Four Hours: Celebrating African American Culture In Leimert Park

Owner Marlene Sinclair-Beckford holding jerk chicken with rice and peas, steamed vegetables, festival bread, and plantains at Ackee Bamboo. Image: Francine Orr/LA Times

BY KAILYN BROWN

LEIMERT PARK (LOS ANGELES TIMES) -- Nestled east of Baldwin Hills, the neighborhood of Leimert Park considers itself the heart of black culture in South Los Angeles and pays homage to that heritage every day.
Though residents know that change is everywhere — with the Metro Rail’s Crenshaw/LAX line slated to open in 2020, fears of gentrification are rising, along with real estate prices — they are enjoying Leimert Park as it is while they still can. On the last Sunday of each month, the community turns out to celebrate black music, art, community and food at the Leimert Park Art Walk.
But you don’t have to wait to explore some of L.A.’s most cherished black-owned businesses tucked into the neighborhood.

1 p.m. After finding metered parking on Degnan Boulevard, head over to Harun Coffee at 4336 Degnan Blvd., where celebrities such as singer Rihanna, rapper Dom Kennedy and radio personality Big Boy have been known to stop by. They’re here for more than just the coffee: “More than anything, it’s a cultural hub,”says co-owner Chace Johnson , who formerly managed rapper A SAP Rocky . Johnson, who was a member of a rap group called Self Scientific and worked in the music industry for several years, also hosts free panel discussions and forums with entertainers and influencers at the coffee shop. Once you’ve grabbed some specialties of the house — an iced Kyoto matcha latte and a Mexican hot chocolate or caramel doughnut ( supplied by Donut Farm) that somehow, unbelievably, manages to be vegan — walk into the gallery next door, which displays artwork by a new black artist every two months. Harun also sells merchandise and features clothing from local designers. In fact, your drink was likely delivered by a server wearing a “ Make Crenshaw Great Again ” snapback made by a Crenshaw native whose clothing line is among those sold at Harun.

1:45 p.m. A trip to Leimert Park wouldn’t be complete without indulging in authentic Jamaican cuisine. To do that, head north on Degnan to Ackee Bamboo at 4305 Degnan Blvd., #100. It’s only right to try a traditional dish such as the jerk chicken or oxtail, which is served with rice and beans, plantains, steamed cabbage and festival bread, a slightly sweet fried dumpling. There are also several seafood options, including brown stew, which tastes as though it’s been slow-cooked for hours, red snapper, ackee and salt fish, and jerk shrimp. While you’re at it, you might as well order a Jamaican patty, a kind of flaky hand pie stuffed with your choice of chicken, beef or vegetables. That is, if they are not already sold out.

2:45 p.m. If you haven’t heard people calling out “Hey, Barbara!” at least a handful of times during your stroll, you haven’t walked far south enough to reach the community staple known as the California Jazz & Blues Museum, at 4317 Degnan Blvd. Barbara Morrison, a well-known jazz singer and adjunct associate professor of global jazz studies at UCLA, opened the museum to educate the community on prolific jazz performers and to share historical information about California’s influence on the genre. If Morrison is free, she’ll give you a personal tour of the museum and perhaps share stories of her experiences traveling around the world with legendary artists such as Ray Charles and Dizzy Gillespie. She may even sing a few riffs for you, which will quickly make you understand why she is respected in the jazz community. Morrison’s Performing Arts Center, which holds concerts, is less than 200 feet away, at 4305 Degnan Blvd., #101. Watch barbaramorrison.com for upcoming events.

3:45 p.m. Head south on Degnan Boulevard to Eso Won Books, 4327 Degnan Blvd., a veteran bookstore that specializes in black literature. Anything from a coffee table book of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s artwork to books by Ta-Nehisi Coates (who has called Eso Won his favorite bookstore) and just about anything Toni Morrison has written can be found here. Although fascinating artwork is showcased throughout the store, photos aren’t allowed. Instead, enjoy the jazz playing in the background as you browse the diverse books and partake in the knowledge of owners Tom Hamilton and James Fugate.

