Watts Towers

The Watts Towers

1727 East 107th St

Los Angeles, CA

Watts is a neighborhood typically associated with a strong African American presence however, Mexican Americans (and other Latin Americans) have always been an integral part of the community, as evidenced by the Watts Towers.

The Watts Riot began on August 11, 1965 when Marquette Frye, and African American resident, was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving. A crowd gathered and observed what many believed was excessive force on the part of the arresting officers. When the police left the scene, neighborhood residents began throwing sticks and empty bottles at passing cars and the situation slowly escalated into a full-blown riot (Adam Matei, Sorin, and Sandra Ball-Rokeach 301). Stores and buildings were looted and burned and the national guard was eventually called in (Adam Matei, Sorin, and Sandra Ball-Rokeach 302).

According to historian Donna Murch “Whites owned nearly all of the business that demonstrators attacked, and tellingly, those with reputations for fair pricing and ties to the community stood untouched, as did the spiraling modernist Watts Towers that became synonymous with community pride, Black Power, and Black Arts” (Murch). Interestingly enough, not only is the real name for the Watts Towers “Nuestro Pueblo,” Spanish for “our town,” the neighborhood is currently roughly 60% Hispanic and about 40% black (Zabar).

Inside the Watts Towers. Photo by Andrew Lee, Daniel Villa and Cami Devoney.

At the time the towers were being built (from 1921-1954), the majority of the neighborhood residents were black, although there were also Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Jewish, and “those not welcome in other places” (Zabar). The sculptor of the Towers, Italian-American Simon Rodia, relied on contributions of broken dishes and cups from the community and according to Kai EL Zabar, one of the Watts Tower Arts Center experts, the reason that there has been no vandalism or destruction of the Towers is because Rodia respected the community and the community respected him (Zabar).

However, at present the Watts Towers are a point of disconnect between the art education (and therefore appreciation) of its visitors and that of the surrounding community. Currently, about 70% of visitors to the Watts Towers are international tourists and LACMA (whose visitors are 70-75% Angelinos) has begun bussing some of its museumgoers to the Watts Towers. Yet, in the midst of all this, the immediate community of Watts remains fairly ignorant to the piece of art and its historic significance (Zabar).

This discrepancy follows the historical pattern of disconnect between the education of Mexican-American (and other minority) communities in contrast to more wealthy, white communities. On March 3, 1968 over a thousand students at the predominantly Mexican-American Los Angeles school, Abraham Lincoln High School walked out of their classes in protest of “racist school policies and teachers” and the lack “classes on Mexican American history and culture” (Muñoz 64). Today, since the local schools have long ago removed art and art appreciation classes from the system, the Watts Towers Arts Center attempts to close the gap by encouraging—though not imposing—piano, acting, photography, and other art classes for those in the surrounding community who are interested (Zabar).

Simon Rodia, creator of the Watts Towers. Source: wattstowers.us

Directions: The Watts Towers are situated almost directly south of the USC campus in the Watts neighborhood

Works Cited

Adam Matei, Sorin, and Sandra Ball-Rokeach. "Watts, The 1965 Los Angeles Riots, And The Communicative Construction Of The Fear Epicenter Of Los Angeles." Communication Monographs 72.3 (2005): 301-323. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Muñoz, Carlos. Youth, Identity, Power: The Chicano Movement. London: Verso, 2007.

Murch, Donna. "The Many Meanings of Watts: Black Power, Wattstax, and the Carceral State." Organization of American Historians Magazine of History 26.1 (2012): 37-40. Oxford Journals. Web. 21 Apr. 2012.

Zabar, Kai EL. Personal interview. 15 Apr. 2012.

Submitted by Cami Devoney, Daniel Villa and Andrew Lee