The Sons and Daughters of Los: Culture and Community in L.A (Wide Angle Books)

266 Pages·2003·30.82 MB·English

by  David E. James

The Sons and Daughters of Los
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In the series
Wide Angle Books
edited by Erik Barnouw, Ruth Bradley,
Scott MacDonald, and Patricia Zimmermann
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The Sons
and Daughters
of Los
Culture and Community
in L.A.
EDITED BY
David E. James
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
PHILADELPHIA
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TempleUniversity Press,Philadelphia 19122
Copyright© 2003 byTempleUniversity,except
Introductionand Chapter 12© 2003 DavidE.James
All rights reserved
Published 2003
Printed in theUnited StatesofAmerica
i§ The paper used in this publicationmeets the requirementsoftheAmerican
National Standardfor InformationSciences-PermanenceofPaperfor Printed
LibraryMaterials,ANSI Z39.48-1984.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Thesonsand daughters ofLos: cultureandcommunityin L.A./edited by
DavidE.James.
p. cm. - (Wideangle books)
Includes bibliographicalreferences.
ISBN 1-59213-012-7 (cloth: alk. paper)- ISBN 1-59213-013-5 (pbk. :alk. paper)
1. Los Angeles (Calif.)-Sociallifeand customs. 2. Los Angeles (Calif.)
Intellectual life. 3. Los Angeles (Calif.)-Socialconditions. 4. Cityandtown
life-California-LosAngeles. 5. Popularculture-California-LosAngeles.
6. Arts-California-LosAngeles. 7. Arts andsociety-California-LosAngeles.
1. James, DavidE., 1945- II. Series.
F869·L85 s65 2003
306'.09794'94-dC2I 2002028939
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and Los drew them forth, compelling the harsh Spectre
Into the Furnaces & into the Valleys ofthe Anvils Death
And into the mountains ofthe Anvils & ofthe heavy Hammers
Till he should bring the Sons & Daughters ofJerusalem to be
The Sons and Daughters ofLos
-William Blake,Jerusalem
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Contents
Acknowledgments IX
1. INTRODUCTION: THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF LOS 1
David E. James
2. PERIPHERAL OUTLAWS: BEYOND BAROQUE AND THE
LOS ANGELES POETRY RENAISSANCE 15
Bill Mohr
3. THE LOS ANGELES WOMAN'S BUILDING AND THE
FEMINIST ART COMMUNITY, 1973-1991 39
Laura Meyer
4. FORTIFYING COMMUNITY: AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
AND CULTURE IN LEIMERT PARK 63
Eric Gordon
5. CONSIDERING THE ART WORLD ALTERNATIVES:
LACE AND COMMUNITY FORMATION
IN LOS ANGELES 85
Claudine lse
6. NOT HISTORY: REMARKS ON THE FOUNDATION FOR
ART RESOURCES, 1977-1998 108
Sande Cohen
7. HIGHWAYS PERFORMANCE SPACE:
COMMUNITIES-IN-TRANSIT 128
Meiling Cheng
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Vlll CONTENTS
8. SIGNIFYING NATIONS: CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND THE
KOREAN COMMUNITY IN LOS ANGELES 153
Jiwon Ahn
9. ALL OVER THE MAP: A HISTORY OF L.A. FREEWAVES 174
James M. Moran
10. SELF-HELP GRAPHICS: TOMAs BENITEZ TALKS TO
HARRY GAMBOA JR. 195
11. UNORTHODOX MYSTICS: SWANS THAT FLOCK TO THE
VEDANTA SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 21I
Nithila Peter
12. POPULAR CINEMAS IN LOS ANGELES: THE CASE OF
VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS 23 I
David E. James
About the Contributors 253
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Acknowledgments
Early stages ofthe research for this volumewere assisted by funding from agrantfrom
the James Irvine Foundation to the Southern California Studies Center at the Univer
sityofSouthern California. We thank the Foundationand also ProfessorMichaelDear,
Directorofthe Center, for theirsupport. Fromthisproject's inception, ProfessorDear's
initiative and many forms ofgenerosity have been crucial. We also thank Mr. Bernard
Stanley Hoyes for permission to use his print, "Block Party Ritual," © 2002 for our
paperback cover; this serigraph was pulled at Self-Help Graphics as a special project
for the Grand Performances 2002 Summer Concert Series.
Sande Cohen, Tomas Benitez, and Harry GamboaJr. were especiallygenerous when
the project most needed them. We particularly thank Erika Suderburg and the other
reviewer (whochosetoremainanonymous) whoinitiallyevaluatedthemanuscript;their
enthusiasmfor the projectoverallandtheirveryvaluablesuggestionsforcorrectionand
improvement aided us enormously. We would also like to thank Elizabeth Yoder for
her intelligent and sensitive copyediting.
Prefatory notices of this kind commonly acknowledge in some more or less per
functory fashion the editor ofthe press who has overseen the publication. In this case,
however, that acknowledgment must be very specific and categorical. Everyone con
nected with this project is deeply indebted to Micah Kleit, the Temple University Press
editor who first accepted it and has since guided it through to completion. As will
becomeevident, theessayscollectedin this book generally (though not inall instances)
runcountertotheorthodoxiesofthe disciplineinwhich theyfind themselves. Asacon
sequence, until we encountered Mr. Kleit, everyone we contacted refused to consider
publishing it; no universitypress would even look at the manuscript. Had it not been
for his courage and initiative, this particularwork ofthe "Sons and Daughters ofLos"
would never have seen the light ofday. Thank you, Micah.
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