00:00:00.519 - 00:00:32.080

What's your name? Marjorie James, when were you born, mom? Oh, March the 5th. 1925, 1925, um 99 years old. 99, my goodness. born in Trinidad, but my marriage didn't work too good. Uh-huh. My husband, the usual husband thing, and then my brother sent me a ticket.

00:00:32.828 - 00:00:57.130

Mervin Daly, and that's how I came to this country. Well, I'm like, uh, I'm from Bornes Village Cedrus. I'm, I'm, you know. We are very close to me. Venezuela. Venezuela. So I'm very close to Venezuela at the end of the island. That's about it, yeah. I'm

00:00:57.130 - 00:01:21.099

at the end of Trinidad Island. I live with my mother. And then my father came and got me so I could be educated. So I was properly educated in Trinidad, because where I was in that village, they only had one school and then I end up

00:01:21.099 - 00:01:48.190

bringing my children with me so they could be educated too. I have 4 girls and 2 boys. When I first came, I lived on. 23rd Street. Mhm. On my sis with my sister-in-law, which is my brother's wife. I eventually decide to get on my own. I

00:01:48.190 - 00:02:08.039

bought a house, we show you the house on Raymond Avenue, Raymond Avenue. Well, um, I shouldn't say I bought it. My brother financed it for me. And I took it over and paid for it. Yeah, I lived there for 12 years. Who was, who were your

00:02:08.039 - 00:02:26.679

neighbors, like, were your neigh, did you have other black folks as neighbors? Or only black folks. Right. I had one couple that was white and black, but most of the neighbors were black people. And then the Hispanics move in. Is there anything about that neighborhood that

00:02:26.679 - 00:02:47.679

you would want people to remember about it? If I want to remember, I had very nice neighbors. Yeah. When we were gone, me and my girls, we went to school. And we went to work, so we were never home, and they all took good care of

00:02:47.679 - 00:03:07.619

my house, all could take care of my house. So I had excellent neighbors. So they were surrogate parents for for the kids and you know, they could never go hungry, never, never have a place to go and and there was always somebody home to take you

00:03:07.619 - 00:03:25.979

in if nobody was home. You know, that she took in everybody like the family, you know, they, they, they would drop in and or they get dropped off and, you know, next thing you know it they're staying there, so, uh, that, that house on Raymond, there

00:03:25.979 - 00:03:47.710

was a lot going on in there. But good. It it sounds like just such a a a beautiful way of growing up, right? And, and I didn't like babysitting. Tell him about the golden bird chicken. Well, they were the best chicken and they were free. It

00:03:47.710 - 00:04:06.050

was free chicken and it was the best chicken. They were free because my son used to go and help them clean the area. He clean the building. So in the evening, all the chicken that they didn't sell, we got it. Amen. Amen. That's what I'm talking

00:04:06.050 - 00:04:28.750

about. We need to bring that back and then I end up. Teaching in cosmetology. And I'll never forget that one of the lady had a school and she told me, this is what she told me, she said, I'm going to fire you. Because you need to

00:04:28.750 - 00:04:48.309

have your own place. In other words, she was annoyed with me that when I come, I didn't pay enough attention to her. I'd never forget that. Wow. And that was the best thing for me. That was the best thing for you. Amen. Yeah. So when I

00:04:48.309 - 00:05:12.070

put my thing, I used to teach night and day. To make enough money to maintain the family and the house. You know, you had to get visas. And, um, this school was the only one that was qualified for visas. And it was downtown on Broadway and

00:05:12.070 - 00:05:34.059

8th Street. School name was Empire Beauty College. And, and the gentleman hired me, and I went to school. And he told me if I passed the exam, he would hire me full time. And that's how I end up becoming a teacher. And this is so funny.

00:05:34.209 - 00:05:58.410

I got a special permit. From UCLA. I One day I went to a doctor and he told me that right now they don't recognize that they eliminate that part of the thing. So I went on my own. And that's how I went and tried to get.