4:30 p.m. When you’re done, take a break in Hot & Cool Cafe at 4331 Degnan Blvd., just two storefronts down from Eso Won Books. With weekly community events, which range from open mics to free coding classes, Hot & Cool lives up to its slogan “Coffee and Community.” It’s also known for its unique teas, such as Gold Rush (black tea with mango and passion fruit) or Honey Bush chai tea.

5 p.m. This last stop is a bit of a gamble, so keep your timetable in mind: Back in your car, head east and drive past Worldwide Tacos, at 2419 W. Martin Luther King Blvd. This may look like a typical taco spot, but the wait to try one of the tacos or burritos — which come in more than 100 varieties — can take 15 minutes to three hours. The place is beloved by actress and screenwriter Issa Rae, who featured it on her HBO series, “Insecure.” If you have the time, do yourself a favor and throw it into park. Why the long wait? The owner, Fredrick Sennie, makes everything fresh, to his exacting standards, in the compact kitchen. Also adding to the allure and the wait: unique flavors, which include vegetarian options like vegan orange duck and vegan chili cheese beef; barbecue salmon; lemon pepper shrimp; and even weirder options including blueberry lamb with blue cheese.

The Leimert Phone Company

Engineers test and work on the newest innovation spearheaded by Karl Baumann at the KAOS Network Studios, Leimert Park Village on the Crenshaw Corridor Sunday, November 24, 2013. Project commenced with the purchase of 12 old phones on Ebay and design studio held at the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab and the KAOS Network Studios. First physical prototype to be launched this Fall. Ehirim Files Images

Follow Ambrose Ehirim on Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter

Ehirim Files Interview: Wadada, LA's Badass Everything Jam Session Man

Wadada lends a hand with his guitar to the Dian Wilson Jam Session at the World Stage Performance Gallery.

I would pop up in the village to see about the goings on, normally on the Sundays when the Najite-led Drum Church Circle Ensemble are yelping and hanging out to entertain the locals around the park on the Crenshaw Thoroughfare in Los Angeles. I have been seeing him all along I stopped by as a regular, to get a different air and feelings watching series of musicals and ensembles displayed on every nook and cranny of the village where tourists and visitors of all breeds in nature troop in sometimes to get a feel of original African rhythms vibrate from tons of motherland handmade instruments the world have come to know. It has been a routine Sunday events in the hood for folks who had been concerned about building community and helping each other in every aspect of engagement.

We did not exchange pleasantries for a while until we crossed each others path at an event that called for it. The event was a Wednesday night jam session put together by the "Ladies of Poetry" at the World Stage Performance Gallery capsuled by the historical Leimert Park Village "Black Township." He had been invited to lend a hand with his multi-instrumental talents for jam sessions to follow poetry renditions with some light refreshments.

I had watched him play various kinds of related instruments and had thought he'd  be of interest in the kind of performances I was looking for in the event of the usual summer gigs that would pop up.

We crossed path and exchanged pleasantries, eventually, and beginning to establish some form of friendship to identify how it adds up in what he does best and my passion of taking notes as he tells it, his life, the journey and the musician that he had become

I had thought he was indeed interesting based on the fact that he'd be the first of his kind I would encounter also in my journey to dig out the stuff in people like him for where my passion and craft had taken me - the world of literature, research, writing and the punks musical territory by way of conducting interviews and related publications.

Quite often, after bumping into each other on that poetry night for the first time, we express our feelings through gestures, of that touch while I check him out do his thing; his rendition on the sidewalk with his three piece band, selling his just released CD and prophesizing from his lyrical notes to his audience what the African continent needs to do to overcome its predicament.

It had been that way for a little bit. From shows at KAOS Network to series of events at The Vision Theater, we walked pass each other and observed the link to be connected for one reason or the other. I had picked one of his CDs, tipped him while he entertained his guests and related audiences on the sidewalk.

It wasn't until one day when I decided to know in detail about the area performer called Wadada and what he had been up to carrying his musical equipment along with him wherever he goes. He had figured I was up to something, too; thus, his acclaimed inner visions and psycho-analysis to read subjects and the issues that may arise at any given time. In my observations over time, he was typical of knowing problems in detail including what had hindered him from getting out of the box, ala, being shackled over the years by way of exploitation and what had been done to him by those who did not have any difficulty with his vulnerability and taking advantage of it. I had thought so myself, one of the reasons why I stayed aloof, that way, he'd not be assuming I was another batch of what he termed the "white boys" who set him up for a wild goose chase. Funny how I'm not a "white boy" and he had looked at me that way.

