For decades, dozens of artists would paint images on the Crenshaw Wall with a focus on Black history and culture. Over time, the roughly 780-foot-long structure became a symbol of pride and self-determination in the historically Black neighborhood. Now, years later, the Crenshaw Wall is getting a makeover.
Why it matters: It’s all part of a long-discussed multimillion dollar redevelopment project led by the city of L.A. and the private nonprofit Destination Crenshaw to create what’s been described as an open-air museum that will include parklets and art installations throughout. The organizers of Destination Crenshaw say that with this project they hope to revitalize a neighborhood that many argue has long lacked investment.
Read more ... for an examination of the wall's history, and what it's rejuvenation would mean for the area and residents around it.
Before the Crenshaw Wall became a canvas for artists to paint depictions of Black life in the mid-1970s, Mark Steven Greenfield remembers it as a place that gang members would tag regularly.
He recalls Alonzo Davis, the co-founder of the Brockman Gallery and a teacher at Crenshaw High School, getting a bunch of young artists together, including Greenfield, to start painting.
“Alonzo took a look at that and said, ‘Well, you know, let’s go see if we can spruce up that wall on Crenshaw because if we don’t do something, the graffiti is just going to get out of hand’.”
How it started
In the early days, Greenfield describes it as a guerrilla movement in the Crenshaw District: Several artists took turns painting images of Black culture on the wall, like The Brothers Johnson, lowriders and hip-hop. At first, the LAPD hit them with citations but, Greenfield says, L.A. City Councilmember Robert Farrell had the charges dropped and gave them stipends to work on the wall.
Then the community got involved.
“Sometimes people would bring us lunch,” Greenfield says. “We really felt that the community was validating what we had done.”
Greenfield, who says he was interested in Afro-futurism back then, decided his first painting would be of a Black man with big eyes full of knowledge and insight.
“I had this idealistic view of what Black people in the future could and should be,” Greenfield says.
Over the next three decades, dozens of artists would paint images on the wall with a focus on Black history and culture. Over time, the roughly 780-foot-long structure became a symbol of pride and self-determination in the historically Black neighborhood of Crenshaw.
Now, years later, the Crenshaw Wall is getting a makeover. The L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs last week gave its approval for the plans to fix up the wall and create a new painting.
It’s all part of a long-discussed multimillion dollar redevelopment project led by the city of L.A. and the private nonprofit Destination Crenshaw to create what’s been described as an open-air museum that will include parklets and art installations throughout.
The organizers of Destination Crenshaw say that with this project they hope to revitalize a neighborhood that many argue has long lacked investment.
“The history of disinvestment and displacement is a source of trauma for our community in Crenshaw," says Jason Foster, president and COO of Destination Crenshaw. "What we're working to do is to cement the culture and the identity of our community."
A call to restore the Crenshaw Wall
Eric “Cre8” Walker, an artist with the graffiti collective Rocking The Nation (RTN), grew up in South Central in the ‘80s and dreamed of painting on the Crenshaw Wall as a teenager. He recalls seeing all kinds of artwork — from intense murals that reflected the horrors of the crack epidemic to vibrant art that wished passersby happy holidays. Ice-T’s Rhyme Pays album was featured on the wall with dollar bills floating around and a character with a gold chain. Some artists paid tributes to friends who had died. For Walker, the wall was also a gathering place for the community to hang out.
In the early 2000s, Walker finally got his big chance to paint when he and other artists gathered funds for a mural project: One large Black history timeline called “Our Mighty Contribution.” It was a fresh attempt to spruce up the appearance of the wall that still exists today.
“We came at it in the sense of a cultural historical presentation,” Walker says. “We talked about the beginning of time and what we perceived to be the future of the end of time. We knew about our culture and our roots in history.”
When you drive by the wall now, starting from 49th Street and Crenshaw, you’ll first see an image of a Black woman blowing wind, or "life," into the universe in the beginning of time. Throughout the next few blocks, you'll see depictions of Africa, enslavement and activists like Frederick Douglass.
For years, RTN artists called for restoration as the Crenshaw Wall started to fade and peel.
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“We can’t show the whole movie, so it was more like an edited version of our history as Black civilization,” Walker says.
Rocking the Nation finished the mural, but the collective struggled to gather funds to maintain the integrity of the wall and keep it from deteriorating. The weather has been harsh and so have the vandals. In 2018, swastikas were spray-painted on the faces of the Black Panthers by unknown suspects.
“Our mission was to beautify,” Walker says. “But throughout the many years, we had people that didn't care about preserving anything. There were many days and weeks that we had to go back once again and touch it up with our own materials that we were working with.”
