Description: “If you don't know where you've come from, you don't know where you're going,” said poet Maya Angelou. In the case of Black people in Los Angeles, that truth is ever more relevant. So here, briefly, we take a look at the joy, pain, opportunity, ugly discrimination, unapologetic resistance, movements, ingenuity, beauty, soul, and vibrancy
“If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going,” said poet Maya Angelou. In the case of Black people in Los Angeles, that truth is ever more relevant. So here, briefly, we take a look at the joy, pain, opportunity, ugly discrimination, unapologetic resistance, movements, ingenuity, beauty, soul, and vibrancy of the Black experience in Los Angeles. We use it to ground ourselves as we prepare to map out a path forward for its future.
Los Pobladores
The Black pobladores refers to the 44 settlers and 4 soldiers who founded “Pueblo de nuestro senora la reina de los ángeles” in 1781, which is now known as Los Angeles. Eight of the pobladores were mixed “mulattos”, and two were “negros”. Miriam Matthews spearheaded the efforts to get a plaque that disclosed the race of the Pobladores after historians in the 1970s decided to not disclose this information.