That was exactly how it turned out. I had also  moved with caution despite all that. As it had happened, I would engage him, and, a long haul of rigid discourse would follow with him at the defensive on a caseload of what had been done to him by the white boy and others who had noticed the weakness in him to have been every promoters guinea pig.

It had become difficult for him to trust anyone further based on his "bad experiences" over the years and for me to persuade him to adapt to the present form of situations and keep up with the flow was sort of cracking a tough nut. His aggressiveness which keeps him in touch and not to succumb to the cheap shots reflecting back to his days of being a sucker which had brought him to the level he found himself.

His aggressiveness with anger of the past did not dissuade me from getting closer and knowing much in detail about a man who carries a bunch of instruments with him, does his stuff and plays his gigs whenever booked at some show in the hood.

And then came a gig at OG's Place I had wanted him to play sessions with other LA's session men, in an attempt to get him closer for stuff like that to pop up in the future, to test his aggressiveness on stage in a different flow from his normal jams on my tab.

As it had also happened, assuming he had moved on and ready with a different flow, came the bombshell, the usual Wadada himself, recalling how the white boys thought he was an air head when he was used as a rubber stamp, and, that  he never obliged to whatever he was asked to do on the grounds of his being in need and was left with no choice but to carry on with his "slavish attitude," and getting paid peanut money while the "white boys" goes out there and use his name and talent to write all kinds of stories about him, pocketing the money and not even a dime for him. The rigid argument had erupted the moment I had told him I would be writing a story on him for my publication, which he had assumed  was another "white boy" kind of move that chased him down the hood after his flight from Venice Beach, the exotic beach city he had spent twenty years of his music career entertaining tourists from all walks of life, on the white boys tab, the beginning of his feelings of betrayal and lack of confidence in any creature.

Wadada would not trust any soul again. When I had met him and realizing he was going to get down with me on the premise of the "white boy" mentality and in reality that I was not a white boy. I was wrong. In wadadas country, white boy is anyone that is out there to take advantage of him in every aspect of his weaknesses "since they all know I ain't looking into what they are doing and they be using my name to write whatever pleases them and they be collecting all the money," wadada would rant.

"How am I going to make money blogging and promoting your music for my benefit when I'm actually doing you a favor?" I asked Wadada.

"That's what you'll say while I know the shit the white boy did. You see I am a thinker, I can think, man and I am spiritual, and I know better than you all," wadada chipped.

But most of Wadada's rantings can be traced from his beginnings at the exotic Vinice Beach where he displayed his acts for over two decades while his style of performance found its way from Venice Beach and swaggered into the area pubs and surrounding beach cities - Santa Monica Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach - and that it was how bad he had been used by the white boy; that he had no doubt I was about to play the same game with him; that "you Africans think you're smart," that behind all the folks that performed during his years at Venice Beach, he was the best cast and the only original multi-instrumentalist, but yet, the white boy did not appreciate him, and looking at him "now," he shouldn't be blamed for not trusting anybody which had been why he relocated to the historic Leimert Park to engage with his "brothers," though what he had thought was wrong assumption, that the brothers can't get anything done and cannot work together, and that the problem with a brother had been individualistic, and that it cannot take we brothers anywhere "until we unite and start working together."

Wadada in occasions sub-contracts with the city on series of its cultural engagements during the summer jams and off season engagements all around Southern California. But Wadada's thing, indeed, lies on the corner of Degnan and 43rd Street, dressed in his usual tight-fitting stone washed jeans and assorted African beads hanged around his neck, sticks in his hands and about ready to entertain passersby and tourists.

The Leimert Park Village Wadada now calls home, from where the call sheet begins is one of the best places available for African cultural displays, considered the cultural heartland of Black Township on the Crenshaw Boulevard thoroughfare.

