Judith Baca, "Division of the Barrios and Chavez Ravine," segment of the Great Wall of Los Angeles,1983.

The "Division of the Barrios and Chavez Ravine" sections of the Great Wall concerns the struggle over land use in poor neighborhoods. In these areas, urban "renewal" often condemns land for development projects that aid white middle class interests rather than the local residents. The freeways are an example of this. They primarily cut through barrios and ghettos, dividing former neighbors and leaving little or no access between them.

When Dodger Stadium was built in the 1950's, many residents of the largely Mexican American Chavez Ravine area were persuaded to sell their homes with promises of new low cost housing which was never built. Others, like the woman in the mural, fought to keep their homes but were forcibly removed.

The "Great Wall of Los Angeles," from which this detail was taken, extends for one half mile in the Tujunga Wash flood control channel . It was painted over 5 summers by 215 teenagers supervised by 25 artists under the direction of Judith Baca. The mural tells the history of People of Color in California from prehistoric times through the 1950's. This detail comes from the 250 foot long 1983 sec tion dealing with the 1950s. On the right is the beginning of the next section, a scene from a drive-in showing the "Birth of rock and Roll" a music style first introduced by Black musicians like Chuck Berry and Ma Rainey before it was popularized by Elv is Presley.