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AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND THE EARLY PUEBLO OF LOS ANGELES
African Americans have made significant contributions
to the history of Los Angeles in all areas—from the arts
and culture to science, education, architecture and politics.
Contrary to popular belief, the African American presence
The Pico Family African Roots in Mexico
The African presence in Mexico began
with the conquest of Spain by the Moors of North Africa in the
eighth century. During the period of Spanish exploration and
conquest of the Americas, Africans were among those who accompanied
Christopher Columbus in 1492. They were also present with Hernando
Cortes in 1521, during the conquest of the Aztec empire in Mexico
City. Few people know that Juan Garrido, a black man, was the
first to plant wheat in Mexico, or Estevanico, a black Moor,
traveled with the Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca from Florida
across the present United States Southwest, between 1528 and
1536.
Africans had begun to enter the northwestern region of Colonial
Mexico by the mid 1600s. Their descendants were racially mixed
by the time the colonization of Alta California had begun in
the second half of the 18th century. What is more, Indians, mulatos, mestizos,
and other persons of mixed caste were actually the majority population
in the Mexican northwest. From this region came the original
settlers of Alta California who came north with Captain Juan
Bautista de Anza, between 1774 and 1776. This region also produced
the original settlers of Los Angeles. Thus, contemporary scholars
have come to describe this majority population of mixed African
heritage as “Afro-Mexicans.” Today, it is estimated
that there could be more than 500,000 Afro-Mexicans concentrated
in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Veracruz.
Afro-Mexicans and the Founding of Los Angeles
The settlers or pobladores of Los Angeles
came from the present northwest Mexican states of Sonora and
Sinaloa and were of mixed Indian, African and European descent.
This mixed racial composition was not only typical of the
Governor Pio Pico majority
of settlers of Alta California; it reflected the majority population
of Sonora and Sinaloa, as well as the entire northwestern region
of Colonial Mexico.
Under the new Governor of California, Felipe de Neve, El
Pueblo de La Reina de Los Angeles was founded on September
4, 1781. The original forty-four pobladores were comprised
of twenty-two adults and twenty-two children; of this number,
twenty six were Afro-Mexicans. Many of their descendants became
farmers, rancheros and prominent members of the pueblo
community. Francisco Reyes, for example, served as the first alcalde (mayor)
from 1792 to 1795 and was the original owner of the present-day
San Fernando Valley. María Rita Valdez, a descendant
of the poblador Luis Quintero, was granted the Rancho
Rodeo de Aguas in 1841. She later sold the property to
developers and today it comprises the City of Beverly Hills.
Pío Pico (1801-1894) is perhaps the most celebrated Afro-Mexican
in California history. He was the last governor of California
under Mexican rule, an owner of huge rancho properties
and prominent resident of Los Angeles. His parents and grandparents
came with the Anza party from Sinaloa, Mexico in 1776, where
two-thirds of the residents were mulatos. His younger
brother, Andrés Pico was a wealthy landowner and military
commander during the Mexican era. Under United States rule he
became a member of the State Constitutional Committee, General
of the State Militia and California State Senator. Many other
Afro-Mexicans during the Mexican and early American periods continued
to make important contributions to the Pueblo of Los Angeles.
Westward Movement
The second African American influence in the
early pueblo of Los Angeles came from the stream of American
settlers, some of whom were former slaves, during the mid-19th
century. According to the city’s 1850 census, of a total
population of 1, 600, twelve were African American. Peter Biggs,
a former slave, settled in Los Angeles in 1852 and became the
city’s first barber, opening his popular “New Orleans
Shaving Saloon” on Main Street.  Biddy Mason As the westward movement accelerated in the late 19th century,
the African American community in Los Angeles grew considerably
from 102 in 1880 to 2,131 by 1900 and to more than 19,000 by
1929. By 1930 Los Angeles claimed the largest African American
community on the Pacific Coast. Indeed, all of the years of struggle,
bitter discrimination and achievements of the African American
community, a history which began with the founding of the pueblo
in 1781, were confirmed in 1973 when Thomas “Tom” Bradley,
the son of Texas sharecroppers, was elected Mayor of Los Angeles.
Today, the “founders’ plaque” at El Pueblo
de Los Angeles Historical Monument serves as a tribute to the
African American origins of Los Angeles and an enduring hope
for the future.
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