{"id":923,"date":"2018-02-21T17:51:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-22T01:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=62555"},"modified":"2018-02-21T17:51:22","modified_gmt":"2018-02-22T01:51:22","slug":"the-search-for-a-home-for-african-american-culture-begins-in-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/the-search-for-a-home-for-african-american-culture-begins-in-long-beach","title":{"rendered":"The Search for a Home for African American Culture Begins in Long Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

An African American art exhibit\u00a0displayed at a First Fridays event in Bixby Knolls. Photo: Stephanie Rivera<\/em><\/p>\n

The search for a potential home for a future African American cultural center in Long Beach is officially underway after the council voted Tuesday night to initiate the process that will likely include the community as well as private investors.<\/p>\n

Proposed by Eighth District Councilman Al Austin with the support of Councilman Dee Andrews and Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, the item\u2019s introduction comes just before the end of Black History Month. The site for the proposed center has yet to be determined but a few members of the public suggested that the old North Branch Library, which currently serves as a temporary winter shelter, should be a contender.<\/p>\n

Austin suggested that a center that the community deserves would likely need about $1.5 million in seed money, adding that the community should \u201cgo big\u201d in trying to put together the center that has been discussed in the city\u2019s black community for some time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a dialogue that is starting but it\u2019s a dialogue that we mean to move with purpose and with action,\u201d Austin said of the initiation of the search.<\/p>\n

He said the challenge should not rest just on the city to identify funds and someone to operate the center once completed, and extended that challenge to the community as well. Sixth District Councilman Dee Andrews offered up about 7 percent of Austin\u2019s projected seed money goal, challenging his council colleagues to make similar contributions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for each of us and each of you, to literally put your money where your mouth is,\u201d Andrews said. \u201cI am prepared to commit $100,000 in one-time infrastructure funds to serve as a matching funds from any of my colleagues who claim to be similarly interested in promoting our shared, diverse Long Beach culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move drew wide support from members of the public who gathered to back the item\u2019s introduction. Sakkara Ingrid Thomas, founder of the Queens Historical Society, a group that helps present African American heritage, said that while other cities have recognized Black history with centers and museums, it would be special to not have to leave the city to experience the same kind of recognition.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a designated space is the most important thing that you can do,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cEven though it\u2019s honorable to be able to travel around nationally, internationally, to come back home and not have a home is very disheartening.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a letter sent to the council before the hearing, Naomi Rainey-Pierson, president of the Long Beach Branch NAACP, said that the the center would teach life lessons through the history of African Americans in Long Beach and help inform people of the contributions of African Americans in the city and nationally. Rainey-Pierson said it would also provide a sense of equality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe establishment of this center will show that the city of Long Beach respects and proactively promotes the diversity of our city. In addition, it will show inclusiveness and equity for all,\u201d the letter read. \u201cThis center will help to reduce ethnic tensions in our community and debunk the myth and misconception of ethnic favoritism by our city leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the city\u2019s demographics, African Americans make up about 13 percent of the city\u2019s population but that ethnic group lacks its own cultural home that other minorities have in Long Beach. If constructed, the proposed center could join the Museum of Latin American Art, the Pacific Island Ethnic Art Museum and the Japanese Culture Center as a cultural hub celebrating diversity throughout the city.<\/p>\n

A report on the progress of identifying funds and potential site for the African American cultural center is expected back in the next few months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The site for the proposed center has yet to be determined but a few members of the public suggested that the old North Branch Library, which currently serves as a temporary winter shelter, should be a contender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":66417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[179],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-black-history-month","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}