MLK Rally in Venice
From: Amanda Seward, Art Vista
and "The Westmar Sun" <westmarsun@pacbell.net>
Community members that are concerned about the dismanteling of
affordable housing in our community are encouraged to attend a
community Martin Luther King Day Rally in Venice on Monday,
January 16, which is being planned at Lincoln Place to focus
attention on this issue and to re-ignite Martin Luther King Jr.'s
enduring vision of decent housing for all.
The rally begins at 1:00 p.m. and will be on California Avenue,
just east of Lincoln Blvd. Prominent community and
religious speakers and musical performers will celebrate Dr.
King's life and work, and reflect on his dream in today's climate
of forced evictions and the lack of affordable housing. You
probably saw recent news reports that on December 6, 86 Lincoln
Place residents (including 21 children) were locked out of their
homes in the largest mass eviction lock out in Los Angeles
history. On March 21, AIMCO, the owner of the property, vows to
commence eviction proceedings against another 83 households,
comprising the seniors and disabled residents who were given
until March 20 to vacate the property. Many of them have no
other place to go. The Venice community is rallying around
these tenants in an effort to stop AIMCO from destroying this
important community.
Lincoln Place is a historic 700-unit garden apartment community
designed by African-American architect Ralph Vaughn in his
signature Hollywood-stylized version of Modernist design.
Vaughn worked with famed architect Paul Williams and was one of
the first African-American set designers in Hollywood.
Lincoln Place was the largest development in California financed
under an historic mortgage insurance program enacted by Congress
in response to the critical shortage of low to moderate income
housing in the nation in 1930’s and after World War
II. The California Historic Resources Commission
unanimously determined that Lincoln Place was a historic district
in August last year.
Please join us, Councilman Bill Rosendahl and other community
sponsors, including Venice 2000, the Venice Arts Council, the
Venice Community Housing Corporation, Venice Community Coalition
and a host of other organizations and their representatives in
this event. Your support will be greatly appreciated and
important to this community effort. For more information
about Lincoln Place Apartments, visit www.lincolnplace.net.