Topline:
From the city’s Black founders and their fight to be free from slavery to a Black architect who designed thousands of buildings throughout the city, L.A.'s first Black residents has had lasting influence.
Why it matters: Los Angeles is often celebrated for its warm weather, Hollywood glamour and championship sports teams, but the city’s foundation has a powerful Black history that is often overlooked.
Read on ... for a look at seven key Black history sites you can visit.
Los Angeles is often celebrated for its warm weather, Hollywood glamour and championship sports teams but the city’s foundation has a powerful Black history that is often overlooked.
From the city’s Black founders and their fight to be free from slavery, to a Black architect who designed thousands of buildings throughout the city, L.A.’s first Black residents have had lasting influence.
The LA Local traveled around the city to unearth some of the intriguing Black history facts. Here we highlight seven sites in Los Angeles that show the contributions of Black people in Los Angeles.
Situated behind an office building on South Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles is a tribute to Bridget “Biddy” Mason. She was born enslaved in Mississippi and was brought to California by her owner Robert Marion Smith — even though slavery was illegal in California. After being enslaved in the state for five years, Mason won her freedom in 1856 by challenging her enslavement in court. Thirteen other family members were also freed, according to the National Park Service..
She became one of L.A.’s first Black woman landowners building wealth through real estate. Her net worth was said to be about $3 million in the 1860s, which would equate to nearly $60 million today. She also provided housing and food for the poor, acted as a midwife and helped establish the city’s first Black church, NPS noted.
The memorial park stands near property she once owned.
The First African Methodist Episcopal Church, also known as First AME or FAME, was co-founded in 1872 by Mason and other Black leaders. It was first located on Spring Street in Los Angeles, according to the National Park Service. The church was then moved to Harvard Boulevard, where it still stands today. It became a spiritual, political and organizing hub for Black Angelenos during segregation, according to the church’s website.
Most recently, the church was pastored by the Rev. Cecil Murray from 1977 to 2004. Under his leadership the church grew from 250 members to 18,000 at the time of his retirement, according to the Los Angeles Sentinel.
Though he faced racial discrimination, Paul Revere Williams became one of the most celebrated architects in L.A., whose legacy reshaped the city’s skyline and luxury design culture.
He was the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects. He designed thousands of buildings during his career, including The Beverly Hills Hotel and homes for Hollywood stars like Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. Williams was also part of the team that designed the iconic Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport, as reported by LAist.
His first home sits in South Central and is designated as a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. He lived in this home for about 30 years until racial covenants were outlawed in the 1950s.
On Central Avenue in South Central sits the historic fire station and museum that honors the Black firefighters who broke racial barriers in the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The museum “resides inside Fire Station No. 30, one of two segregated firehouses in Los Angeles between 1924 and 1955,” according to the museum’s website. The museum also notes that Sam Haskins was the first Black man to join the L.A. Fire Department in 1892 and died three years later fighting a fire.
The museum was founded in 1997 and is a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. It is also registered with the National Register of Historic Places.
The Gilbert W. Lindsay Recreation Center on East 42nd Place is named in honor of the first Black member of the Los Angeles City Council, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Before taking office, he worked as a janitor for the city’s Department of Water and Power, according to LA City Parks.
Elected in 1963, Lindsay represented District 9 for nearly 30 years. He supported civil rights and fought for economic investment, infrastructure improvements and services in historically underserved Black neighborhoods. He also served on the board of directors of the NAACP.
The 28th Street YMCA building was designed by Williams, the renowned architect.
It was originally constructed to serve Black residents in L.A. who were banned from other facilities during segregation, according to the LA Conservancy. It won a Conservancy Preservation Award in 2013.
It became a hub for housing, community programs and social gatherings. Today, it serves as affordable housing for low-income adults and is listed with the National Register of Historic Places.
The former home of Ralph J. Bunche, the first Black person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, is located in South Central on East 40th Place. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bunche played a key role in negotiating the 1949 Arab-Israeli armistice agreements through the United Nations. He also helped organize the civil rights march in Montgomery, Ala., in 1965, the Nobel Peace Prize organization said.
Born in Detroit, he moved to L.A. with his family and later became valedictorian at Jefferson High School. He attended UCLA on an athletic scholarship and “graduated in 1927 summa cum laude, valedictorian of his class, with a major in international relations,” the Nobel Peace Prize organization said. He also received a master’s degree in political science from Harvard in 1928. The Ralph J. Bunche Center was established in 1969 at UCLA in his honor.
Topline:
The Los Angeles French Fry Festival takes place Saturday at The Autry Museum in Griffith Park with three ticketed sessions — all built around the idea that the humble fry is worthy of its own fest.
Why it matters: French fries have always played backup to burgers and sandwiches at food events — this is the rare festival that puts them center stage, with vendors reworking the format into everything from Belgian-style frites to cobbler-inspired desserts.
