The 2012 edition of my Watts Happening Ride took place this past picture-perfect Saturday, and it was my complete pleasure to share the following landmark people, places and events I’ve discovered there with the 28 cyclists who joined me:
- The last residence of jazz great Jelly Roll Morton
- The childhood home of Nobel Prize Winner Ralph Bunche
- The location of the 1969 Black Panthers shootout
- The Hotel Dunbar, centerpiece of the Historic Central Avenue Jazz Corridor
- The location of the 1974 SLA shootout
- The actual fictional location of the Sanford and Son Salvage Yard
- The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia
- The location of the incident setting off the 1965 Watts Riots
- The home of Eula Love, killed by police in 1979 as a result of a past-due gas bill dispute
- The motel where legendary singer Sam Cooke was killed
- The flashpoint of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots
- The location of Wrigley Field, demolished in 1966.
Unfortunately, the above annotated timelapse video abruptly ends at the third-to-last location we visited, leaving me to discover that I need to get a bigger memory card if I want to capture the entire 33-mile, six-hour tour on camera the next time — and there will be a next time. I hope you’ll join me.
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