Manhattan Beach: Culture Club Features Diversity, Education

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Tune in to a free cultural experience of diversity tomorrow (Saturday, August 22) when Culture Club South Bay broadcasts its first online live event from 4-6:30 p.m. on Facebook Live and YouTube. Manhattan Beach resident and real estate agent Allison Hales is one of the founders of Culture Club South Bay, which wants to bring diversity and inclusion to the South Bay.

Hales, who has lived in Manhattan Beach for 2 years, realized there was a lack of diversity when her world became more amplified due to COVID-19 and people not traveling around as much outside of basic necessities. What she discovered was that her friendships and activities kept her in a diverse world but once she was no longer as ensconced in her world, her Manhattan Beach world made life less diverse. "There is a true lack of diversity," she told Manhattan Beach Patch. Hales, who hails from London and lived in New York for 10 years before moving to the West Coast, said she hadn't felt the effects of a lack of diversity until the pandemic.

Living across from Bruce's Beach, she has watched the transformation of what had been a simple open-air park with amazing ocean views become a hub of diversity and culture in Manhattan Beach. She noted that since George Floyd's death, she has seen people of all races and ethnicities visit the park, hanging out, gathering, reflecting. Seeing that inspired her to think about how she could contribute.

"I'd been paying attention to all of the conversations [on race, etc.] and I wanted something more uplifting, something that would be teaching more about diversity" than focusing on protesting, she said. "I have always had the mindset to do what's doable, to do something to make change that makes sense."

In her past, she had worked with and been influenced by Common, actor, rapper, activist, who'd make progress on prison reform. One day, walking outside of her garage, she spotted historian Alison Rose Jefferson handing out flyers on her latest book, Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era, which contains a chapter on the history of Bruce's Beach. She knew who Jefferson was because she'd followed the historian's work after reading about her in the Los Angeles Times. She asked Jefferson why she wasn't going to be speaking at the Manhattan Beach City Council meeting where the history of Bruce's Beach was going to be presented.

So, Hales, who previously worked in talent management, got into her wheelhouse, and with the assistance of El Segundo for Black Lives, New Black History Makers, South Bay for Social and Racial Justice and Pop the Bubble 2020, the first event includes two gospel groups, two youths from Pop The Bubble speaking, probably a singer/songwriter, a transgender sumba dancer, and Jefferson who will speak on herself and Bruce's Beach.

Said Jefferson, "I am honored to be a guest speaking at the first Cultural Club virtual event to be held on Saturday, August 22 to celebrate the diverse communities that live in the South Bay. I agree with the organizers that this cultural celebration is another important way to honor those lives of Black and other People of Color lost in recent times due to systematic racial inequalities and injustices as we, as a society, continue to figure out how to reclaim and re-commit to implementing justice and fighting racism.

"The Culture Club event organizers and I are all working to empower and inspire people to appreciate a more diverse collective American identity, beyond 'Whiteness,' and to encourage people to use their voice in making life better for themselves and everyone else," said Jefferson.

Hales calls Jefferson a "great addition" to the first event. "She's an inspiring woman. She's inspiring to others. She is inspiring change and diversity," said Hales.

PREVIOUSLY: Black Historian Jefferson Talks Bruce's Beach, Manhattan Beach