The State Of…Black Los Angeles

Bishop Charles E. Blake, West Angeles C.O.G.I.C., pictured.

On Tuesday, at an event held on USC’s campus, the L.A. Urban League and United Way presented a progress report on Black Los Angeles. The report was a mirror of the Dickens classic, “A Tale of Two Cities.” The report shows that the well-being of L.A.’s black population varies widely. Los Angeles is home to some of the richest blacks in the world, but it’s also a place where half of all homicide victims (and killers) are black.

I was fortunate enough to attend this wonderful event. The best presentation was given by Bishop Blake, (pictured above), the City’s most respected relgious leader. His central point was that the problems in our community are in large part the result of a lack of self-love, and that so long as that’s the case, these problems will continue. I can’t express the thoughts the way he did, with his stentorian voice, but be assured that they were amazing. My personal opinion is that the report is overly negative. It’s bad here (just like everywhere); but not that bad.
“Four decades after the Watts riots, African-Americans in Los Angeles continue to lag far behind whites in education, housing, health care and income, a study released Wednesday found.

African-Americans are 10 times more likely than whites to die in homicides, 35 percent less likely to graduate from high school in four years, and their household income is 40 percent less than that of whites, according to the State of Black Los Angeles, a report by the Los Angeles Urban League and United Way.”