For African American History Month, we reflect on the African American community of early Los Angeles. Arriving in the region in search of the California Dream, African American migrants relied on the institutions they created—particularly churches, Black-owned newspapers, and civic organizations—to strengthen their community against the backdrop of racial discrimination.
When California became a U.S. state, Los Angeles had fewer than two thousand residents, with about a dozen of those being African American. A slow trickle of African American migrants arrived in the coming years, and they formed a small network of friends which planted the seed for a budding community.
Experience
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African American History Month: Political Leaders
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Barbara Jordan : speaking the truth with eloquent thunder
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Dark days, bright nights : from Black power to Barack Obama
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Marshalling justice : the early civil rights letters of Thurgood Marshall
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Silent covenants : Brown v. Board of Education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform
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A way out of no way : the spiritual memoirs of Andrew Young.
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All eyes are upon us : race and politics from Boston to Brooklyn
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An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America
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Barack Obama : the official inaugural book
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Bayard Rustin : troubles I've seen : a biography
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Black congressmen during Reconstruction : a documentary sourcebook
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Black firsts : 4,000 ground-breaking and pioneering historical events
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Blackballed : the Black vote and US democracy
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Bridging the divide : my life
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Civil rights and the promise of equality : photographs from the National Museum of African American History and Culture
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Equal justice-- under law : an autobiography
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Fighting Shirley Chisholm.
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Great African-American lawyers : raising the bar of freedom
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Jesse : the life and pilgrimage of Jesse Jackson
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Julian Bond: Black rebel.
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Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
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Kamala's way : an American life
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Lay bare the heart : an autobiography of the civil rights movement
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Lying down with the lions : a public life from the streets of Oakland to the halls of power
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Ralph Bunche—An American Life
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Roy Wilkins : the quiet revolutionary and the NAACP
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Showdown : Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court nomination that changed America
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Soldier : the life of Colin Powell
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The Black presidency : Barack Obama and the politics of race in America
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The handy African American history answer book
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The loneliness of the Black Republican : pragmatic politics and the pursuit of power
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The rebellious life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
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The senator and the socialite : the true story of America's first black dynasty
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The voting rights war : the NAACP and the ongoing struggle for justice
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This little light of mine : the life of Fannie Lou Hamer
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Tom Bradley: The Impossible Dream: A Biography
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Watch me fly : what I learned on the way to becoming the woman I was meant to be
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Womanpower Unlimited and the Black freedom struggle in Mississippi
Essential Readings for Adults and Teens
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March: Book One
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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
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Between the World and Me
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Black Is the New White
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Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
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Chokehold: Policing Black Men
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Dear Martin
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Genesis Begins Again
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How Not to Get Shot: And Other Advice From White People
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How to Be an Antiracist
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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I'm Not Dying with You Tonight
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Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Learn more about nine women who made significant contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, and their experiences with discrimination by
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Long Way Down
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March: Book Three
March books one through three are a modern classic of graphic nonfiction with starred reviews from every major reviewer.
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March: Book Two
March books one through three are a modern classic of graphic nonfiction with starred reviews from every major reviewer.
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Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
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Monster
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One Person, No Vote (YA edition): How Not All Voters Are Treated Equally
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Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
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Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation
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So You Want to Talk About Race
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Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
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Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
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The Bluest Eye
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The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
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The Hate U Give
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
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Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria: And Other Conversations About Race