As the wall started to really show its age, fading and peeling, RTN artists started calling for a bigger restoration almost 10 years ago. Now after several delays, it's finally starting to happen — and Walker and the RTN crew will once again have a hand in beautifying it.
The makeover begins
First, work needs to be done to reinforce the wall. Once that construction is finished, it’ll be up to RTN to paint a new mural. Now that The L.A. Cultural Affairs Commission has given its blessing to the new artwork, the group is excited to get started, Walker says.
“I think it's only fair and it's only right to be able to have us as artists from the first go round who really didn't get the proper support, to be able to manifest what we really wanted to do,” Walker says, “When people see the wall, they're gonna be even more blown away than the first time.”
The new mural, named “The Saga Continues," will include images of The Great Migration, Black Hollywood figures and the Rodney King Uprising of 1992.
The digital rendering of a new mural "The Saga Continues" on the Crenshaw Wall
A digital mockup featuring a section of the RTN Crew’s new proposed artwork on the site of the current Crenshaw Wall. Additional construction is planned for the Wall, including a viewing platform above it, as part of Destination Crenshaw.
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A digital mockup featuring a section of the RTN Crew’s new proposed artwork on the site of the current Crenshaw
Wall. Additional construction is planned for the Wall, including a viewing platform above it, as part of Destination Crenshaw.
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All of this reconstruction is expected to last for six months as Destination Crenshaw installs a viewing deck and a pocket park. The stairs that go to the top of the wall are being redirected and strengthened. The organizers also say the new mural will be treated with a special coating to better protect it against stormy, windy weather.
Walker hopes that people would want to tape music videos, commercials and documentaries around the wall.
Joy Simmons, a senior art and exhibition advisor for Destination Crenshaw, says the project’s mission is to “revitalize” the wall and to keep it fresh.
“We want to keep people engaged with what's happening in the community and what's happening in the world,” Simmons says. “I think it has always been the plan that this mural would evolve.”
A Black cultural space for many generations
Ask most people in and around L.A. about Crenshaw and the first thing that probably comes to mind is that it’s the late rapper Nipsey Hussle's neighborhood. He’s remembered by many for his love of the area and how invested he was in having residents not only survive, but thrive.
But outside of Hussle’s relatively recent legacy, the Crenshaw District has been recognized as a culturally significant Black neighborhood for decades.
Starting in the 1960s, the now-closed historic nightclub Maverick's Flat, also known as the “Apollo of the West," hosted acts like The Temptations and Marvin Gaye. The L.A. Sentinel, the largest Black newspaper west of the Mississippi, has its headquarters on Crenshaw Boulevard. And for nearly 40 years, the Kingdom Day Parade, which celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King’s life, has been celebrated in the neighborhood.
But there’s been a lot of change.
The Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, one of the largest shopping centers in the region and major economic hub for the Black community, was sold to a developer. Metro’s new K-Line, which will connect Inglewood to LAX, is now running and has created some concerns from community members about who will be coming in and out of the area. And now the Destination Crenshaw project is finally underway.
All this change has brought the inevitable worries over gentrification and community members getting priced out of the neighborhood. Property values in many historically Black neighborhoods in South L.A. have doubled in the last 10 years, which has led to shifting demographics.
L.A. has lost a significant amount of Black Angelenos, as they move to suburban areas outside of the city — a pattern that mirrors what’s happening in cities around the country.
Why gentrification is a worry
There’s been some distrust in the community. Construction on the wall was supposed to begin in August, but now it is scheduled to begin sometime in September, after Destination Crenshaw receives a final permit from Metro. It was also delayed, in part, because of conflicts between officials and the Bethesda Temple Church Apostolic Faith Inc., which is located directly behind the wall.
The issue, according to Shirley Green, an administrator at the church, was over the impact the reconstruction of the wall would have on the church parking lot. It's going to eat up 22 parking spots, leaving older people and children to walk longer distances to the church. But now a new plan has been proposed that'll hopefully satisfy everyone's needs: Members will be able to park at Crenshaw High School on Sundays. Once permits for all this are complete, the restoration of the wall will officially begin.
Still, not all concerns have been addressed, says Bethesda’s pastor Kyron S. Shorter. Shorter says he has been talking to Foster, the Destination Crenshaw CEO, about the project since 2020, but he was concerned about the lack of transparency. All he sees is that this is a huge sacrifice for his church.
“What it will do is it'll probably raise the property value for us to sell and move out of the community,” Shorter says.
