today we went to the "a moment in time: bingham's black panthers". i actually learned some cool things about african americans in california history. i guess i just never thought about this stuff or it's not the things they taught when i was in elementary school. that back when this little pueblo of los angeles was founded in 1781, there were 44 settlers and 26 of them were black. the numbers then decreased to just 12 in 1850 but were up to 4000 in 1860, something like that. and also all the african descent people that went to mexico city. there was also an exhibit on black motorcycle riding clubs, which has a rich history. but back to the black panther photo exhibit. it was the last exhibit i viewed. just as i was ending the exhibit, there was a man taking photos in this no photos allowed museum so i figured he must be a reporter or something. he walks up to me and asks, "where are you from?" i kind of giggle and smile whenever someone in los angeles asks that because they must think i'm a tourist. "i'm from LA." he then introduces himself as howard bingham, the one who took all these photos in the exhibit. i'm kind of stunned and don't know what to say or ask him since i'm not familiar with his work, biography, nor do i know that much about the black panthers. like a dork, i mention that i went to ucsc where angela davis teaches and that's why i was interested in this exhibit, that it's very nice. that was about it. i really did think it was a nice exhibit, very good photos that convey the mood of the time, captured some qualities i didn't think about like asian support of the black panthers. what a contradiction to the LA riots and race tension between asians and blacks when i was in high school. it just made me walk away with a desire to learn more about the period. i've actually learned a lot related to photographs and photographers this weekend. i've been viewing photos on the internet that have helped to change the world politically and socially courtesy of photosthatchangedtheworld.com. i've read up on some things i had heard about but didn't really know. like the song "strange fruit" and its meanings as well as origins as a poem and also about the photographer kevin carter. all very powerful stuff.

caam is located in exposition park, where there are a couple other museums as well as the coliseum. i had some fun doing action photos in the rose garden. i tried to do a high kick and touch my foot but my face looks too strained in the photos. not enough natural smile to make it look effortless. then i started jumping like i was in one of those toyota commercials in the 80s.

just across the street from exposition park is the university of southern california. i've never been there but it's one of those institutions i don't like due to having sports and brick buildings *shudders*. i walked over there to say i've been there and took some more silly photos.

highlights from today's photos:

riding the bicycle rack

toyota!

fountain

usc

ucsc vs. usc

pretending to hurdle