four members of the Avenues gang for conspiring to kill African Americans so as to intimidate other black families out of Highland Park. Typically prosecution comes from the city or state level, but the LA Times today reports that the Constitution is being thrown at the gang members. Authorities are using a federal hate-crime law based on the amendment to......

With divisive leigislation pending in the House of Representatives and the immigrant rights march coming up Monday to protest it, the United States again gets to address the question of who gets to come here and whether they help or unintentionally harm their new country. According to their site, the goals of the coalition organizing the march are "to keep immigrant families together, protect our civil rights, pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path......

Tomorrow, the Immigration Debate gets a lot more complicated. Being called "A Day Without An Immigrant" in some cities across the country, expect Immigrant Rights Monday to look a lot less Latino and a little more like a Benneton ad. Daniel B. Wood in the Christian Science Monitor quotes Chung Wha Hong in New York who says, "This is America's civil rights battle for the 21st century." With the addition of so many more......

Mayor Villaraigosa seems to get more national interest with each passing week. He hasn't even been in office a year and we know we've talked about him being in the minds of the entire USA (and the world) more times than we care to go search through the archives to find. Yesterday, Time Magazine asked him about last week's protests and the state of Immigration law in the country. The quotable Mayor: I've never......

The leader of today's Hollywood birthday pack is Harry Belafonte, who turns 79. He's not just a guy who sang swinging calypso in the sixties (although it did swing). He's won a Tony, an Emmy and been a Kennedy Center honoree, and he's been an activist since the civil rights era. Today, when many his age are resting, he's flying to Venezuela with Cornel West to meet with Hugo Chavez. He's been politic (a UN......