Rioters tore up sidewalks and bricks to hurl at Guardsmen and police, and to smash their vehicles. [15], Resentment of such longstanding racial injustices are cited as reasons why Watts' African-American population exploded on August 11, 1965, in what would become the Watts Riots.[16]. After community members reported that police had roughed up Frye and spread an unsubstantiated rumor they had kicked a pregnant woman, angry mobs formed. The 1965 Watts riot in Los Angeles burned down a neighborhood, changed the core of the city forever, and set the stage of expectation for the Rodney King Riot in 1992. Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Oklahoma. Wattstax was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 riots in the African-American community of Watts, Los Angeles. The black population in Los Angeles dramatically rose from approximately 63,700 in 1940 to about 350,000 in 1965, rising from 4% of L.A.'s population to 14%. The black population in Los Angeles dramatically rose from approximately 63,700 in 1940 to about 350,000 in 1965, rising from 4% of L.A.'s population to 14%. [12], Following the US entry into World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the federal government removed and interned 70,000 Japanese-Americans from Los Angeles, leaving empty spaces in predominantly Japanese-owned areas. Associate Producer: Forest Hamilton, Hnic. In addition, they found themselves excluded from the suburbs and restricted to housing in East or South Los Angeles, which includes the Watts neighborhood and Compton. The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising,[1] took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. [30], After the Watts Riots, white families left surrounding nearby suburbs like Compton, Huntington Park, and South Gate in large numbers, leading to significant demographic and economic changes of these suburbs. By the morning of Sunday, August 15, the riots had largely been quelled.[6]. Wattstax Documents the “Black Woodstock” Concert Held 7 Years After the Watts Riots (1973) in Music , Politics | August 16th, 2014 Leave a Comment 1.5k [6] Blockades were established, and warning signs were posted throughout the riot zones threatening the use of deadly force (one sign warned residents to "Turn left or get shot"). Months after the festival, Stax released a double LP of the concert's highlights, Wattstax: The … Watts Riots of 1965, series of violent confrontations between Los Angeles police and residents of Watts and other predominantly African American neighbourhoods of South-Central Los Angeles that began August 11, 1965, and lasted for six days. Months after the festival, Stax released a double LP of the concert's highlights, Wattstax: The Living Word. Psychiatrist and civil rights activist Alvin Poussaint considered Proposition 14 to be one of the root causes of black rebellion in Watts.[14]. Arson and looting were largely confined to local white-owned stores and businesses that were said to have caused resentment in the neighborhood due to low wages and high prices for local workers. The public supported him and voted for charter changes that isolated the police department from the rest of the city government. [6] Following the deployment of National Guardsmen, a curfew was declared for a vast region of South Central Los Angeles. [23][page needed][24][page needed][dead link][25], After the arrests of Price and her sons the Frye brothers, the crowd continued to grow along Avalon Boulevard. Hundreds of buildings and whole city blocks were burned to the ground. Over the next few days, rioting had then spread throughout other areas, including Pasadena, Pacoima, Monrovia, Long Beach, and even as far as San Diego, although they were very minor in comparison to Watts. On the evening of Wednesday, August 11, 1965, 21-year-old Marquette Frye, an African-American man driving his mother's 1955 Buick while drunk, was pulled over by California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer Lee Minikus for alleged reckless driving. Featuring incendiary performances by Isaac Hayes, Albert King, Rufus and Carla Thomas, the Staple Singers, the Emotions, the Bar-Kays, and other greats of soul, R&B, and gospel — plus biting humor from a then little-known Richard Pryor — Wattstax is more than a concert film. [45], A commission under Governor Pat Brown investigated the riots, known as the McCone Commission, and headed by former CIA director John A. McCone. Learn how your comment data is processed. Now, I don’t think that’s it — I think it’s more about the mother taking the societal heat and shielding her son against all comers — and that seems to make much more sense from an American heritage perspective. Cinematography: Roderick Young, Robert Marks, Jose Mignone, Larry Clark, Edited by: Robert K. Lambert, David Newhouse, David Blewitt, This page was last edited on 4 October 2020, at 20:33. The genres of the songs performed included soul, gospel, R&B, blues, funk, and jazz. Nevertheless, today the Watts Riots are typically viewed as the community’s angry response to deprivation and neglect, and they remain a vivid collective memory, particularly in Los Angeles but also nationally. [24], In 2004, Stax released Wattstax: Highlights from the Soundtrack, a single-disc audio CD featuring only the songs included in the documentary film. [32] Many white Americans were fearful of the breakdown of social order in Watts, especially since white motorists were being pulled over by rioters in nearby areas and assaulted. [20][21] As the situation intensified, growing crowds of local residents watching the exchange began yelling and throwing objects at the police officers. Angered over the police response, residents