In response to concerns, Foster and the other Destination Crenshaw officials say their goal is to cement and preserve Black culture with this project, promising a one-of-a-kind permanent arts and cultural landmark. Through this project, organizers also say they hope to boost Crenshaw’s economy by giving locals jobs and supporting neighboring small businesses.
City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, the city official leading the project in his district, sees Destination Crenshaw as an opportunity for the area. He says for as long as Black people have lived in L.A., their communities have not had the same level of investment as other areas. This disinvestment, he says, affects not only the quality of health care and education for Black residents, but also how much money people can borrow to fix up their home or start a business.
“You see the long-term impacts everyday,” says Harris-Dawson. And as someone who grew up in South Central, he sees the redevelopment of Crenshaw as an effort to improve how investors see the area. “It’s the location where we express ourselves, where we make our contributions to the world,” he adds.
Back in 2016, when Harris-Dawson first started having meetings with other Black leaders in L.A., including Nipsey Hussle, to come up with a plan to revitalize the area, they looked to New York’s Harlem neighborhood as an example of what they imagined.
“When you get off the train in Harlem, you know you’re in Harlem,” Harris-Dawson says. “You still see Black folks there, you still see varying people of varying incomes. Part of the reason that scholars think Harlem held, is its cultural assets that were impossible to move.”
Greenfield, one of the Crenshaw Wall’s original muralists, says while the project’s success remains unseen and uncertain, he says he sees what Harris-Dawson and Destination Crenshaw are trying to do.
“I think to the city council person's credit, what he is attempting to do is actually put this cultural footprint down before the gentrification goes into full swing,” Greenfield says. “Because if what I've seen has been any indication in another 30 or 40 years, you'll never know Black people live there.”
Libby Rainey
has been tracking how L.A. is prepping for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Published February 3, 2026 4:00 AM
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Topline:
The 2028 Olympic soccer final matches will take place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but earlier games will be played at stadiums across the U.S.
The locations: Stadiums in San Diego and San Jose in California will host Olympic soccer matches. So will New York City, Columbus, Nashville and St. Louis.
What to expect: The venues outside of the L.A.-area will host group stage and knock-out matches in the Olympic tournament ahead of the final stage matches in Pasadena.
Read on...for a list of the stadiums.
The 2028 Olympic soccer final matches will take place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but earlier games will be played at stadiums across the U.S.
Those locations were announced Tuesday by the Olympics organizers. Stadiums in San Diego and San Jose in California will host Olympic soccer matches. So will New York City, Columbus, Nashville and St. Louis.
The venues outside of the L.A.-area will host group stage and knock-out matches in the Olympic tournament ahead of the final stage matches in Pasadena. The Games will allow fans from around the country to view Olympic competitions.
The additional stadiums where Olympic soccer matches will take place are:
Etihad Park in New York City
ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, Ohio
GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee
Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri
PayPal Park in San Jose
Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego
LA28 said in a news release that organizers "intentionally designed the tournament to include stadiums from the East Coast to West Coast to minimize travel demands."
Dates and locations for the women's and men's tournaments will be announced before ticket sales start in April.
Erin Stone
is a reporter who covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published February 2, 2026 3:57 PM
Water companies that serve Altadena lost thousands of customers in the Eaton Fire.
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Topline:
Water companies that serve much of Altadena are expected to hold public meetings this week to discuss how they’ll rebuild and stay in business after the Eaton Fire reduced many of their customers’ homes to ash. Two out of the three mutual water companies in the area are holding public meetings this week to discuss raising rates.
The background: Last year’s fires not only destroyed homes and businesses, but also critical infrastructure, such as water delivery systems. Rebuilding that infrastructure is particularly challenging in unincorporated areas such as Altadena, which is primarily served by three tiny, private water companies — Las Flores (more on their situation here), Rubio Cañon and Lincoln Avenue water companies. Unlike public utilities, these private, not-for-profit companies have less access to state and federal funding resources to rebuild, so customers are likely going to have to foot much of the bill. Customers of these companies are actually co-owners, called shareholders. Each is governed by its own set of bylaws.
Complications: All of Altadena’s water agencies have sued Southern California Edison, accusing it of responsibility for the Eaton Fire, but the result and timeline of such lawsuits remain uncertain. In turn, Edison has sued the water companies (among others), claiming they didn’t provide enough water for firefighters during the fire.
Rubio Cañon Land and Water Association: Rubio Cañon Land and Water Association served about 9,600 people in Altadena but, after the Eaton Fire, about 30% of that customer base is now made up of empty lots. While insurance is covering much of the most critical infrastructure repairs, the company faces a $1.95 million revenue shortfall.