Why now: The festival is timed to National French Fry Day (July 10), but held on Saturday for accessibility, and comes from Bucket Listers President of Experiences Derek Berry, the same producer behind Saved by the Max and Kel Mitchell's Burger Fest — proof this kind of hyper-specific food event has real staying power in L.A.
Calling all French fry heads, there's a fest just for you this weekend.
The first-ever LA French Fry Festival is taking place from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Autry Museum in Griffith Park.
Hosted by event experience firm Bucket Listers, in partnership with Street Food Cinema, the day is a full-blown love letter to the humble fry — golden, crispy, and utterly worth the carb coma.
The idea for the festival came to Derek Berry, president of Experiences at Bucket Listers, when he created a French fry bracket during March Madness.
Berry knows his way around fan experiences — he's the guy behind Saved by the Max, the immersive pop-up replica of the Saved by the Bell diner that started as a fan-made Facebook event page in Chicago before landing a long-running home on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. More recently, he produced Kel Mitchell's Burger Fest in Brooklyn.
Berry pointed us toward a few can't-miss stops from the fest's 16-vendor lineup.
To avoid the dreaded festival waiting-in-line-for-food ritual, the day is divided into three sessions — an early session (11 a.m.–2 p.m.), an afternoon session (2:30–5:30 p.m.), and an evening session (6–9 p.m.). Berry said his goal is for people to be eating within 10 minutes of entering.
The day also includes The Blindfold Challenge and French Fry Eating Contests, hosted by special guest Kel Mitchell.
If you think there's no room for sweets at a French fry fest, you'd be mistaken. There are churro fries — a thinner cut of the classic treat, served over an actual bed of French fries from The Churro Man truck — and a cobbler-style dessert that incorporates fries and potatoes right into the cake from Kobbler King. For those looking for something further from the fryer, Happy Ice and The Jolly Sheep will be serving up shaved ice and cotton candy.
When: Saturday, July 11, with three sessions to choose from (11 a.m. – 2 p.m., 2:30 – 5:30 p.m., and 6 – 9 p.m.)
Where: The Autry Museum of the American West in Griffith Park
Tickets: General admission starts at $30, VIP (21+, includes a welcome cocktail and a bag of fries) starts at $64, and kids' tickets are $25. You can buy tickets at bucketlisters.com.
Topline:
When your team is out of the World Cup, who do you support for the rest of the tournament? It’s a dilemma for U.S. and Mexico fans. Many are basing their decisions on a myriad of reasons, like soccer skills, admiration of a star player, colonialism and ancestral heritage
Why it matters: For dedicated soccer fans, there’s still almost two weeks of matches to go. You’ve got to cheer for somebody as you’re watching, right?
Why now: Watch parties and fan fests continue in L.A. and other World Cup host cities. Organizers are hoping they can continue the momentum the group stage of the tournament has generated.
The backstory: L.A. has a rich, multi-ethnic history of soccer that goes back a century.
What's next: The FIFA 2026 World Cup is winding down. The last game at SoFi stadium is on Friday and the World Cup final is about a week and a half away.
Go deeper: World Cup watch parties in L.A.
Even though the U.S. and Mexico national soccer teams have been knocked out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their fans aren’t giving up on the tournament. Instead, they’re throwing their support behind other teams still in the competition.
But how to choose which one to cheer on? It can depend on myriad of factors, from prowess on the soccer pitch and fandom for a particular player, to hunches that involve ancestral DNA.
“I’m supporting Morocco,” said Alfredo Botello, a U.S. citizen born in Guadalajara, Mexico, who was cheering on Mexico until the team lost Sunday to England.
Morocco placed fourth in the 2022 FIFA World Cup after beating a powerhouse Spanish squad in penalty kicks. Botello said he admires the team’s performance and likes its underdog status. He’s not the soccer fanatic he used to be, he said, and that’s led him to enjoy the game more.
Other fans are backing the team that’s expected to win the trophy.
At this point I would say France because of Mbappé and his stance on anti-racism and anti-gambling — and just a great player too.
“At this point I would say [I will support] France because of Mbappé and his stance on anti-racism and anti-gambling — and just a great player too,” said Maria Romero Morales, a Mexico team fan. She lives in El Monte and was in Mexico during the group stage of the World Cup.
For some, family lineage takes precedence. “My father’s mother is 100% Norwegian,” said Jake Downey, a fan of the U.S team who organized a watch party for 14 people at his house in Northridge on Monday to watch the U.S. play Belgium.
“I’m all in on [Erling] Haaland,” he said of Norway’s striker, who scored two goals in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat of Brazil.
Some Mexico fans are supporting Norway, too, in a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” sort of way.