of Watts engaged in a full-scale battle against the first responders. This further bolstered the migration of black residents into the city during the Second Great Migration to occupy the vacated spaces, such as Little Tokyo. [citation needed], In the 1940s, in the Second Great Migration, black workers and families migrated to the West Coast in large numbers, in response to defense industry recruitment efforts at the start of World War II. [11] By the 1940s, 95% of Los Angeles and southern California housing was off-limits to certain minorities. Backup police officers attempted to arrest Frye by using physical force to subdue him. A variety of opinions and explanations were published. You want to take a sledgehammer to the front window of the local butcher who has lied to you and overcharged you for a generation. [37], Despite allegations that "criminal elements" were responsible for the riots, the vast majority of those arrested had no prior criminal record. [15] MGM's contracts for the music in Shaft prevented any use of those songs in any other film until 1978. It was always the Black woman’s role in the American South, we are told, to protect the Black man from a lynching. These hearings were also intended to make a ruling on the discrimination case against the police for their alleged mistreatment of members of the Nation of Islam. When the meeting took place, the managers at the Coliseum were not convinced that "a little record company" from Memphis could sell enough tickets to fill the stadium. [25], (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right, "Perspective: Remembering the 1972 Wattstax concert brings us to crucial voices of Kendrick Lamar, Prince", "Stax Reissues Johnnie Taylor's 'Live at the Summit Club' Album, Recorded in South L.A., at the Time of Wattstax", "Film Description | Wattstax | POV | PBS", "Wattstax: The Living Word (Concert Music from the Original Movie Soundtrack) - Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits", "Wattstax: The Living Word, Vol. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 directing defense contractors not to discriminate in hiring or promotions, opening up new opportunities for minorities. One woman told a story about her father, and that if a stranger — a White Stranger — came to the door, her father would hide in the back room while her mother would answer the door and deal with the visitor. The meeting failed. [2] Community members spread a rumor that the police had hurt a pregnant woman, and six days of civil unrest followed. It is her duty to fend off any threat or perceived negativity — bill collectors, police, government workers, etc. In a thinly-veiled attempt to sustain their way of life and maintain the general peace and prosperity, most of these suburbs barred black people, using a variety of methods. The stage was built right in the center of the field and was built high enough where artists could walk/sit under (a little less than 20 feet tall). [5], The bleachers were set-up so that there would be more seating that included a better view of the stage, and a fence was built around the stage for the artists' safety. These hearings were also intended to make a ruling on the discrimination case against the police for their alleged mistreatment of members of the Nation of Islam. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 directing defense contractors not to discriminate in hiring or promotions, opening up new opportunities for minorities. Use one of the film’s accompanying resources to learn about the issues and get involved. [6] Following the deployment of National Guardsmen, a curfew was declared for a vast region of South Central Los Angeles. In addition, they found themselves excluded from the suburbs and restricted to housing in East or South Los Angeles, which includes the Watts neighborhood and Compton. In addition, a large group of African-American policemen from the LAPD were requested to be scattered inside and outside the Coliseum. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke two days after the riots happened in Watts. Why riot in a ghetto and not Beverly Hills where the power and money and influence lives? — by being the public face of the family while her Black husband hides in humility to avoid any confrontation that might lead to a tree or a jail cell. [19] However, the situation quickly escalated: Someone shoved Price, Frye was struck, Price jumped an officer, and another officer pulled out a shotgun. We might feel our guts curdle with that sort of blunt language from a mother to her boys, but that White mother was cutting two nooses with a single slice:  She didn’t want one son putting himself above his brother based solely on skin color; and she didn’t want one brother seeking physical revenge for an uppity cruelty. Finally, many federal officials and some reporters explained the riots as a protest against the poverty and hopelessness of life in the inner city, and they described the challenges of joblessness and the lack of basic services in South-Central Los Angeles. [4], A film crew, made up of a significant number of African-Americans at Stax's request,[5] was scattered from the top-row of the stadium to the corners of the stage where the artists were zoomed-in-on. Yes! National civil rights leader Rev. There are the obligatory stories about first being labeled with that word, but one story was particularly striking. The meeting failed. [12][13] Minorities who had served in World War II or worked in L.A.'s defense industries returned to face increasing patterns of discrimination in housing. [47], Marquette Frye died of pneumonia on December 20, 1986, at age 42.

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