Heaven and Haven in Los Angeles

In the Los Angeles Riots of 1992 and the Watts riots in 1965, the residents of Los Angeles city and county were angered, upset, and confused by what was going on around them. They needed a place to look to for strength, grounding, and peace. The First African Methodist Episcopal Church (First AME) in South Central Los Angeles provided the much-needed beacon of hope for the people in its surrounding community.
The time of the Watts riots was not the first time this denomination of church reached out to its community; the African Methodist Episcopal Church has a tradition of standing as a pillar of strength when its community most needs it. The occurrence of both the 1965 and 1992 Watts Riots are famous examples of discrimination and racial oppression. Whites were killing blacks, blacks attacked whites, and even those of Hispanic and Asian decent were at odds with each other. “Some said the persecution could only end when the races blended and the pigmentation of all men and women approached one hue” (Crump, p 7). However, in the midst of the chaos, the AME church stood as a safe haven for its parishioners and community members.
The 1965 riots lasted from Wednesday, August eleventh until Wednesday, August eighteenth – exactly one week of fire, bullets, looting, brutality, and utter chaos. The entire week was set off by one incident: the arrest of two young, black men by two older, white men in a predominantly black neighborhood. They were pulled over for reckless driving and then arrested for failing the sobriety test and driving under the influence of alcohol (Fogelson, pp 22-24). A crowd of about three hundred onlookers drew to watch the arrest and ensuing struggle, as one young man refused to be taken downtown without force. As the police car, its drivers, and the two occupants of the backseat left the scene, the crowd transformed into an angry mob, throwing rocks at the departing vehicles and picking fights with each other.
Before the first night was over, the mob divided itself into smaller groups who then proceeded to wreak havoc on the streets of Watts, burning and overturning cars. They threw rocks at car windows and set them on fire. Fifty vehicles – including two fire trucks sent to extinguish fires – were destroyed by fire the first night of the riots, and this only marked the beginning of the long week. Throughout the next few days, people all over the city of Los Angeles were encouraged to avoid the riot sections of town and “try to continue on with their daily lives” (McCone Commission Report).
A community forum was held on Friday, in Athens Park, just two blocks from where the original arrest had taken place that started all the troubles. This gathering backfired on the officials who organized it. “The county officials received a disappointingly small show of hands when asking how many in the audience would work to prevent violence” (McCurdy, Berman, p145). Rioters chanted the phrase “Burn, baby, burn!” in the streets during the riots while looting and burning homes, stores, and community buildings. Snipers hidden in surrounding buildings shot at the firefighters who tried to put out the fires.
Eventually, after losing five firemen to bullets, the firemen and women had to give up and watch, along with the inhabitants of the buildings, in dejected defeat and bewilderment as smoke billowed up from the roofs of homes (Fogelson, p129). A new gathering of city and federal officials took place, this time in a more central location: Grant AME church in Watts. City leaders and community activists used the pulpit and the pews of Grant AME as a safe haven to discuss the causes, and effects of the riots, and ways to stop and prevent them.  By the end of the week, nine hundred and eighty buildings and homes were destroyed. Thirty-five people died as a result of the snipers, rioters, and police forces in the seven days of chaos. Through all of the disruption, no harm came to the actual structure of Grant AME, despite the refusal of police officers to protect the doors to the church.
Almost thirty years later, another African Methodist Episcopal church stood out as a refuge during the onslaught of yet another round of riots. As the verdict of the Rodney King trial was given and riots broke out all over the city, the mayor, Tom Bradley, used the pulpit of First AME to call for peace and beg the citizens of Los Angeles to calm down. As buildings all over the city of Los Angeles were burned, looted, and tagged First AME remained a haven of peace. The building was one of the few in the area not harmed during the 1992 Watts riots.
After the riots, Rev. Murray began working toward building up the city of Los Angeles. “This very neighborhood lost all hope in itself,” he proclaimed sadly from his pulpit. He continued, gathering hope, “but today we stand here full of pride and faith in our community and its capacity to rebuild itself!”
