OUR TOWN

C. Bernard Jackson, a UCLA alumnus, who along with Dr. J Alfred Cannon, who after years of discussions and in the aftermath of the August 1965-Wattts Rebellion, established the Inner City Cultural Center. Jackson and Cannon wanted to engage the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial communities in a discussion of the issues confronted by them at the time. Inner City Cultural Center was a demonstration of the Beloved Community in action using theater, arts, and culture as the tools and artifacts used to advance this discussion. In 1968 Jackson produced and directed “OUR TOWN”. In homage to King, Royc,e and Jackson, the UCLA Beloved Community Initiative engaged Inner City to stage a playreading in 2022 on the UCLA campus, home to both Jackson and Dr. Cannon.

King, based on the “Beloved Community” philosophy of historian Josiah Royce, shared his vision of this philosophy with students and faculty at Janns Steps in April 1965. A”

The evolution and presentation of playreadings by the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center (LAICCC) is the result of UCLA alumni connection, the history of C. Bernard Jackson, and the introduction to the UCLA Beloved Community Initiative (BCI). The BCI is an outgrowth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to UCLA in April 1965. King had adopted the philosophy of historian Josiah Royce’s “Beloved Community”. This philosophy became the foundation and hallmark of King’s social movement. C. Bernard Jackson is a UCLA alumnus, who along with Dr. J Alfred Cannon, who after years of discussions and in the aftermath of the August 1965-Wattts Rebellion, established the Inner City Cultural Center. Jackson and Cannon wanted to engage the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial communities in a discussion of the issues confronted by them at the time. Theater, arts, and culture were the tools and artifacts used to advance this discussion. In 1968 Jackson produced and directed “OUR TOWN”. In homage to King, Royc,e and Jackson, the UCLA Beloved Community Initiative our DEIG journey led us to ASU.

The evolution and presentation of playreadings by the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center (LAICCC) is the result of UCLA alumni connection, the history of C. Bernard Jackson, and the introduction to the UCLA Beloved Community Initiative (BCI).

King had adopted the philosophy of historian Josiah Royce’s “Beloved Community” and he presented in his speech “Segregation Must Die”, the Beloved Community philosophy became the foundation and hallmark of his social civil rights movement.