What started in 2005 was a vision of a community united in love, peace and brotherhood—it was Taste of Soul. Danny Bakewell Sr. and the late Brenda Marsh-Mitchell along with city officials, community partners and friends created an idea that has grown into something special. This year will mark the 10th anniversary of Taste of Soul upholding that vision and establishing itself as the largest family festival in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 17.

Crenshaw Blvd comes to life with a variety of vendors from all over Southern California, world renowned entertainment and a community that loves and respects each other. Over the past 10 years, TOS has remained one of the most peaceful festivals in South L.A. with the positive presence of law enforcement, the Nation of Islam and emergency units such as Explorer One Ambulance.

Over the years, the festival’s fans, affectionately dubbed TOS Nation, have come to sample food from vendors from local restaurants, eateries and bakeries. Returning TOS vendors include Harold & Belles, The Kobbler King and Mee Ma’s Gumbo Bricks. Other vendors include BBQ Smokehouse, Fighting Fish Co., Gwen’s Specialty Cakes and Try My T. It’s sure to be a foodie’s paradise as just about every kind of cuisine will be at the festival. TOS is more than food however, as there will be non-food vendors such as ordained minister and author John Watts with his book the “Missing Years of Baby Jesus” and  teacher and author Latrice Slaughter with her book “I Love Me: Building Self-Esteem in Children.”

TOS always has the best in entertainment thanks to wonderful partners such as Radio Free KJLH and 94.7 The Wave. This year will be no different. Both stages will be featuring longtime R&B and funk favorites.  KJLH-Buffalo Wild Wings Stage will see the return of TOS Celebrity Alum Angie Stone, who performed at Taste of Soul in 2007. Other artists featured on the stage this year include Monica, Joe and Mint Condition. The 94.7 WAVE Stage welcomes back TOS Celebrity Alums DW3, and will also welcome the sounds of Jon B., Lakeside and Zapp.

The Brenda Marsh- Mitchell Gospel Stage returns honoring the memory of the longtime president of TOS, who passed away in August of 2014. This year the Gospel Stage welcomes McDonalds as a sponsor bringing the Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour, which will include gospel artist Yolanda Adams, music director and songwriter Donald Lawrence and Dorinda Clark-Cole . Being one of the co-founders, the late Marsh-Mitchell also designed and managed the gospel stage at every TOS and arranged for appearances by both local and national artists.

In 2012, StarQuest debuted at the 7th Annual TOS Festival, a creation of the Los Angeles Sentinel and Bakewell Media and has become a staple in showcasing local talent. The first StarQuest resulted in 12 semi-finalists, who were chosen to perform on the StarQuest stage during the TOS festival. In 2013, StarQuest added a kids’ competition to give youth a chance at stardom. The StarQuest 4 Kids competition features youth ages 5-17 in addition to the adult competition. In 2014, Mothership was the winner of the adult competition and Tim Jr. won the kids competition. As a result, StarQuest winners have been put on a path of success. Many are performing at multiple venues and some have already released music. Tim Jr. can be seen singing to the recent Apple Watch Ad commercial.

TOS has utilized social media with an impressive turnout on Facebook where posts, pictures, shares, likes, tags, etc. were viewed 3.1 million times by 1.2 million people in the month of October 2014. Over the years, vendors, businesses and mom-and-pop shops have become a part of TOS nation. TOS’ broad appeal allows for Black businesses to come face-to-face with their consumers and new customers.  Corporate sponsors have been lured back over and over again by the sheer over powering numbers of individuals with whom they could not reach otherwise.

This year TOS will launch the Taste of Beauty Pavilion featuring the beauty industry’s top stylists and educators including Neeko, Kim Kimble, DaRico Jackson, Patric Bradley and 729 BEaUty. The Taste of Beauty Pavilion will offer live demonstrations and showcase an array of the latest hair care systems and products. Celebrating over 40 years in business, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry White of Kizure will be honored at this year’s festival.

TOS’ partners and sponsors are valued contributors and have helped make the festival a 10-year success. Some of those sponsors include: AT&T, Southcoast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), Bank of America, California Endowment, Charles R. Drew University, JPMorgan Chase Co., Comerica, County of Los Angeles, Easy Choice Health Plan (HMO), Fox Audience Strategy, Buick, L.A. City Workforce Investment Board (WIB), Metro, Metropolitan Water District, Nestle Waters, Nielsen, California Resources Corpora­tion, SEIU Local 2015, Southern Cali­fornia Edison, South­ern California Gas Company, US Bank, Verizon Foundation, Walmart, WalshShea, Watts Healthcare and Wells Fargo. TOS partners include: Radio Free 102.3 KJLH and 94.7 The Wave, CBS2-TV, Brotherhood Cru­sade, Metro, Ivie, McNeill and Wyatt, CHP, LAPD and AAUC.

