From Santa Barbara Ave to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, how protest movements today evolved from Dr. King's work, plus, is DACA dead?
MLK's 1965 UCLA speech still resonates
For Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Take Two revisits a speech he gave at UCLA on April 27, 1965.
How protest movements have evolved since Martin Luther King Jr.
It's been almost 50 years since civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. And while civil disobedience remains a common course of action in response to ongoing issues of social justice, it has also changed. To find out how activism has evolved in the decades since MLK Jr., Take Two's A Martinez spoke with Funmilola Fagbamila, an instructor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State L.A.
MLK Jr.'s brand of activism
King embodied a type of nonviolent civil disobedience founded on love, on this belief that there is something that is linking all of humankind. So there should be a kindness pushing forward for a better world, a faith in humanity but also critical of the actions of human beings that bring about injustice, so not a blind faith but an informed faith.
How today's activism is different
It's not all that different. I think that in the popular imagination there is this kind of deep difference created in terms of what activists and organizers of today are engaging in in terms of their civil disobedience and their nonviolent actions. It's put against this backdrop of what happened in the Civil Rights Movement. There are more similarities than there are differences.
How activism has evolved
We don't want to make the same mistakes. King and the rest of the organizers engaged in the Civil Rights Movement, they realized that they engaged in certain tactics, whether it was marching, sit ins, boycotts. They recognized some of their tactics were effective and there were things they could have done better. As students of the Civil Rights Movement and the black power movement following that, we recognize there are things to keep and things to leave... We take what's effective and leave what no longer serves the time.
What parts of MLK activism seem antiquated today
I wouldn't lean toward the tactics but the ideologies that informed who was engaging in the resistance of the time. What we have left is a type of respectability politic that sometimes and oftentimes informed the way that Civil Rights leaders went about recruiting who would be in these movements.
What I mean by that is that during the Civil Rights Movement there was an unspoken sentiment that the people would be proper representatives of the black people in this country. They would be churchgoing, Christian, straight. So we've moved away from that, realizing that specifically if we're talking about the movement for black lives that blackness is a complex thing.
What MLK Jr. would think of today's Black Lives Matter and NFL protests
I think he would be in support. There's a characterization of Dr. King as this American hero, this nonviolent American hero that was advocating love that would be shaming the resistance movements of today. The truth is that in Dr. King's time he was not lauded as an American hero. He was demonized in much of the way that a lot of the organizers of today are. He was called anti-American by a lot of people. He was a disruption, a nuisance, pushing for change that was not of the time. This is the same characterization we get in the movement for black lives, of people resisting what's happening with DACA at this particular moment in immigration, so I think King would be supportive.
How activists can balance lessons of the past but push their message forward
This idea if they could only be more like Dr. King, I think oftentimes that critique comes from those who don't really know what the ideas of Dr. King were. Something we also don't necessarily address is the way his ideology shifted toward the end of his life, the way he had more radical notions about critiquing economic systems. We don't want to address that aspect of MLK's legacy because it's less comfortable. But what we would take from King's lessons, it would be using that which was effective. We know that nonviolent civil disobedience is very effective for particular efforts.
Pastor preaches message of hope to disaster-weary neighbors in Montecito
Members of the Montecito community gathered to grieve this weekend. Devastating mudslides have claimed 20 lives; four people are still missing. Some found peace in candlelight vigils, others at their neighborhood church.
It can be difficult to make sense of any tragedy — especially one that changes so much so quickly. But this weekend, that task fell to a handful of local faith leaders like pastor Peter Buehler. Buehler's Presbyterian church in Santa Barbara became an assistance center last week, helping people locate missing loved ones. This Sunday, he delivered the sermon.
The sermon was called "Remember Your Baptism." Buehler says the Biblical story of Jesus' baptism teaches a valuable lesson for people facing trials and tribulations.
The scene of his baptism was when he was pretty much anonymous standing in line waiting to be baptized by John the Baptist, that's deeply meaningful to us. He's just like us, standing with us.
When we remember our baptism, we remember his presence in our lives. That's powerful support in times like these when, you know, we're just getting a hold of where we're at, what we're feeling.
LA's MLK Boulevard got its name because of another King
Celes King III was a high-profile Republican businessman in South L.A. His family ran a well-known bail bonds outfit as well as the Dunbar Hotel, where famous musicians like Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday once performed.
The late King was also a big supporter of the civil rights movement and an admirer of Martin Luther King, Jr. Although they were not related, in the 1980s Celes King III started looking to the map of Los Angeles for a way to commemorate the civil rights leader.
"There was no street here of any significance named after a black," he recounted in a 1987 interview with UCLA's Oral History Research Center.
His idea was to rename one of L.A.'s main arteries after Martin Luther King, and he got to work in 1982.
"I felt that there was a clear need with the [1984] Olympics coming to Los Angeles for us to have an opportunity to display to the international community that Martin Luther King [Jr.] was a major factor as far as Los Angeles is concerned," King said.
He looked at many different streets as possibilities — Western Ave., Crenshaw Blvd., Exposition Blvd. — but turned to the one his own bail bonds business was on: Santa Barbara Ave.
"It went by the Coliseum. The Coliseum was going to be where the action would be in 1984," he said. "Every map in the free world, and some other worlds for that matter, would have to reflect the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard."
It also made strategic sense. Not only was it in the heart of L.A.'s African-American community, Santa Barbara Ave. stayed within city limits and cut across few council districts. That meant King needed to convince fewer politicians to approve the change.
