HAPPY FRIDAY APACHES!!

Love and Blessings, Phoebe

BRINGING LEIMERT PARK BACK

By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
December 20, 2010

Once a vibrant hub for African American culture, the community is hoping the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center will help rejuvenate the neighborhood.

"This center is going to be a lauching pad for new artists," said Barbara Morrison of her nonprofit venue, set to open next month. (Francine Orr, Los Angeles Times / January 8, 2000)

Jazz and blues singer Barbara Morrison recalled the heyday of Leimert Park Village, a 1-square-mile center of African American art and culture south of downtown that locals like to say is "as close to Harlem as you're going to get in Los Angeles."

That was back in the 1970s, when the Crenshaw district community's shady streets were lined with trendsetting nightclubs, art galleries and restaurants. "There was a creative vibe in the air that I've only felt in a few other places in the world," Morrison said.

The village isn't what it used to be. On a recent weekday, the storefronts looked a little run-down and things were so quiet that it was hard to miss the commotion at the new nonprofit Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center at West 43rd Street and Degnan Boulevard.

In preparation for its grand opening next month, musicians were tuning instruments. Technicians were installing computer stations. Crews were hanging stage curtains and decorating the walls with framed portraits of jazz legends. And Morrison was looking pleased.

"This center is going to be a launching pad for new artists," she said.

Local business leaders point to the center as one of several new developments that could help put the village back on the map as an arts and events destination.

Arts patron Eileen Norton opened an art gallery a few doors down from Morrison's center two weeks ago. Around the corner on Crenshaw Boulevard, extensive renovations were being completed at Maverick's Flat restaurant and nightclub, named a Los Angeles historic cultural monument in recognition of the role it played in the city's pioneering black music scene.

The low-rise business district rich with Art Deco buildings, Spanish colonial homes and post- World War II bungalows hosts an annual book festival and is the last stop on the Martin Luther King Day Parade. The local businesses recently agreed to contribute to a special assessment for streetlights, surveillance cameras, tree trimming and street cleaning services.

"Lots of hard work is starting to pay off in ways which will, in the long term, broaden our economic base," said Brenda Shockley, president of Community Build, a community development corporation under contract with the city of Los Angeles to manage the area's business improvement district. "The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau designated the village as a recommended destination.

"Our vision: a robust intersection of commerce and African American art and culture," Shockley said, "for the community and the city to build on."

Developed in the late 1920s, Leimert Park Village was initially restricted to whites and known for its golf courses and several airstrips. Howard Hughes learned to fly there.

The area began attracting African American musicians, writers and artists in the wake of the 1965 Watts riots. The civil unrest of 1992, however, triggered an exodus of customers from the village, which made it more vulnerable to the economic downturn.

A boom cannot happen soon enough for Obinne Onyeador, who recently hung a "Big Sale — everything must go" sign over the entrance to his African art gallery.

"I'm closing the place down," Onyeador said with a frown. "A few years ago, I was selling $5,000 worth of art a month to people who wanted to make their homes look nicer. Now, many of those same people are unemployed and losing their homes, and I can't make the rent anymore."

If the community has had anything like a blockbuster in recent years, it would have to be the reopening Tuesday of Maverick's Flat.

In a rethinking of the club's funky 1970s ambience, developer Curtis Fralen mirrored the ceilings and put up vintage posters of entertainers who got their start there, including the Fifth Dimension; Earth, Wind and Fire; the Commodores; and Parliament. He also expanded the square footage, added a patio and installed a stainless steel kitchen to lift the quality of its dining experience and attract new customers.

"We're going to reopen for dinner on Dec. 22, and for entertainment in February," Fralen said. "People around here are not going to have to drive to Beverly Hills for a good steak and fine wine anymore."

Hello Alumni,
This is cute. It was e-mailed to me today so I would like to share it with all of you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UP:  (A Two Letter Word With So Many Meanings)!!


Read until the end.....you'll laugh....

 
This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word
is 'UP.' It is listed in the
dictionary as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky
or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we
wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do
we speak UP, and why are the
officers UP for
election and why is it UP to the secretary to
write UP a
report? We call UP our friends,
brighten UP a room, polish UP the
silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We
lock UP the house and
fix UP the old
car.

At other times this little word has real special
meaning. People stir UP trouble,
line UP for
tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one
thing but to be dressed UP is
special.
And this UP is confusing: A
drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We
open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at
night. We seem to be pretty mixed
UP about UP !

To be
knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary.. In a desk-sized
dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about
thirty definitions

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time,
but if you don't give UP, you may
wind UP with a hundred or
more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is
clouding UP . When the sun comes out
we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it
soaks UP the
earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on & on, but I'll wrap
it UP, for now ........my time is UP !

Oh....one more thing:
What is the first thing you
do in the morning & the last thing you do at
night?

U
P !

Did that one crack you UP?

Don't screw UP. Send this on to everyone you
look UP in your address
book..or not...it's UP to you.

Now I'll shut UP

Nice one. Thanks Phoebe!

I'm going to cut and paste it and pass it on.

-Love Reggie

Final Goodbye: A Roll Call Of Some Famous People Who Died In 2010

TO OUR (WEBMASTER WAYNE WARE) HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY& MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH MANY MORE!

Love From All Of Us Big Ten Alumni !!

(Poem: "WEEKEND GLORY" by Maya Angelou)



Some clichty folks
don't know the facts,
posin' and preenin'
and puttin' on acts,
stretchin' their backs.

They move into condos
up over the ranks,
pawn their souls
to the local banks.
Buying big cars
they can't afford,
ridin' around town
actin' bored.

If they want to learn how to live life right
they ought to study me on Saturday night.

My job at the plant
ain't the biggest bet,
but I pay my bills
and stay out of debt.
I get my hair done
for my own self's sake,
so I don't have to pick
and I don't have to rake.

Take the church money out
and head cross town
to my friend girl's house
where we plan our round.
We meet our men and go to a joint
where the music is blue
and to the point.

Folks write about me.
They just can't see
how I work all week
at the factory.
Then get spruced up
and laugh and dance
And turn away from worry
with sassy glance.

They accuse me of livin'
from day to day,
but who are they kiddin'?
So are they.

My life ain't heaven
but it sure ain't hell.
I'm not on top
but I call it swell
if I'm able to work
and get paid right
and have the luck to be Black
on a Saturday night.


(By: Maya Angelou)

OUR HELP IS FROM THE LORD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH.

PSALMS 124:8

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE;

LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT.

PSALMS 118:24

THERE IS A RIGHT TIME FOR EVERYTHING...

ECCLESIASTES 3:1

MAY EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU BE BLESSED BY GOD'S WORD AND WITH HIS LOVE!!!

GOD BLESS

TAWNETTE (72)