TOS would like to thanks this year’s chairs and co-chairs for their participation and support. Chairs this year are Mayor Eric Garcetti, Council Presi­dent, Herb Wesson, Council­member Marqueece Harris-Dawson and L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Co-chairs include Congressmember Karen Bass, Senator Isadore Hall, III, Councilmember Curren Price, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, Assemblymember Autumn Burke, LAUSD District 1: Dr. George McKenna, KCBS-Channel 2, Pat Harvey and law firm Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt.

Metro makes sure transportation via the Metro Expo/Crenshaw light-rail station is available to those who wish to come to the festival every year. The Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line project continues making its way down Crenshaw Blvd. but will once again cease thanks to Walsh/Shea Corridor Constructors for TOS 10th Anniversary.

For more information, visit www.tasteofsoulla.org. Don’t forget to download the Taste of Soul App which can also be found on the Taste of Soul website. Please visit and like Taste of Soul on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Don’t forget to download the Taste of Soul mobile App for the up-to-date information, prizes, giveaways, vendor locations, food and entertainment throughout the day.

“We’ve got to go back to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad’s teaching to do for self,” Nation of Islam Western Regional Minister Tony Muhammad told the Sentinel in a recent interview.

Muhammad talked about his beginning ministry with NOI here in Los Angeles, about relating to the young street soldiers, but most importantly he talked about “Justice or Else” the 20th anniversary of The Million Man March. Ten, ten, fifteen he said, is more than just about going to make demands on the government but rather, “it’s about making demands on ourselves.”

“The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan wants to finish what Dr. King started,” Muhammad explained. 

“He has asked the clergy and he has asked the intellectuals to go back and study Dr. King in his last years. Study all of those lectures. [King] said the night before he was assassinated, that we must now redistribute the pain back on America what she has put on us. He said you don’t need a Molotov cocktail, you don’t need a gun. He said all we need is our unity.

“He said we, at that time, we are the ninth richest country in terms of our purchasing power.  So, he said why don’t we redistribute the pain by boycotting. So, he called for a boycott on Coca Cola, a boycott on Wonder Bread but the next day he was murdered. So, Farrakhan said we’re going to pick that up.”

“Picking it up”, is going to involve wielding the current spending power that African Americans have in the United States. That power involves about 1.2 to 1.7 trillion dollars, Muhammad said. And those dollars are sorely needed in Black communities across the country.

“We are the consumer that makes this country run,” said Muhammad.

“But we don’t hold on to our money. Our money doesn’t even circulate a half a time in our community. The Jewish community, their dollar may circulate 12 times before it goes out. Our dollars don’t even go in, they go right out. We have to change that reality…”

One way would be to boycott Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when American consumers collectively part with more money than any other day throughout the year.

“We’re calling for a true Black Friday and we’re going to stop supporting a government that doesn’t support us,” Muhammad said.

“Our unity will be more powerful than an atom bomb. And then [Farrakhan] is saying, ‘we’re going to knock Santa out of the seat that Jesus should be sitting in, since it’s his birthday.’”

“So, that Friday, we want to be absent. We don’t want to spend any money until way after Christmas.  Now, [retailers] will have so much stuff left you can get it for practically nothing. And we’ll also ask our people why don’t we redirect our spending. Let’s make our black business owners powerful but our black business owners have to make a deal with us, meaning they’ve got to go into manufacturing so that they can create jobs for the black community…”

While economic justice will be a major theme of the march, other demands will fall under “Justice or Else”.

“In this twenty years later, we’re 50 years from the march on Washington D.C.,” Muhammad explained.

“Back then it was for jobs. And now, we still don’t have jobs and nor do we have justice.

“Now, the honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is putting a demand on two fronts. One, we’re going to demand justice from this government that we have not had since our sojourn in this country.  When the justice system sees a black man, they should see us as equal to our white counterparts. There should be justice from police brutality and mob attacks.

“We’re also demanding justice for the Native Americans who still live in squalor on reservations where alcoholism and drug use is running so rampant they are almost decimated as a people.

“There’s a call for justice for women who work the same job as a man but can’t get equal pay. He’s asking for justice for veterans who go off and fight these wars for the rich and for Wall Street. They should come back to a hero’s welcome and shouldn’t want for nothing but they are laying under bridges and when they go to the hospital they can’t even see a doctor. We’re asking for justice for the Palestinians.

“So, this particular march is going to be powerful. We’re going to be demanding justice from the big pharmaceuticals who we now know through one of their senior lead scientists at the Centers for Disease Control that vaccines are giving black boys autism at a rate that makes the Tuskegee experiment look like a Sunday school picnic…”

Twenty years ago Muhammad said, Farrakhan’s call to Black men in the U.S. was for them to atone. October 16, 1995 was a day of absence from the chaos of American life. It was a call for reconciliation and forgiveness.

“The honorable Minister Farrakhan asked us to register the largest block of registered voters ever to happen in the annals of history,” Muhammad recalled.

“At that time there were 25000 black children on the waiting list to be adopted and the whole list was eradicated.

“Every black organization saw an increase in its membership because the honorable Louis Farrakhan asked black men to go back home and get involved in some black organization, whether it was the church or some other social group, helping your community. All of that happened…”

“On 10-10-15 the whole world is going to be looking for a country who condemns other countries for her moral incorrectness,” Muhammad said.

