By Stephen Witt
Although the City of Compton does not boast the ocean views of Malibu, the mansions of Beverly Hills, or the lure of the Hollywood Hills, this impoverished municipality is enjoying its own moment in the sun as part of the County’s storied artistic and cultural greatness.
One only has to look at Compton Rap/Hip-Hop artist Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show at the last Super Bowl and his body of work—well deserving of the Pulitzer Prize he was given—to realize that there is something special about Compton.
Lamar is just the latest of a long list of contemporary rap and hip-hop artists and athletes who have emerged from Compton in recent years.
Perhaps it’s something in the water, I thought, as I was stuck in the heart of rush hour traffic on my way to Compton’s weekly City Council meeting yesterday, but I had to see and experience the City for myself.
In the public comment portion of the meeting, I heard a laundry list of woes that befall resilient and hearty people on the lower socioeconomic spectrum before an embattled City Council. The complaints included keeping an aquatic center open for physical therapy, fixing the potholed and torn-up streets, and taking care of the less-maintained properties, as well as the burnt-out ones that have drawn the homeless and those with drug problems.
The main comments, however, came from advocates for Fathers and Mothers who Care (FMWC), a local Compton-based nonprofit with a well-needed, broad-based social services mission. In particular, they came to advocate in support of Item 15 on the agenda, that the City of Compton enter into a six-year lease agreement with FMWC as the sole tenant of a City-owned property at 920 North Alameda Street.
To this reporter, who is new to the issue, the item appeared to be a no-brainer. Other items on the agenda awarded millions of dollars in contracts for infrastructure and other work, and even the City Council acknowledged FMWC for its good work.
But in the end, the City Council tabled the item for at least a week because it wanted a better accounting of the $175,000 FMWC has committed to doing on renovating the property. This disappointed FMWC advocates and workers, who feel strongly that the City Council continually puts roadblocks in their work.
It also led FMWC Executive Director Linda Kelly to storm out of the meeting to tell me she is done with Compton and moving the operation to Long Beach. Here’s hoping she said this out of frustration and changed her mind because the work the organization is doing in Compton appears badly needed.
This issue may seem minor in the grand scope of LA County politics, but balance that with Compton’s oversized contribution to the County as a Mecca for world culture and art. And even if Compton hadn’t made such a significant contribution, community journalism thrives on covering these issues.
Or in the words of playwright Arthur Miller, “Attention must be paid”.
“Attention must be paid!”
