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Black L.A. social spaces flourished after George Floyd. 5 years later, will they survive?
Los Angeles Times ^ | April 3, 2025 3 AM PT | Karla Marie Sanford

Posted on 04/03/2025 10:58:06 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Tucked away on a quiet part of La Cienega Avenue in the Culver City Arts District, Black Image Center feels reminiscent of a collegiate Black student center. On a recent Tuesday, five people were gathered for the center’s daily community co-working series.

Laughter and casual conversation swam above the sound of the clicks of their laptops. But instead of a 100-page reading or an mind-boggling problem set, they were working on creative pursuits — editing a photography-forward zine, working on the treatment for a music video project, polishing a fashion journalism article — and consulting one another on them.

“I’ve seen the daily magic that goes down at a place like this,” said Julian Samuels, a longtime volunteer at Black Image Center, who called its offerings “really rare in L.A.”

Black Image Center, an organization dedicated to providing photography resources to Black Angelenos, was born from a group of six photographers and creatives who connected over Instagram in 2020.

After securing nonprofit status, Black Image Center opened in a physical location in Mid-City in May 2022. In addition to a free 35mm film refrigerator, visitors can use both a normal and large-format printer free of charge. The open-format space boasts a cozy book nook with scores of Black photography books. The space regularly hosts sold-out photography workshops, in addition to having hosted more than 50 artists-in-residence, according to co-founder Maya Mansour.

So members of the Black creative community were shocked and disappointed when...

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS:
Black supremacists hardest hit.
1 posted on 04/03/2025 10:58:06 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I don’t have anything against black businesses, but if your model is I’m A Black Business, you are destined for failure...


2 posted on 04/03/2025 11:01:25 AM PDT by packrat35 (Pureblood! No clot shot for me!)
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To: packrat35

Same thing with I’m A Women Business.


3 posted on 04/03/2025 11:03:10 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Democrats are the Party of anger, hate and violence.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

bttt


4 posted on 04/03/2025 11:12:27 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: packrat35
editing a photography-forward zine, working on the treatment for a music video project, polishing a fashion journalism article — and consulting one another on them.

All of which produces nothing.

5 posted on 04/03/2025 11:13:38 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Black businesses don’t thrive in Democrat run cities you don’t say?

No businesses do 🙄


6 posted on 04/03/2025 11:19:36 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“...Black Image Center feels reminiscent of a collegiate Black student center”


A couple of really stupid questions.

Would something that styled itself ‘The White Image Center’ be allowed, granted non-profit status, celebrated, and mourned by the Times upon its passing?

And what are collegiate white student centers like? I went to university in California, but our student center let everyone in, not just whites. Come to think of it, we all went to the same graduations.


7 posted on 04/03/2025 11:21:38 AM PDT by hanamizu ( )
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I highly recomment everyone read the entire article closely. Nothing but a bunch of garbage with scammer cashing in on the BLM shakedown scams and racist government grants. Some highlights;

“they lacked business acumen. To this day, Mansour said Black Image Center doesn’t have a clear business plan “

“McGilbert is constantly questioning “how to keep Rep Club solvent and not at my expense.”

” Harris said of the coffee and flower shop that opened in January 2019. “What kept us open was George Floyd.”

“We’ve just been so focused on maintaining our physical space that we have really just been working paycheck to paycheck, grant by grant,”


8 posted on 04/03/2025 11:22:24 AM PDT by Organic Panic (Democrats. Memories as short as Joe Biden's eyes)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

When you cater to just 12.7% of a population, you’re excluding 87.3% of your potential customer base. Don’t come crying later when you can’t find enough customers.


9 posted on 04/03/2025 11:26:05 AM PDT by Teacher317
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To: Teacher317

Bingo.


10 posted on 04/03/2025 11:34:37 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (If you're an average "middle American", white supremacist Sen. Chrissy Coons called you stupid.)
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To: Organic Panic
From the article: "...we have really just been working paycheck to paycheck, grant by grant..."

Yeah... about that... being subsidized "grant by grant" isn't flourishing in any sense.

11 posted on 04/03/2025 11:45:57 AM PDT by T.B. Yoits
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To: T.B. Yoits

Yeah. I figured out the problem right here.

“ After securing nonprofit status…”


12 posted on 04/03/2025 11:49:28 AM PDT by VanShuyten ("...that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable anima)
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To: BenLurkin

Kind of like aspiring rapper...


13 posted on 04/03/2025 11:49:49 AM PDT by packrat35 (Pureblood! No clot shot for me!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Black businesses got hurt the most by the globalist and chi com bio war on America.


14 posted on 04/03/2025 3:20:48 PM PDT by cowboyusa
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