“This country needs to deal with its own hypocrisy. So now, France will see, ‘you ain’t doin’ for your own citizens.’ Syria will see, Libya will see, Mecca will see, the Palestinians will see… the whole world will see nearly… we are expecting anywhere from 1 to 3 million people to be in attendance…”

In the midst of vehicle traffic, thousands of passengers and hundreds of daily flights, Los Angeles International Airport is transforming into the new LAX. 

Maligned for decades for congestion on its roadways, in the terminals and in the skies, the nation’s second-largest airport has embarked on a multi-year, $8.5 billion capital improvement program that aims to dramatically enhance the traveler’s experience. 

Leading the transformation is Deborah Flint, the recently appointed executive director of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), who was named by Mayor Eric Garcetti in June to head the mammoth transportation agency comprised of LAX, Ontario International Airport and Van Nuys Airport.   

Flint previously served as director of aviation for Oakland International Airport where she successfully completed a range of capital projects including the opening of a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station, connecting the airport to the huge population throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Expressing excitement about similar customer-oriented advances planned for LAX, Flint said, “It’s a pivotal time to change and transform LAX.  My vision is to restore it in all aspects to the iconic image that people have of LAX and to lead in the global rankings of airports the way that we should in this great city.”  

The restoration Flint referred to contains several components already underway.  The new Tom Bradley Terminal, which will be fully completed this year, features 18 new aircraft gates, expanded security screening areas, and a Great Hall offering premier dining and shopping. Also, Terminal 1, home to the ever-busy Southwest Airlines, is being renovated to enhance the building’s interior; aircraft ramp and traffic flow around the Central Terminal Area.  

“Actually, every terminal has a plan to modernize, to add food, beverage and retail opportunities; so we can all shop and eat the way we want to at the airport.  We call our customers ‘guests’ because part of our mission is to create a more hospitality-minded, guest-centric experience at the airport,” explained Flint.  Most of the terminal modernization projects are expected to be completed by early 2019. 

“Also, it’s so important for us that we proceed with a program that we’ve identified as the Landside Access Moderization Program and that program is to essentially take all of that congestion activity around the central terminal area, or the u-shaped roadway, and extend that out, providing facilities near the airport to help accommodate that activity.” 

Three future projects, scheduled for completion by 2024, are earmarked to address the congestion issue.  The consolidated rent-a-car center will house existing rental companies in one facility adjacent to the 405 Freeway. The Intermodal Transportation Facilities (ITF) will offer multiple locations outside the terminal area to pick-up and drop off passengers, park cars and check-in for flights.  The automated people-mover or LAX Train will transport travelers to-and-from the rental car center, the ITF, airport terminals and the Metro system.  

“We want this landside program to be a very efficient, effective process for entering in the airport.  I envision that it’s going to be very, very reliable, quick, also whether you take public transit in or park at one of those facilities, a train will be available every few minutes and that train will deliver you expeditiously to one of the airport stations,” said Flint. 

“It is going to take some time.  I ask the public’s patience because for us to transform the facility, it’s going to be a little bit painful to bear.  The access is not going to be there, the surface may be dusty, but we have a lot to look forward to.” 

One benefit people can expect is the creation of more jobs.  LAX is a huge economic engine for the region, generating an estimated 294,400 jobs in Los Angeles County and an economic output exceeding $39.7 billion.  According to Flint, the LAX modernization project will create several opportunities for local hiring and small business owners. 

“I’m optimistic that we’re going to create both small business, minority business, women and veteran-owned opportunities as well as local job creation and workforce hiring,” she said.  “LAWA is committed to making sure that we develop our path forward, our procurement processes, with job creation and local small businesses, hiring in mind with that program. 

“I have seen the direct results of what it can do for small businesses to grow and to be long-term sustainable because they’re had opportunities to work on airport projects.  The team and the leadership of the Board of Airport Commissioners are really setting the stage to ensure that our programs are beneficial and impactful,” said Flint. 

Aviation has definitely impacted Flint’s life.  Her interest was sparked as a child travelling often to Africa and the Caribbean with her family to help people in need.  Both parents stressed the values of a strong work ethic and giving back to the community. 

“Growing up, I had a very global experience living in and traveling to a number of those places.  As a young person, I didn’t necessarily appreciate those experiences.  But, I did always appreciate how each airport, each place we landed, what it represented to me and how different they all were,” she recalled. 

“I think recognizing how important jet travel is, opening up air markets and the ability for people to fly and how it changes lives so dramatically, had kind of a Freudian influence on where I ultimately choose to place my career,” said Flint with a laugh. 

Encouraging young women to consider a transportation career, she advised, “I think it’s the right time for a young woman to think about the vast number of careers in transportation.  What I’d like to do is spread the word to think about transportation, think about aviation, airports, as a potential career opportunity.”

To learn more about Deborah Flint and LAX, visit  www.lawa.org.