From the Archives
Artists, performers, and community members who put their bodies and their art on the line for civil rights.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The world's premier research library for Black history and culture. Browse their full digital archive, photographs, manuscripts, and more.
Art Has Always Been the Movement
Black artists and cultural workers have never had the luxury of separating their craft from their citizenship. When Nina Simone wrote "Mississippi Goddam," she wasn't pausing her career to do activism. She was doing both at once, because the moment demanded it.
The same is true today. The policies decided in November 2026 will determine arts funding, housing affordability, healthcare access, and whether the communities that sustain Black cultural life in this city survive the next decade.
Civic engagement isn't a distraction from the work. For Black artists and cultural workers in LA, it is the work.
Your Stage Is on the Ballot
Arts funding, venue zoning, cultural district protections, and public arts grants are all shaped by who holds city and state office. The next mayor and governor will decide whether LA invests in its cultural infrastructure or lets it be priced out.
Displacement Is a Policy Choice
Black artists and cultural workers are being pushed out of LA at historic rates. Rent stabilization, affordable housing production, and anti-displacement policy are on the ballot. So is the question of who the city is actually for.
The Audience Needs You to Vote
The communities that fill Black theaters, attend Black festivals, and sustain Black cultural life in LA are the same communities most affected by these elections. When artists mobilize, they bring their audiences with them. That is power.
"The role of the artist is to disturb the peace."
James Baldwin
Primary Source Archives
These institutions hold the original photographs, manuscripts, recordings, and documents of Black civic and cultural history. All are free to browse online.
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The world's premier archive of Black history and culture, part of the New York Public Library. Photographs, manuscripts, recordings, and rare books.
Harlem, New York
Getty Research Institute: Civil Rights in LA
Documents the civil rights movement in Los Angeles, including the Woolworth's boycotts, the NAACP, and community organizing in South LA.
Los Angeles, CA
Library of Congress: Civil Rights History Project
Oral histories, photographs, and documents from the civil rights movement, including Freedom Summer, Selma, and the March on Washington.
Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Thousands of photographs documenting LA history, including Watts, South Central, and the Black community from the early 20th century onward.
Los Angeles, CA
USC Digital Library: California Civil Rights
Digitized collections from USC's archives covering California civil rights history, labor movements, and community organizing.
Los Angeles, CA
National Archives: African American Records
Federal records documenting the civil rights movement, including the Voting Rights Act, the March on Washington, and FBI surveillance files.
Washington, D.C.