March 16, 2017
LAWT News Service
On Saturday February 25, South Central Los Angeles Regional Center’s (SCLARC) Family Resource Center (FRC) hosted an Unveiling Ceremony that honored Dr. La-Doris McClaney and her family.
Dr. McClaney was honored because of her generous support of children and families in South Los Angeles who have been, or are at-risk of being, diagnosed with a developmental disability.
For more than 40 years, South Central Los Angeles Regional Center (SCLARC) has provided vital services to thousands of children and adults living with developmental disabilities throughout South Los Angeles. It is SCLARC’s goal to empower families and their loved ones diagnosed with autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, or an intellectual disability to find independence and acceptance in their local community. The Family Resource Center (FRC) helps families, caring for children at-risk of or diagnosed with a developmental disability, find solutions and services. Of the many supports offered by SCLARC, its FRC has stood as a beacon of hope, help and understanding for more than 28 years. Recently, Dr. La-Doris McClaney spearheaded a $1,000,000 fundraising campaign to expand and enhance the center’s programming. As a result, many more families will learn to manage the challenges that come with having a loved one diagnosed with a disability.
The McClaney family has a long history of charitable giving in Los Angeles and beyond. Dr. McClaney’s mother, Eula McClaney, was born to a sharecropping family in rural Alabama. With only a sixth grade education, Eula began a small business selling sweet potato pies. From those humble beginnings she amassed a real estate portfolio of 33 properties and managed their rentals. In the late 1950’s, on a visit to Los Angeles with her daughters, La-Doris and Burnestine, Eula purchased a motel. Within a few years, she decided to relocate to Los Angeles. The motel, which was originally converted into the McClaney’s residence in Los Angeles, later became Flagstone Guest Haven, one of the first residential care facilities for the developmentally disabled in South Los Angeles.
It was during this era that La-Doris came to understand the special needs of the population served by SCLARC. The center is one of 21 private, non-profit centers contracting with the State of California, specifically with the Department of Developmental Services, to provide diagnosis, evaluation, case management and life-long planning to individuals who are developmentally disabled. Currently, the agency serves approximately 13,500 individuals who have been diagnosed with a developmental disability. Now, with her new commitment to SCLARC’s Family Resource Center, her legacy will continue to grow.
The McClaney Family Resource Center will continue SCLARC’S long standing legacy of serving as a central point of contact for parents and caregivers with infants and toddlers ages birth to three who are have been diagnosed or at risk of a developmental disability. Dr. McClaney’s generous fundraising support will help add knowledgeable staff who will help parents navigate the complicated world of benefits and services that exist for children with disabilities. It will also improve outcomes for young children, providing them with increased access to quality play, and developmentally appropriate activities. Most of all, the new McClaney Family Resource will increase opportunities to equip parents and caregivers with the tools they will need to be empowered advocates for their loved ones.
March 09, 2017
LAWT News Service
The 2nd Annual Living Legends of Tennis Awards Brunch will take place on Saturday, March 25th at 11:00 a.m. at Oscar’s Restaurant Bar & Grill, located at the Ramada Inn at 5250 W. El Segundo Blvd. in Hawthorne.
The event is a fundraiser to support twelve junior tennis players, who will be participating in the American Tennis Association’s (ATA) national tennis tournament in Baltimore, Maryland from July 31 through August 5, 2017. The awards brunch is given by the Pete Brown Junior Tennis Program, the Harvard Tennis Club and the Pacific Coast Championships.
The seven inspiring African-American tennis legends, who will be honored and have all played significant roles in the development of the game include: Marcel Freeman, Troy Collins, Maurice Hunter, Jerome Jones, Warrick “Rick” Jones, Hollis Smith and Henry Brandon.
The tax-deductible tickets are $45 for adults and children under 12 are half price. There are three methods for purchasing tickets: You can go directly to the website https://tinyurl.com/ ATATEAM 2017, contact Marty Woods at (714) 299-7806 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Proceeds from this event will go towards the fundraising effort to send twelve junior teen players to the ATA tournament this summer.
March 09, 2017
By Jennifer Bihm
Assistant Editor
When Andre Christian was young, his life was in turmoil. He wasn’t happy at home and looked for things like stability, love and acceptance in the streets. Joining a gang gave him that… or so he thought.
Living day to day through an endless stream of crime and senseless murders became taxing.
