AFTERMATH OF WATTS
The revolt in the Watts ghetto of Los Angeles last August continues to reverberate in the United States. Most surprising to many people -= although it is not at all surprising to revolutionary socialists -- is the new sense of human dignity which it has given those who participated in it. 7 Bobbi Hollon, a young sociologist working for the Westminister Neighborhood Association in Watts, described this to Dick Schaap of the New York Herald Tribune [October 2-3 European edition]:
"People here used to be ashamed to say they came from Watts. They used to mumble it. Now they say it with pride. This started during the riots,"
In her opinion, "The riots are one of the best things that ever happened in Watts." They helped create a “real sense of human dignity."
Miss Hollon said she is against “instigating violence, but I'm not for turning the other cheek either...that whole Christian bit has been used against Negro people too-long....The people here tried legal means of getting help, and they got nothing. They begged the white people to listen to them, and nobody listened. Now the whole world is listening to Watts. I'm glad the riots happened. I'm glad to see anything happen that can make this whole thing bet~ ter. And people are making a serious mistake if they think the riots are over, ,
Miss Hollon, who grew up in Harlem, said: "I'll do anything I can to help here, with the kids, with their mothers, anything to give them some pride. I'll be fine and foxy if I have to be. Or I'll be articulate. Or I'll wear pants and bloody sneakers. It1l be any one I have to be. But I won't forget who I am -=- I'm just a little black girl,"
~34u
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