Its proposal: To close the budget gap, the company is proposing an 11% rate hike, plus a “fire recovery charge” between $10 and $30 a month.
What about merging with other water companies? While Lincoln and Las Flores water companies have submitted paperwork to the state to study consolidation, Rubio Cañon has rejected being part of the effort. “Such consolidation could trigger a 7-12 year state process and significant shareholder costs, as Altadena is not classified as a disadvantaged community to qualify for the full menu of state resources,” the company wrote in its update ahead of this week’s meeting, calling such consolidation discussions “premature” and “unproductive.”
Upcoming board meeting: The board will hear from the public about the proposal at a meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Altadena Community Center. Attendees will have to prove they're a customer. More details here.
Lincoln Avenue Water Company: Lincoln Avenue served more than 16,000 people in Altadena before the Eaton Fire. Now, about 58% of its customers and revenue are gone. Although the company says it has sufficient reserves and is not facing bankruptcy in the near term, it has decided to raise water bills by $15 a month for existing customers. To improve its long term resilience, the company is also considering merging with Las Flores water company, but that will take time.
Upcoming board meetings: The board will discuss the rate hike at a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Loma Alta Park Community Room. The meeting is open to shareholders only.
Keep up with LAist.
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Destiny Torres
is LAist's general assignment and digital equity reporter.
Published February 2, 2026 3:24 PM
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan begin Friday, and eight athletes have roots in Southern California.
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Topline:
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan begin Friday and eight athletes have roots in Southern California, including Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Read on … for a full rundown on the SoCal’s Olympic athletes.
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan begin Friday and eight athletes have roots in Southern California, including Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Team USA’s 232-member roster includes 21 athletes from California. The Winter Games begin Feb. 6 and end on Feb. 22.
What about the 2026 Paralympics? The Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympics will start on March 6 and run through March 15. Not all qualifying athletes have been announced yet.
You can watch the games starting Friday on NBC and streaming on Peacock.
Jordan Rynning
holds local government accountable, covering city halls, law enforcement and other powerful institutions.
Published February 2, 2026 3:21 PM
The LAPD deployed munitions and mounted units.
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Topline:
A federal judge banned LAPD from using 40mm projectiles at protests last month, but researcher Scott Reynhout of the nonprofit Physicians for Human Rights says the department still utilizes other crowd control weapons that can be just as dangerous — if not more so.
Why it matters: Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies have used thousands of crowd control weapons against protesters in L.A. since June 2025, when federal immigration raids began escalating tensions in the region. Many people who were never accused of breaking the law have still been struck by what are known as “less-lethal” crowd-control weapons, including rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bang grenades.
The most dangerous crowd control weapons: The LAPD uses a 37mm launcher that is inherently risky, Reynhout said. Even though the 37mm rubber bullets are smaller than the 40mm projectiles the LAPD was banned from using at protests, they are more likely to hit sensitive areas like the face and neck because they fire multiple projectiles in each shell.
Read on... for more on the crowd control weapons used by local law enforcement agencies.
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies have reported using thousands of crowd control munitions against protesters in L.A. since June 2025, when federal immigration sweeps began escalating tensions in the region.
Many people who were never accused of breaking the law nonetheless have been struck by what are known as “less-lethal” crowd control weapons, including rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bang grenades.
While a federal judge banned the LAPD from using 40mm projectiles at protests last month, the department still uses other crowd control weapons. According to Scott Reynhout, who researches these weapons for Physicians for Human Rights, a nonpartisan nonprofit, some of these weapons can be just as dangerous as the banned projectiles — if not more so.
LAist spoke with Reynhout to better understand what they do and how people protesting lawfully can protect themselves.
Reynhout said it's very important that people pay attention if law enforcement declares an unlawful assembly, which they are required to do before using crowd control weapons in most cases.
“ If the police have declared an illegal assembly, it would behoove you to take steps to isolate yourself from that particular situation,” Reynhout said. “If that is not possible for you, for whatever reason — say, you live in the particular area where you are — then you could consider [protecting] yourself from chemical irritants or potentially from impact projectiles.”
Some of the most dangerous crowd control weapons used in L.A.
Physicians for Human Rights’ international study, Lethal in Disguise, found weapons that fire multiple projectiles at once were “far and away the most dangerous” type of crowd control weapons.
"82% of all the recorded injuries in the medical literature that came from impact projectiles were from ... multiple projectile impact projectiles,” Reynhout told LAist. “And 96% of all the ocular injuries from impact projectiles were from these multiple projectile impact projectiles."
He said the LAPD is the only police department in the U.S. he is aware of that uses this type of weapon. The department uses a 37mm less-lethal launcher (LLM) that shoots five rubber bullets with each shell.
