With bicycles, buses, ferries, planes, rideshares, sidewalks, subways, taxis, and trains at Angelenos’ disposal, why would any sane person choose car dependency? Nobody Drives in LA celebrates sense and sensibility in transportation. It was a warm February morning when I texted my brother if he'd like to walk along the route of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension from … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Exploring the Gold Line’s Foothill Extension: Phase 2A
Month: February 2013
Pan-American Blues — Black Country Music
If one listens to a “hillbilly” record like, say, Jimmie Rodgers’s “Blue Yodel” back-to-back with a “race” record like Lead Belly’s “Cow Cow Yiki” it should become immediately clear to the listener that often the distinction between these two genres has for many years been (and continues to be) more of an industry marketing rather than … Continue reading Pan-American Blues — Black Country Music
Paul Williams — Architect to the people
Although it takes an incredible combination of cognitive dissonance, myopia (and usually some chauvinism) to deny that Los Angeles can be characterized by its amazing architecture, it does happen. Ironically, most of the blame for this fact can be placed on the shoulders of the self-appointed boosters in Hollywood, whose idea of Utopia seems … Continue reading Paul Williams — Architect to the people
Fear of a black galaxy — Black people in science-fiction
Photo by JD Hancock The other day I was listening to the podcast The Auteur Cast. In discussing The Empire strikes back, one of the hosts used the character of Lando Calrissian to question why there are so few black people in science-fiction. It’s not a new question. In 1976, on the album Bicentennial Nigger, Richard … Continue reading Fear of a black galaxy — Black people in science-fiction
Proto-rap — a look at black soul and jazz poetry for Black History Month
INTRODUCTION In my freshman year of college I remember being hipped to the Last Poets by LaRon Johnson, another temporary housing refugee. He basically told me that they were rap music before rap music. This was back in 1992, a year after CERN released the World-Wide Web and when most music was shared via cassette … Continue reading Proto-rap — a look at black soul and jazz poetry for Black History Month
Eric Brightwell 