February is Black History Month, a time we can recognize and celebrate the achievements, leadership, innovation, arts and culture, and contributions made by Black Americans that have influenced all facets of life in the United States.
It also gives us an opportunity to explore how history is shaping the future.
“In Focus SoCal,” took a look at Destination Crenshaw, a community initiative to redesign, repair, and revitalize 1.3 miles of Crenshaw Boulevard, into a thriving business and cultural corridor.
“In Focus SoCal” host Tanya McRae talks with LA City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who represents the 8th District, and serves as Chair of the Planning, Land Use and Management Committee, and is spearheading community-led efforts to build Destination Crenshaw.
Councilman Harris-Dawson explained his vision for the landmark initiative in the area known as the largest Black community on the west coast. He tells McRae what makes the Crenshaw district’s history and culture so unique.
“Los Angeles has a story to tell — it’s the first major city to elect an African American Mayor, the first city to form multi-racial coalitions, and it’s the heart of Black culture and the creative capital for Black culture in the United States. The Crenshaw district has produced so many giants, either folks who were born and raised there or folks who moved there and understood it was a place to go if you wanted to be creative and you wanted to be in a creative culture,” Councilman Harris-Dawson said.
The Crenshaw LAX light rail line, known as the K Line, has been a decades long community driven project many local leaders pushed forward as an investment in black Los Angeles. Construction began in 2014 and seven of the nine stations opened in Oct. 2022.
Destination Crenshaw is meant to let people riding on the Kline know they’re moving through an iconic black community.
According to Destination Crenshaw President and COO, Jason Foster, the focus is on the community and helping local businesses, “This is a cultural monument for our community – where people from all over the world come to experience Black culture that resonates throughout our country and the world,” said Foster.
Tanya McRae also talks with Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, who represents the 61st District and is taking the lead on a plan to improve infrastructure and quality of life for residents in Inglewood and surrounding neighborhoods.
Assembly McKinnor’s has been a champion for the Inglewood Transit Connector, a multi-billion dollar project that will link Metro’s downtown Inglewood station with SoFi Stadium. Assemblymember McKinnor explains how the project will help residents in the area.
“It’s really crowded over there. There’s not a lot of parking — it will help people get in and out of Inglewood quickly. It will also help with the environment because we won’t have all those cars sitting there polluting our airspace,” she said.
Assembly member McKinnor is also the Chair of the Los Angeles County Delegation.
In her long career as a community advocate, the focus of Assembly member McKinnor’s work has always been to help people secure resources to address a variety of issues, including housing and improving public social services for families in need.
As Chair of the LA County Delegation Assembly, McKinnor discusses how she will advocate to protect resources and funding to help address some of the current issues facing LA County.
“We are facing budget shortfalls so we must make sure that LA County fights to bring home those funds home to LA County – we have the largest population and we just have to get organized, I think I can bring us together and through the budget process we can vote together and make sure we secure those funds for LA County,” she said.
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