According to reports required by Assembly Bill 48, the department used more than 600 of these shells — that’s over 3,000 projectiles — against anti-ICE protesters last June. They have continued to report using the 37mm launcher, most recently to disperse crowds after the Dodgers World Series win on Nov. 2, according to AB 48 reports.
The 37mm launcher is inherently risky, Reynhout said. Even though the 37mm rubber bullets are smaller than the 40mm projectiles the LAPD was banned from using at protests, they are more likely to hit sensitive areas like the face and neck.
The use of multiple projectiles causes the 37mm projectiles to scatter in a cone shape once they leave the launcher, making them much more difficult to control than a single projectile. He said LAPD’s policy of “skip firing,” which means officers are instructed to aim 5 to 10 feet in front of the person they are shooting at, also adds randomness.
A diagram showing LAPD's policy of "skip firing" the 37mm less-lethal launcher at targets.
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LAPD Use of Force Directive
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“ The real risk behind these multi-shot impact projectiles,” he said, “is that you just really don't have any control over where these bullets go in the end.”
Reynhout said people standing beside or behind the intended target could very easily get hit, which he believes was likely the case when Australian reporter Lauren Tomasi was struck in the leg by a rubber bullet in June.
[Note: LAist correspondent Adolfo Guzman-Lopez was struck in the throat by a projectile at a 2020 protest. Long Beach police later said they believed that injury was caused by a ricochet of a foam round.]
LAist reached out to LAPD for comment on their use of the 37mm launcher, but the department did not respond.
Another type of crowd control weapon found to be especially dangerous is the use of beanbag rounds, usually fired from a 12-gauge shotgun. These rounds fire small lead pellets sealed in a fabric bag.
Reynhout said the use of these rounds can be “horrific” and leave people with life-threatening injuries.
According to LAPD policy, beanbag rounds are not allowed to be used for crowd control, but other agencies have used them. The California Highway Patrol reported using beanbag rounds against anti-ICE protesters last June.
If you find yourself in a situation where projectiles are being deployed, Reynhout advises focusing on protecting your face and eyes. That’s where the most serious injuries occur.
Reynhout said ballistic eyewear that meets military standards (MIL-PRF-32432) could offer protection against some of the most severe injuries.
He said the 40mm or 37mm projectiles can be similar to getting hit by a golf ball by someone swinging just 6 feet away, and while things like bike helmets, paintball masks, hockey masks or even soft body armor might help to some degree, they aren’t designed to protect someone from that kind of impact.
What you may most likely be affected by: Chemical agents
Chemical agents like tear gas and pepper spray are crowd control weapons that saturate an area and affect everyone in it, Reynhout told LAist, and that includes people who may not even be part of a demonstration.
He said you should be especially aware of these weapons being used near you if you have asthma or any airway or respiratory system issues because they can provoke severe reactions in some cases.
In their report, Reynhout and other researchers found that children and older people are also at risk of severe reactions, which could be life-threatening.
There is gear on the market to mitigate those risks, including sealed safety goggles and respirators (N-, P- or R-100). If you find yourself exposed to a chemical irritant like tear gas or pepper spray, Reynhout said there is nothing shown to be more effective than flushing the area for 10 to 15 minutes with saline solution.
The saline solution should ideally be sterile and at body temperature, he told LAist, but plain water also works if that is what you have available. The important thing is that you continue to flush the area and dilute the chemicals.
For skin or clothing, Reynhout said dilution with water is still the key, but you can use some Dawn dish soap to help wash away pepper spray.
Other dangers
California law enforcement officers have also used flash bang grenades in response to protests since June. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol together used more than 300 aerial flash bang grenades on June 8, according to AB 48 reports. Those are crowd control munitions shot out of 40mm launchers that explode mid-air and create 170 dB of sound and 5 million candelas of light.
LAist asked the LAPD about their policy on using flash bang grenades for crowd control, but the department did not respond. The LAPD has not listed any uses of flash bang grenades in their AB 48 reports dating back to April 2024.
Aside from these, there are a number of other crowd control weapons and devices that are used by law enforcement agencies in the L.A. area: grenades that explode to release small rubber balls, pepper balls, batons or — unique to the LAPD — officers on horseback using wooden practice swords called “bokken.”
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Reynhout said deciding how much protection you might choose to take with you to a protest is very personal. Some bulkier items might restrict your movement, cause you to overheat or impede your ability to maintain situational awareness, so it is important to consider what risks you may face and use your best judgement.
Sometimes, he said, that best judgment might be to walk away from the situation.