The First AME Church stood originally at the corner of Towne and Eighth Avenue in Los Angeles. Founded in 1872 by a Biddie Mason, FAME holds claim to representing the oldest Black congregation in Los Angeles. Biddie Mason was a slave in the 1800’s. When her white owner decided to move to Los Angeles, she made a pact with him: they agreed that she would herd his cattle across the country with her daughters and, upon their arrival, he would set her free. The two shook on the deal and, ten months later, Biddie and her daughters were free in southern California (About Us). She then bought property and later became the owner of one of the biggest parcels of land in California. Biddie Mason was a long-time follower of and believer in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, established by Richard Allen in Philadelphia during in 1789. Upset at the racial issues that were encouraged by the churches at the time, Allen organized a group of slaves to walk out of a service and create their own church. They met and worshiped for years in a blacksmith shop owned by Allen, which they called ‘Bethel’ or ‘place of freedom and peace.’ (Mother Bethel)
Today First AME stands at 2270 South Harvard Boulevard in Los Angeles and houses the largest black congregation in southern California. There are over seventeen thousand parishioners who consider FIRST AME their home and they all hold very true to their motto “First to serve.” Over forty outreach programs are directly associated with FIRST AME Los Angeles that cater to youth, children, the gay and lesbian community, homeless, victims of domestic violence, AA Members, HIV/AIDS victims, and many more (About Us).
Reverend Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, the former head pastor at FIRST AME of almost thirty years, is credited with bringing this church to the forefront of Los Angeles politics. When he took on the head pastoral position there were only three hundred active members in the congregation and the building was in great disrepair. The building that once housed the first black school in southern California had been all but forgotten in the community of Los Angeles. Throughout his career at the church, Murray led a workforce that turned the structure to a beautiful church and landmark in the community. He also grew to be a respected leader in the city of Los Angeles, bringing respect to the church as well (Murray).  
In 1993 First AME opened a fifty-four thousand square foot Renaissance Center in southern Los Angeles. This center was designed to help small business get back on their feet after the economic struggle in LA caused by the riots. It also provided jobs and hope for the citizens of Los Angeles. The corner on which the Renaissance Center now stands was completely destroyed by fire during the 1992 Riots, but now the Center is a reminder that good can come of bad situations (Murray).
Today the AME Churches of Los Angeles are prominent in political and social status. Two Senators are members of First AME, as well as many former mayors of Los Angeles and judges. Former President Bill Clinton used the pulpit as a national microphone when he spoke on behalf of CA Governor Gray Davis. Davis, along with other Attorney General bill Lockyer and other Democratic allies, also spoke out against the recall in 2003 (Booth).
Grant AME hosts weekly press conferences through which grass roots organizations are able to air their voices. More recently, celebrities including Angela Bassett, the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter attended a campaign in the sanctuary at Grant AME, protesting the closure of the King/Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles (Chong). This pulpit has drawn national attention for its mediating role in such political dramas as the reform of LAUSD, immigration, the conflict in Iraq, and MTA union strikes.
The church plays such a large role in politics that politicians, in their speeches to the public, pledge to support programs and issues founded or encouraged by First AME. Rev. Murray has spoken at numerous conferences and political debates across the country and is considered to be an honorary member of the Los Angeles City Council.
The African Methodist Episcopal Denomination, in its very existence, encourages the citizens of Los Angeles to take an active role in improving and learning more about their community. The churches are always open to the public as a prayer chapel, safe haven, or pulpit. As a nationwide policy in the African Episcopal Churches, there are people available in church offices twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to provide prayer support, information, or emergency help and funds. The city of Los Angeles is indeed fortunate to have this incredible denomination, especially as manifest in the Grant and First AME Churches in Los Angeles.
 References
About Us: First AME Los Angeles.  First African Methodist Episcopal Church of
Los Angeles. 21 February, 2007. <http://www.famechurch.org>
Booth, William. “Clinton Accuses GOP of Power Grab: Former President Seeks
to Mobilize CA’s Democratic Base on Recall.” Washington Post 15
September, 2003.
Chong, Jia-Rui, Solomon Moore and Steve Hymon. “Waters at Center Stage in
King/Drew Drama. Los Angeles Times  17 November, 2004.
Crump, Spencer. Black Riot in Los Angeles: the Story of the Watts Tragedy. Los
 Angeles: Trans-Anglo Books, 1966.
Fogelson, Robert M. Mass Violence in America: the Los Angeles Riots. Arno
Press: New York. 1969.
McCone Commission Report. Los Angeles: Kimtex Corporation, 1965.
McCurdy, Berman, Staff. Understanding the riots. Los Angeles: Los
Angeles Times, 1992.
Mother Bethel. Ushistory.org. 21 February, 2007.
<http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_bethel.htm>
Murray, Rev. Cecil. Interview The Tavis Smiley Show. NPR: Los Angeles, 6
August, 2003.