Pacifica Radio Archives and From the Vault radio joined forces with the Grand Performances Summer Concert Series in Los Angeles to present a 50th Anniversary remembrance of the 1965 Watts Rebellion, in which social unrest over unemployment and police discrimination gripped this Southern California neighborhood for seven days resulting in 34 deaths and tens of millions of dollars in property damage. The evening was designed to combine poetry, music, and history in a positive way to gain an understanding and appreciation of underrepresented communities. On this episode of From the Vault, we'll revisit the July 10th, 2015 WATTS50 concert, with its stellar lineup, including Jimetta Rose performing "America," Watts Prophets performing "Hey World," and Dead Prez performing "Police State." We also debut the Watts50 Mixtape created by hip hop aficionado and Lyricist Lounge co-founder Ant Marshall using the historic audio from the Pacifica Radio Archives. Marshall blends audio from the historic 1965 recording The Fire This Time with hand selected music tracks.
From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project, funded in part by an award from the GRAMMY Foundation and the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives and Records Administration, and past grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the American Archive funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, along with the generous support of Pacifica Radio Listeners. We also thank our partners and collaborators at the Pop-Up Archive, Amara, Other Minds Archives, George Blood Audio, and the California Audio Visual Preservation Project.
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