He dips in every category. Reggae. Jazz. Afrobeat. Country. He extracts his music from all the musical genre - Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, O'Jays and uniquely relying on the 70s "old school" jams which makes his jam sessions seem, entertaining and thrilling, especially with other cats in the neighborhood where he now calls home, and can always be booked without much ado that makes him the badass everything jam session man in Los Angeles.

The 4th Annual Leimert Park Village African Art & Music Festival

Date: September 1-3, 2012 (Labor Day Weekend)

Location: Leimert Park Village, Los Angeles

Photography: Ehirim Files Images

Los Angeles fine artist Carlos Spivey live draws one of his patrons during festivities commemorating the festival.

Face and body painter Auntie Joyce paints a girl'ss face at the festival. Joyce have been painting body and faces for over 40 years in a variety of colors done in ethnic, exotic and other cultural designs. She presents her creative talents at company picnics, baby showers, community festivals, expos, church picnics, holiday celebrations, birthday parties and series of other related functions.

Malian mud clothes, drums and other accessories on display. Each year of the festival, merchants from all walks of life and, from across the United States come to the festival to introduce their line of products for trade.

An exciting crowd stomping to live music. Musicians of all genre are invited to the festival to perform; and some come to get exposure for bigger events in the future.

Los Angeles area session drummer Jonathan Candello who plays in all flavors takes it solo during performances with the Wadada Roots Reggae jam sessions the second day of the festival.

Bassist Miles Mosley takes it solo during performances by the Kamasi Washington & The Next Step Band in festivities commemorating the 4th Annual Leimert Park African Arts & Music Festival in Los Angeles.

The Pan African Peoples Arkestra in performace and conducted by Michael Session during festivities commemorating the 4th Annual Leimert Park African Arts & Music Festival.

Pan African Peoples Arkestra at the 4th Annual LPV African Arts & Music Festival Monday, September 3, 2012. (L-R): Sonjia Hubert Harper, Mercedes Smith, Kamasi Washington and Jesse Sharp

4th Annual LPV African Arts & Music Festival: Amazing Brandon Coleman takes it solo on keyboards with drumbeats by LA's session drummer Tony Austin during performances by the Kamasi Washington Next Step Band, Monday, September 3, 2012

Los Angeles session drummer Tony Austin takes it solo during the Kamasi Washington & The Next Step Band performances and festivities commemorating the 4th Annual Leimert Park Village African Arts & Music Festival Monday, September 3, 2012.

Saxophonist Randal Fisher arrives at the 4th Annual Leimert Park Village African Arts & Music Festival to perform for the Pan African Peoples Arkestra on Monday, September 3, 2012.

Kamasi Washington and Randal Fisher performs during performances by the Pan African Peoples Arkestra Monday, September 3, 2012, commemorating festivities at the 4th Annual Leimert Park Village African Arts & Music Festival.

Los Angeles Greater Tomorrow Drummers

Siblings brought by their mother display their developing talents beating drum at the Drum Church Circle LPV Art Walk on Sunday, May 27, 2012 after procession through the village. Fela Kuti's protege and founder of the Drum Church Circle Najite Agindotan commences drumming by splashing water on the circles as parts of rituals and callings of Olokun Prophesy. Distinguishing surrounding features: World Stage Performing Arts Gallery, Eso-Won Book Store, Buckingham University administrative offices, KAOS Networks, The Vision Theater, Adassa Jamaican Restaurant, African Treasures Gallery, Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center, Zambezi African Antiques, Lucy Florence Institute, and much more; and an exhibition on the last Sunday of every month by local artists, whose work are found in every spot. Ehirim Files Images.

Los Angeles Greater Tomorrow Drummers

Siblings brought by their mother display their developing talents beating drum at the Drum Church Circle Leimert Park Village Art Walk in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 27, 2012 after procession through the village. Fela Kuti's boy and founder of the Drum Church Circle Najite Agindotan commences drumming by splashing water on the circles as parts of rituals and callings of Olokun Prophesy. Distinguishing surrounding features: World Stage Performing Arts Gallery, Eso-Won Book Store, Buckingham University administrative offices, KAOS Networks, The Vision Theater, Adassa Jamaican Restaurant, African Treasures Gallery, Barbara Morrison Performing Arts, Zambezi African Antiques and much more; and an exhibition on the last Sunday of every month by local artists, whose work are found in every spot. Ehirim Files Images.