00:05:58.619 - 00:06:25.859

I don't know how I got that college. And that's how I started Crenshaw Beauty College on 4064 Crenshaw Boulevard. And it was on the number one shopping area. Those days. You had May Company, the Broadway, and all the shoe stores was on Broadway department store. And

00:06:25.859 - 00:06:51.670

you, you put it right there in the heart of where everybody was shopping because, yeah, yeah, Crenshaw Boulevard that's it. That's it. And I spent about 24 years, 24 years, yes. She was doing something innovative, giving Pell grants um to students that were college bound, and

00:06:51.670 - 00:07:17.119

that was unheard of in that area. That's amazing. Yeah, they didn't have that part in that area because that's strictly black. Right, said very politely. And when I got the high school kids, oh Lord, then my life almost ended. Come with an attitude because um. They

00:07:17.119 - 00:07:35.200

did come with an attitude, because they think they've been ill treated, but you know what she used to do, and she's not telling you this part. She was an excellent teacher. She also would teach them life skills too, as part of her teaching curriculum, she would

00:07:35.200 - 00:07:51.559

teach them life skills, so those kids would leave their knowing something, and they, they really end up liking me a whole bunch. Yeah. Yes. Well, I Tell you what, some of the some of the best educators are not the ones who, who people say, oh, I

00:07:51.559 - 00:08:16.070

like you, it's the ones who people say I learned something from, right? Um, but Pepperdine, uh, still exists in my heart. That big university being in that neighborhood really meant so much, but like, yes, yes. Lifted the neighborhood, yes, a lot of the neighbors that lived

00:08:16.070 - 00:08:34.640

in that area are still in that area, um, that either worked at the school or or or went to school, yes, yes. What, what, what can you tell me about the Watts riots, the, the Watts rebellion more about what you experienced during the Watts riots. I

00:08:34.640 - 00:08:59.619

can't remember. You can't remember. Do you remember anything, Arlene? I think it was more on the, yeah, yeah, but it was just so new to us just coming from Trinidad and it was a very scary, scary, but we did not understand the black American black culture,

00:09:00.450 - 00:09:20.219

so we didn't understand the riots as Right, right, what the what what the reasons were, exactly, exactly. So there was a lot to try to kind of understand about what was happening, you know, in the US context a bit, cause you, you know, were immigrants, and

00:09:20.219 - 00:09:41.729

yet, you know. And the thing with me and my family. We were gone all the time. The kids went to school and in the evening they went to work. Remember that? Everybody had. So we were hardly around. You understand what I mean? Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Until

00:09:41.729 - 00:10:01.140

the two of them got married and went to um San Francisco. So that was, uh, that is why it made me leave. Give up the house. I really regret it, but I, it was me alone, and, and gave it to his friend who had a whole

00:10:01.140 - 00:10:21.330

bunch of kids from Trinidad, and they just came and he asked me to help him. Oh, OK, so that's where your house went to. Amen. OK someone from Trinidad with with kids, um, basically took over the house. Well, how, how do you feel about, um, were

00:10:21.330 - 00:10:42.429

there any changes in the neighborhood, um, with the house on Raymond? Did you observe any changes? So like when um Michelle took you for a drive and she said let's go by the old house. what what changes have you noticed? Did you? Well, the whole buildings

00:10:42.429 - 00:11:04.320

are different. Everybody have big trees in front. You can't see the homes. I don't know why they did that, so it took away. The beauty of the, the neighborhood, yeah. It's still pretty much the same. I could tell you that they mean. Yes, they didn't destroy

00:11:04.320 - 00:11:24.239

the home because they are pretty homes. Yes, they are. What led you to move to Encino job because to hire a black teacher was a hard thing. So they um had a college there that. I just started. So it was easy for me to get a

00:11:24.239 - 00:11:47.700

job. And it's so funny. The gentleman that was in charge, he and I went to the same school to do cosmetology. So he just had me like that, but I, I'll never forget that name was. Richardson, and that was my mother's name to Richardson. OK, so

00:11:47.700 - 00:12:04.250

he hired me right away. I never forget that. They, they chase you out, they are very, very prejudiced. They put, they put the N word on our, our garage door. But that time my kids were gone. It was me alone. You were alone at the very

00:12:04.250 - 00:12:23.270

scary. I had to run out of there. So it was kind of complicated life. But you live it, what you're going to do. You know, you have to be your own person. You have to be real. I was, I wasn't crooked. That's one thing. I was

00:12:23.270 - 00:12:42.840

not crooked. I don't know if I did that because of my brother, but I never did anything that shouldn't be done. OK. So that's all I have to say. I was really strict, the girls and they could tell you that. And that's it, and that's what

00:12:42.840 - 00:12:55.609

makes me who I am. I work hard and one thing with me, I tried to be knowledgeable. So anybody who hired me liked me.