Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León recently introduced motions to rename Pershing Square after Bridget “Biddy” Mason, who got her freedom from bondage in Los Angeles in the 1850s. Biddy Mason Memorial Park was among the first significant efforts to acknowledge the histories of working people and communities of color in Los Angeles’ public spaces. In a 2022 report …
I really didn’t want to write about the latest Kevin de León move but Gen. John J. Pershing made me. I’m not the biggest war nerd, but Pershing was on my mind thanks to De León, who faces a tough City Council reelection campaign because of his role in the City Hall tape leak scandal that upended L.A. politics nearly …
NEW YORK — Black music traditions such as jazz are central to celebrations of Juneteenth, says civil rights lawyer and jazz pianist Bryan Stevenson. That’s why he and Pulitzer Prize-winning jazz artist Wynton Marsalis have debuted “Freedom, Justice and Hope,” a live performance album of historic jazz records created to protest racial injustice, in time for this year’s celebrations. Some …