So he started to build up a coalition among locals.
"I said, 'Hey, this is going to be a piece of cake,'" he said. "Little did I know what I was facing! Very little did I know."
While a number of people backed his idea, it became a tough political sell.
Some said that Santa Barbara wasn't a big enough street to honor MLK. Others were nostalgic for the old name.
"The Hispanic folks came out because they thought Santa Barbara had something to do with their heritage," King recounted. "It is difficult to change a tradition. Santa Barbara Avenue has been here a long time."
Local business owners recoiled at the idea of spending money to change their business cards, letterheads and more to reflect the new address.
And fiscal hawks said it would cost the city too much to change signs and maps, and confuse the postal workers, too.
"The post office department said we don't care what you call it. We're going to deliver the mail," King said. "We don't care if it's addressed to Santa Barbara or to King Boulevard. We're still going to deliver the mail."
But Celes King III had a powerful army of people by his side, from the L.A. NAACP to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He also had the backing of several high-profile celebrities like the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Stevie Wonder.
"When we went to war, we went with 350 preachers and busloads of people," he said. "When we showed up at the city hall, there was not even standing room."
The resolution passed 10-2 on September 15, 1982, after being brought before the council three times.
"Major legislation does not require over two appearances in front of the city council," King said. "Three times!"
The street name officially changed on January 15, 1983, on MLK's birthday, with a celebration that became the city's first Kingdom Day Parade.
"We had approximately 5,000 people," he said. "The Santa Barbara signs were taken down. The first one that was taken down was presented to me."
Today, life along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd reflects the diverse spectrum that makes up L.A.'s African-American community, said UCLA historian Brenda Stevenson.
"If you walk along this street, you can see the upper-middle class in Baldwin Hills and View Park," she said, "and you have working class people, too."
So the next time you travel along MLK Blvd., remember that it took a King – Celes King III – to make it happen.
Special thanks to the UCLA's Center for Oral History Research, and KPCC's media partner NBC4 for its archival report.
Was Wahlberg's Time's up contribution too little too late?
A new focus on gender and pay inequality in the entertainment industry involving Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Williams has entered the spotlight. Plus, an iconic movie car thought to be long lost turned up in a garage in New Jersey. Vanity Fair's Rebecca Keegan stopped by Take Two to give us the latest on Hollywood business news for the weekly segment, On the Lot.
'All the money in the world' couldn't help Wahlberg
The big story last week involves Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Williams and reshoot fees for the film "All the Money in the World." Wahlberg earned a paycheck of $1.5 million while Williams only earned about $1,000. The result of this coming to light? A lot of backlash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXHrCBkIxQQ
To make things more awkward, Wahlberg and Williams are represented by the same agency, William Morris Entertainment Endeavor.
"There are many different factors that go into what people make in Hollywood, primarily what you made before. In Mark Wahlberg's case the kinds of movies he makes like Transformers and Ted are very commercial movies. In Michelle Williams case she's best known for movies like 'Manchester by the Sea' and 'Blue Valentine'..."
Williams' performance in those films has been recognized, but they don't enjoy the same success of Wahlberg's films commercially. After days of backlash, Wahlberg opted to donate his reshoots paycheck to the Time's up campaign, an action that drew praise from Williams herself. But not everyone was impressed.
A disturbing account of sexual misconduct on the 'True Lies' set
Sexual harassment and assault allegations in Hollywood is something we've been covering for months now, and a new group has been outed: stuntmen. Actress Eliza Dushku who, at 12 years old starred in True Lies in 1994, said she was assaulted by her stunt coordinator.
In a Facebook post she wrote over the weekend, Dushku outlined in detail that stuntman Joel Kramer molested her in his hotel room.
Since the post, co-star Jamie Lee Curtis and director James Cameron have released separate statements expressing sadness that this happened to Dushku while also denying any knowledge of the incident.
A car once thought to be lost has returned
The long-lost discovery of Steve McQueen's Mustang from the movie "Bullitt" caused quite a stir over the weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31JgMAHVeg0
Thought to be lost, the car was unveiled in Detroit, along with Ford's plans to release a limited edition new Bullitt Mustang.
Keegan also spoke about this year's Oscar Awards frontrunners, why Academy members can't take back their votes, and why superhero films are long shots.
Why these art collectors in Orange County are focusing on artists of color
Gianna and Dee Kerrison are married executives who work in the financial service sector. But you could say their life's work is collecting art, specifically, the work of African Americans and other artists of color.
They're among Southern California's best-known collectors of work by such artists. KPCC's Josie Huang spoke to the couple before the holidays and Dee explained how they first got started after moving from New York to Orange County almost 20 years ago.
"We were used to a huge amount of culture, and Newport Beach was relatively culturally bereft," said Dee Kerrison, "especially when we moved down there. So, we always went to Los Angeles."
Their collecting started with photography, but when they began to hyperfocus on Los Angeles, it shifted to contemporary art.
Dee: "We like work that reflects our experience. You know, we're African American, my parents are from the south, they're part of that great migration. So, we sort of like work that tells a story, arguably, work that's political."
For the Kerrisons, it wasn't only about collecting art but helping artists navigate the intimidating waters of the art world.
Gianna: "We may not be able to financially pay for or financially afford the work, but what we find important is being there to support them...I think it's a really important thing to follow them through their journey."
The Kerrisons also spoke about how things have changed for artists of color since they began collecting and where they hope things will go in the future.