“I would love for England to lose, a little vengeance there,” said Amanda Durán of England’s World Cup match against Norway on Saturday. She’s still upset at England’s defeat of Mexico on Sunday.
She lives in Torrance and her in-laws are Argentine so she’s backing Argentina too.
Other fans take into account the social and political baggage each team’s national identity represents.
“I’ve watched the World Cup since 1994 and I’m definitely a person who goes for the colonized countries over the colonists,” said Xochitl-Julissa Bermejo, who lives in the San Gabriel Valley and wanted Mexico to win on Sunday.
I’ve watched the World Cup since 1994 and I’m definitely a person who goes for the colonized countries over the colonists.
But her support is complicated. She’s now cheering for Belgium, despite its severe colonialist past, after experiencing its warmth on a recent trip.
“I've gone to Belgium and it's a really fun place and everyone is really friendly and lovely,” she said.
Fun and friendliness is what she experienced with family watching Mexico play their last game, and she wants more of those soccer experiences before the World Cup ends.
Topline:
The National Weather Service has issued heat advisories for much of Southern California that will remain in affect through Friday. Temperatures will be at their hottest Wednesday and Thursday, when parts of Southern California will see triple digit heat.
The details: L.A. County's inland valleys and mountains could get up to 105 degrees this week. Inland coastal areas, including downtown L.A., will likely get up to the low 90s. The Coachella Valley is under a more severe Extreme Heat Warning. Temperature there are expected to climb as high as 116 degrees.
Why it matters: The heat wave will likely worsen fire conditions across the region, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Lisa Phillips. The hot weather is also expected to pose a significant risk of heat illness, especially for the elderly, young children and other sensitive populations.
What's next: Temperatures are expected to dip slightly by the end of the day Friday, but they will remain above average through the weekend. The minimal respite won't last long, though. Another, even worse heatwave is headed our way next week.
Read on ... for a detailed forecast.
Sweltering summer days have arrived in Southern California, with temperatures this week expected to climb to the triple digits in some places.
Heat advisories from the National Weather Service are in place for much of the region and will remain in effect until 8 p.m. Friday. The highest temperatures are expected Wednesday and Thursday.
L.A. County: The interior valleys and mountains, including Pasadena and Glendale, could see temperatures up to 105 degrees. Inland coastal areas, including downtown L.A., will likely get up to the low 90s. Coastal temperatures will stay in the 70s and 80s.
Orange County: O.C. will avoid some of the highest temperatures this week. Inland highs will be in the 80s, and coastal temperatures will stay mostly in the 70s.
Inland Empire: Riverside County and San Bernardino County valleys could see temperatures up to the low 100s, while the area’s mountains will hit the mid-90s.
Coachella Valley: The National Weather Service has declared a more severe Extreme Heat Warning for the Coachella Valley, where temperatures are expected to climb as high as 116 degrees. It is also expected to stay relatively warm overnight, with lows falling only to the 80s.
The elevated temperatures are expected to pose a significant risk of heat illness, especially for the elderly, young children and other sensitive populations.
Much of the heat will be driven by a combination of two meteorological forces: a high-pressure system hovering over Southern California and off-shore winds, commonly called Santa Ana winds.
“Everything is dictated by which way your winds are blowing and high-pressure systems,” said Lisa Phillips, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Oxnard.
High-pressure systems push warm air down, trapping it closer to the ground. Then, the offshore winds carry dry, hot air from inland deserts toward the coast, raising temperatures in the L.A. basin even higher.
The heat wave also comes as the marine layer weakens. The marine layer, often called June gloom, is lower-temperature air and cloud cover generated by changing temperatures in the late spring and early summer. As the summer gets warmer, the marine layer retreats.
Protect a pet from excessive heat
Protect a human from excessive heat
Check in frequently with family, friends, and neighbors. Offer assistance or rides to those who are sick or have limited access to transportation. And give extra attention to people most at risk, including:
The high temperatures and dry conditions this week will also exacerbate fire danger, particularly in the region’s valleys, foothills, mountains and other areas away from the coast.
Philips warned residents to be extra cautious as the heat and offshore winds dry out vegetation. That creates more potential fuel.
“We are headed into our fire weather season, where we have more wildfires. The vegetation is dry, so it does catch fire more easily,” Phillips said. “That just means that fires are going to be a lot more easy to start.”
Southern parts of Santa Barbara County are expected to see more significant fire weather, with periods of gusty winds.
Temperatures are likely to dip starting Friday.
The high-pressure system is expected to move to the east, some southerly winds to bring some cooling moisture with them. But Phillips said temperatures will come down only slightly and are expected to remain above average throughout the weekend.
The slight respite won’t last long either. Another, possibly worse, heat wave is right around the corner.
“We could be looking at even warmer temperatures next week,” Phillips said.