Labor Day Fela Kuti Tribute

4th Annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair Kids Corner

Recently, the 4th Annual Leimert Park Village Book Fair was held in Leimert Park Village, Los Angeles, with an amazing crowd. Kudos to Nina Womack, one of the event's organizers, who supervised and conducted the children's aisle. It was all fun and games featuring fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children's literature by over a hundred and fifty African American writers. Also included were live perormances by various artists. Among them: A Jimi Hendrix Tribute Band led by Anthony Aquarius Mystery, Wadada and Kelly Love Jones.

Summer Jam Afternoon Jump In 'Black Township'

Michael Sessions and trombonist Carl do their thing on the playgrounds as visitors and tourists watch.


Ray Straughter of Cosmic View rehearses at the World Stage Performance Art Gallery for the upcoming opening for the Michael McDonal's Hollywood Bowl Concert.


Folks in the village playing chess and the knockout game.


Dancing to the Najite Agindotan led Drum Church Circle beat, like in a spiritual revival.


The Learning Academy...Kids learn the art trade as part of 'incubating' the village.


Multi-instrumentalist, Wadada sets up his promotional CD and rehearses for the Labor Day Weekend jam.


The game begins -- the Drum Church Circle beats -- and Najite leads.



Tourist possessed by the powerful spirits of the Drum Church Circle beats.

Najite Agindotan, King of the African Drums

He was the Chief Priest, Fela Anikulapo Kuti's boy, back in the day, when Afro Beat, coined by Kuti, was the bomb at Baba's African Shrine where all kinds of rituals took place to reinvent a culture that was disappearing within its landscape. He speaks well of Baba who inspired him in what he now does very well, playing the adudu, African drums and percussions.

But Najite, as he is called by his admirers all around Greater Los Angeles, did take his hand-drumming craft to another level; initiating the Drum Church Circle to the City of Angels, inspiring others to follow, and the rest is now history.

On a normal Sunday afternoon, Najite pops up and walks around the village to survey which way the familiar rumble of his drum circle should spill in the park with a cast of vendors and tourists who'd shown up to make brisk business and stomp to the vibes as his entourage strikes rhythms together. Dressed in all white African outfits, his beads jingling around his neck and wrist band well-fit for the occasion, Najite peppers the Leimert Park Drum Church Circle beats with songs and yelps, echoeing as in African masquerade dance.

Master of his art, Najite, in 2000, was awarded the Congressional Award for Excellence by Representative Diane Watson. He has also received grants from the California Arts Council, the National Endownment for the Arts, and in filmmaker Ben Caldwell's own words, promoting and "incubating" the cultural arts in a multicultural Greater Los Angeles.

Also, Najite has been recognized by the University of California; Los Angeles, San Diego, Irvine, and Riverside campuses for his thoroughness and persistence in the arts.

Now that Leimert Park Art Walk is born, expect more with the best yet to come!

Images of the 7th Annual June'Teenth Heritage Festival: Celebrating Black Freedom

June'Teenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, two months more than President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, General Granger of the Union Army landed in Galveston, Texas, and issued Order No.3: All Slaves Are Free!


Ndugu, Wadada and Kelly Love Jones performs at the back lot of The Vision Theater in Leimert Park Village.


Anthony Aquarius Mystery and the Jimi Hendrix Tribute Band performs live on stage as part of festivities celebrating the 7th Annual June'Teenth Heritage Festival.


The groove and the jam sessions.


The twist dance at the exclusive Barbara Morrison's Show.


Anthony Aquarius Mystery of A Jimi Hendrix Tribute Band and Cynthia Exum, the executive producer of the Leimert Park Village Book Fair share a moment...


The audience watches A Jimi Hendrix Tribute Band perform live on stage.


Vendors make brisk business hawking Los Angeles Dynasty t shirts.


Leon Mobley and Wadada entertains at the back lot of The Vision Theater.


Oran Z, founder of The Oran Z Pan African Black Facts and Wax Museum, which presents wax figures of African American personalities chats with a guest at his museum booth during the festival.


Afro Cuban Jazz Ensemble entertaning at the jam-packed Leimert Park.