But there were two things about Christian’s situation. One, was that he was blessed enough to make it out of gang warfare alive. The second, is that he had the wherewithal to think about an alternative.
“I matured and basically got tired of the senseless murders, young guys being over sentenced,” he recalled.
He found that through the Watts Life Car Club. He joined them in 1998, exactly 20 years after the club had been formed in Los Angeles. In 1978 a group of men loosely banded together to represent Watts in the popular street races and hot spots at the time. They officially formed the Individuals Car Club in 1980, consisting of members from other parts of L.A. County, like Compton, South Central and Gardena. Watts Life was soon to follow.
It’s all about the cars, members said. The cars are what make people come together.
“Watts Life [members] are like our brothers,” explained Lunatic the Low rider, vice president of the Next Level car club out of Los Angeles.
“Andre has a lot of different clubs that support him. When he gives the word about an event, people come support him. If you come to some of our events, you would see people from different areas getting along, people who wouldn’t normally get along.”
“We have members of rival gangs, Blacks Mexicans, Crips, Bloods… there’s not a lot of trouble when we have our events,” Christian added.
But not a lot of trouble doesn’t mean any…
“Bringing peace to the community is sometimes a fight because everybody doesn’t want peace,” Christian said.
“There was a big paranoia when I first started at the shopping center on 103rd and Compton. People didn’t think we would get that far…”
Except they did get far and it was due to forming significant and essential relationships with community leaders and community members alike.
“It came from me working with [civil rights attorney] Connie Rice and the mayor’s office, etc. I also try to pull loyal people into the car club also, who want to join the effort to make peace and save lives. It works by communication. When you see something in a person, you try to dialog and try to help them change, to go to their next level…”
That’s what keeps the club moving in the right direction, Christian said.
To that end, yearly events like the Winter Wonderland festival, The Thanksgiving Feed, and the Stop the Violence via the Safe Community Initiatives are what the clubs thrive on.
“We are about brotherhood and trust, said,” Lunatic.
“We are about the wheel. You see these cars… and some people will have like $30,000 put into their car. We let people know, ‘you can do this.’ The cars represent so much. It’s about taking steps to do something new for yourself no matter what neighborhood you’re from.”
“The biggest thing we see coming out of this is stopping the violence,” Christian said.
“As we come together with these peace movements, we could be saving our grandchildren or our great, great grandchildren.”
“My goal is to keep the peace and have people enjoy life. We can cut down violence, our communities can live longer,” said Next Level President Bay Bay.
March 02, 2017
By Cora Jackson-Fossett
Contributing Writer
African American artist Carlos Spivey displays his amazing command of multimedia in his “Power of Love” exhibit at the Watts Towers Arts Center.
His creative works, which encompass the breadth of the art form, range from silk screens to oils to mosaics to stained glass.
Among the highlights of his collection is a bright and vibrant covering entitled “From Rags to Riches,” a colorful quilt that Spivey designed, sewed and topped-off with a hand-painted an image of a man with a guitar.
Another arresting piece is “Warrior Woman” where Spivey assembled his own hand-built ceramic tile into a shape of a powerful female.
A self-described “onyx ancient futurist,” Spivey said, “Sometimes people see my work and they think that I’m going back in time, but actually I’m going into the future. We embrace who we are and love who we are and we incorporate parts of our indigenous culture and harmony with the environment.”
The Black Pride movement of the 1970s influenced Spivey’s approach to art. As a teen during that era, he studied African cultures and learned more about the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history. His increasing knowledge contradicted the negative images of blacks that he saw on television and in movies as a child.
“I watched a lot of Tarzan films where the way black people were depicted in the media made me not feel good about being black. Our image had been distorted – full lips were bad, big hips were bad, dark skin was put down, our hair texture was bad. The Black Power movement made everybody proud to be black, loving who we are,” recalled Spivey.
“Most of my audience is African American and what they want is see themselves depicted in a way that made them proud and feel good about themselves. I’ve been carrying out that legacy and why I started doing art.
Inviting the public to view his exhibit, Spivey added, “My collection is uplifting, positive, colors are vibrant and most people, when they see the show, actually leave feeling good.”
Spivey’s exhibit continues until March 5 at the Watts Towers Arts Center, 1727 E. 107th St., in Los Angeles. The gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more, call (213) 847-4646.