Zócalo Public Square

The 1990s was a rough decade for Los Angeles, from the L.A. riots and the O.J. Simpson trial to the Northridge Earthquake, the recession, and the departures of two NFL teams. But it was also a time of unique vitality, with the birth of a political coalition involving Latino and labor groups, a growing contemporary art scene, and a sense of a place bouncing back from its travails. At an event moderated by Zócalo Public Square publisher Gregory Rodriguez at the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles, the challenges and successes of the decade were tackled by: MOCA chief curator Helen Molesworth, American Prospect executive editor Harold Meyerson, University of Southern California race and pop culture scholar Todd Boyd, and Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.