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Upcoming Events
Collab Event with Soul Train Alumni
Coming soon
Details coming soon
6th Annual FAM Poetry Jam
August 2025
details coming soon
DECLARATION OF SUPPORT FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY THE 2025 LA WILDFIRES
Dear LA Community,
It has been a rough start to 2025 for those who call Los Angeles home. Our hearts and prayers go out to all Angelenos affected by the devastating LA wildfires.
However, we are tremendously inspired by the outpour of support and mutual aid throughout Los Angeles for impacted families and businesses. Let's continue to support one another during this time. We have put together a limited compilation of resources and support, as well as donation and volunteer opportunities. Please share widely and check back for periodical updates.
Sincerely,
The team at Friends At Mafundi
![BREAKING NEWS! F.A.M. Successful In Saving The Watts Happening Cultural Center, aka the Mafundi Building
We are excited to share that thanks to your support, the Watts community's unwavering determination, and the dedicated efforts of the Friends At Mafundi, the City Council recently voted to accept the Cultural Heritage Commission's recommendation to designate the Mafundi Building a Historic Cultural Monument!
F.A.M. started out with goals to [1] save the Mafundi Building from demolition or significant alteration, [2] ensure that it was given deserving historic designations, and [3] oversee its revival as a cultural arts center, including support for the ongoing Watts Writers Workshop and the Watts Coffee House within the building.
This will end our petition campaign. We are currently moving in the energy of our last goal to revive the historic arts programs. If you are interested in receiving updates or making a donation toward our efforts please email us at friendsatmafundi@gmail.com.
We are sharing pictures from the F.A.M. & Friends Brunch held in October](https://scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/265960335_376733000888039_2644994597273540128_n.webp?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=EhQwPG_PjsYQ7kNvwFjuQ0O&_nc_oc=AdkVDHLKpfmydIScNTiezxqOK9rKTYJ6ag4Vq2VxkBWzEUADsiV325Evzrgbvdoc8S0&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=Pbz78lT_iccT8xHez4RnLg&oh=00_AfL1Elfi1TDWCOEH6slDQc5OeNoPl6Ph8YQr7IG8VXbzbA&oe=682A9609)
![Mafundi History Series (Part 4) - Watts Happening Coffee House
In October, two months after the 1965 civil unrest, while the City assembled commissions and secured emergency funding to help Watts rebuild, the youth in the community converted the abandoned Nat Diamond’s Furniture Store at 1802 East 103rd Street into a performing arts center, contributing to the second Watts Renaissance. It was named the Watts Happening Coffee House.
Tut Hayes, a community activist, was the Center’s first director until 1968. Hayes was vice president of the Afro-American Association prior to that and a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s. The Watts Happening Coffee House had a bakery that sold coffee and pastries, and it doubled as an art gallery when it wasn’t being used for community services or taken over by local musicians and poets. It became a popular hangout for some of the city’s most talented artists, free of racial hindrances and an ad hoc community redistribution center. It was described as a place where people who had a lot to say could say it; where people who were treated differently could be a part of the community, whether they were mentally ill or wheelchair bound.
Hayes described the Coffee House as a place to promote Black pride. He explained that what the people/youth in Watts really wanted was the feeling of being worthwhile, so “[t]he goal of the center [was] to help people achieve a sense of self-worth.” The Watts Happening Coffee House would later be renamed the Watts Happening Cultural Center and relocate directly across the street, to the current location of significance.
#SaveMafundi #OneWattsOneLove #SaveWattsHistory #SaveWattsCulture
#SaveWattsTraditions #WattsRenaissance3.0](https://scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.29350-15/264105772_942310963053597_4480651016118205601_n.webp?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=105&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&_nc_ohc=kFkZC19jRfUQ7kNvwGxa9PO&_nc_oc=AdkhWY8NEvpjvZ9YZWfRecP4Fj2tdHNAKgJVMPHHWpRZrHANIHtp89E42okMfpQIS3o&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=Pbz78lT_iccT8xHez4RnLg&oh=00_AfIphUmr5Cpx5e2LtJWGZifVZuAk-nhnix20UNd5SWRmIw&oe=682A9FFE)
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