The choir of the First AME - or African Methodist Episcopal Church - can be heard vocalizing throughout Los Angeles’ West Adams neighborhood as they gather beneath the building’s mural of African American history.
The church is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding here in Los Angeles, and it continues to serve important roles for the Black community both spiritually and physically.
Bridget “Biddy” Mason was an enslaved woman who endured a forced relocation to California in 1851, but eventually won her family’s freedom during a landmark court case. Mason leveraged this new-found freedom to build a small fortune in real estate: She invested her earnings into safer gathering spaces for the African American community.
Mason’s grassroots collective of houses would grow into the modern FAME church, and serve as a lightning rod of activity during the Civil Rights movement of the 20th century. The church partnered with attorney M. Horatius Martinez to successfully sue to integrate public schools here in Los Angeles. Since then, the FAME church has hosted five-term Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, current Mayor Karen Bass, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other dignitaries.
FAME’s modern incarnation works to keep the traditions of music and spirituality alive and plays an active role in advocacy throughout the city. Dr. Berenecee Johnson Eanes, Cal State Los Angeles’ first woman president, spoke at a recent church service about the importance of higher education in the Black community.
Dr. Berenecee Eanes: We’ve seen the damaging effects of rumors and people saying that going to get a higher education is not worth it. Well, I’m here to tell you that as the granddaughter of a woman with a second-grade education that had picked cotton... College is a ticket to lifelong growth.
Reverend Robert Ryland Shaw the second leads FAME these days. In line with their century and a half old commitment to service... he continues the church’s commitment to community outreach by supporting kids in foster care through the Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation - named after the founder of Los Angeles’ first African Methodist Episcopal Church.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Anthony Clingerman