Let's play some word association. When I say the word riot, many Angelinos would immediately think of 1992. After the four police officers were acquitted in the Rodney King case the city of Los Angeles was set ablaze. For six days a dark cloud of smoke rose from burning buildings and several individuals went on a mini-crime spree in South Los Angeles. The looting and destruction of property was something the city hadn't seen in nearly three decades. Ok, how about this one: South Central. What picture pops into our minds? What type of people do we equate with these words? Gang members? Drug dealers? Maybe the word crime comes to mind or even the color black. Perhaps the word violence? Why do we think this way? Perhaps we can blame Hollywood for making movies like Boyz N the Hood or Menace II Society.
It's easy to make generalizations about a particular area, but until one actually sets foot in a place like Watts or Compton they really have no idea what is really going on in the community at large. So let's be honest, is there violence? Yes. Is it as bad a scenario as one perhaps has conjured up in their head? No.
Visiting the Watts Labor Community Action Committee, WLCAC for short, really did change the way I perceived this residential district. I'll admit, I am guilty of the things I was mentioning before. I have never visited Watts in the past and if it wasn't for USC I probably definitely would never have visited this area, ever.
The people running the WLCAC are an amazing group of individuals who are adamant about educating their community in bettering themselves. Whether it's their One-Stop Workforce Development Center that "establishes seamless, 'no-fail' job training, job placement and post-employment training system for youths, adults, seniors, veterans, and dislocated workers." Or their commitment to helping the community battle it's health problems by setting up a farmer's market once a week so that residents can have access to fresh fruit and vegetables.
Dr. Maxine Liggins, the WLCAC's area medical doctor, explains that the residents of Watts are at high risk for preventable health problems and it is all because of the community's diet. Majority of the community would rather eat fast food or processed foods rather than cook a sensible meal at home. Oftentimes it can be a monetary issue, but majority of the time it's that residents have higher priorities ranging from paying rent on time to keeping up with bills. Seems that most of the time their health gets put on the back burner and as a result of their poor diet it leads to several cases of diabetes, hypertension and other disease that could have been avoided.
I found it particularly astounding that Watts was without its own grocery store up until 1985. Yes, 1985. I can't even fathom that. Growing up in Mission Viejo, grocery stores were never short in supply. This is another reason why the community's health is what it is. The grocery stores are small and as Dr. Liggins explained many of the items on the shelves are expired and the produce section is filled with spoiled fruits and vegetables. People would rather shop at the corner store than go to the grocery store. There aren't exactly many heathy options at a 7-11 last time I checked.
Going through Watts was very eye opening and despite the negative stigma attached to the area there are people in the community hard at work at making Watts a better for its residents and its future visitors.
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