Topline:
In what they described as an effort to prevent more corporate landlords from displacing Los Angeles renters, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to move forward with plans to require a new step in the process of selling certain apartment buildings.
The details: The board voted unanimously to develop a “Community Opportunity to Purchase Act.” If passed on a final vote, the law would compel apartment owners to notify affordable housing groups when they put certain buildings up for sale in unincorporated parts of L.A. County.
Why it matters: The goal, county leaders say, is to ensure that organizations committed to keeping rents low have a chance to buy buildings that might otherwise be scooped up by investors who might push out existing tenants through rent hikes. Landlords would not be required to sell to these groups if they can get a better offer on the open market, county officials say. Though the idea is still in early stages, landlords and real estate agents have expressed strong opposition, saying it could delay sales and discourage investment.
Read on … to learn how this idea has played out in other cities.
In what they described as an effort to prevent more corporate landlords from displacing Los Angeles renters, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to move forward with plans to require a new step in the process of selling certain apartment buildings.
The board voted unanimously to develop a “Community Opportunity to Purchase Act.” If passed on a final vote, the law would compel apartment owners to notify affordable housing groups when they put certain buildings up for sale in unincorporated parts of L.A. County.
The goal, county leaders say, is to ensure that organizations committed to keeping rents low have a chance to buy buildings that would likely otherwise be scooped up by investors who might push out existing tenants through rent hikes.
“The county is facing rising displacement pressures as rents outpace incomes,” said Supervisor Hilda Solis, who introduced the idea.
She cited statistics showing that more than half of L.A. County renters are considered “rent burdened” by federal government standards, with even higher rates among Black and Latino households.
“We need to fight,” Solis said. “We need to have tools to keep people in their homes.”
The proposed rules would only apply to buildings with five housing units or more and only to properties located in unincorporated areas, such as East L.A., City Terrace and Altadena. Based on past property sales data, the rules would apply to anywhere from 30 to 130 listings annually.
Nothing will change right away. Tuesday’s vote gives county staff 180 days to develop the regulations and bring them back to the board for a final vote.
During that time, the county will also work on developing a list of qualified buyers — such as affordable housing developers, community land trusts and other mission-driven organizations — who would be the first to hear about buildings coming up for sale.
Depending on how the regulations are written, the law could give those groups a “right of first refusal,” meaning they would have first dibs on making an offer to buy the building. County officials noted that a similar program in San Francisco gives qualified groups five days to respond with a letter of interest, followed by 20 days to place an offer.
Landlords would not be required to sell to these groups if they can get a better offer on the open market, county officials say.
Though the idea is still in early stages, landlords and real estate agents expressed strong opposition during Tuesday’s public comment period.
“This proposal moves in the wrong direction by adding another layer of regulation and taxpayer expense, without creating any new housing units,” said Elizabeth de Carteret, the government affairs director at the Southland Regional Association of Realtors.
Meg Sullivan, who described herself as a “mom and pop” rental housing owner, said if the county establishes these rules in unincorporated areas, investors will choose to buy properties elsewhere.
“No private party in their right mind is going to invest in a market that looks like the equivalent of the ‘Hotel California’ song, where investors can check in, but it’s not clear they can ever leave, or on what timeline,” Sullivan said.
Tenant advocates told the board the proposed law would help protect renters from the whims of the profit-driven housing market.
Brenda Tafoya, executive director of El Sereno Community Land Trust, said organizations like hers have the experience needed to make market-rate offers on available properties.
“We work with the real estate market because we understand it,” Tafoya said. “We can partner with willing sellers and tenants to acquire properties, ensuring smooth transactions, while preserving permanently affordable housing.”
In response to concerns that the rules could delay properties from being offered to other prospective buyers, Supervisor Holly Mitchell asked county staff to consider regulations allowing listings to hit the open market at the same time affordable housing groups are given the chance to make an offer.
“This motion is not about taking property, forcing a sale or preventing a sale — it’s about creating a fair and transparent process,” Mitchell said, arguing that many older landlords want to retire without having to sell to corporate buyers.
Mitchell said public funding to support building purchases could come from money raised by Measure A, the county sales tax increase voters approved in 2024 to support housing and homelessness efforts. The L.A. County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency, which is funded by the tax revenue, has programs to support affordable housing preservation.
L.A.’s idea is not new. Washington, D.C., has had a “Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act” in place since 1980.
Supporters say D.C. tenants use the city’s program to form associations that negotiate with new buyers to ensure ongoing affordability in about half of buildings coming up for sale, according to a 2023 study by the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development.
But critics point out that D.C.’s program rarely results in tenants actually owning their buildings. That same 2023 study found that ownership by a tenant-sponsored cooperatives was the outcome in only about 2% of building sales.
Solis said she wants the county to take a phased approach, with the initial program eventually being expanded to include a way for tenants to purchase their buildings directly.
