Exhibit Highlights Success Stories From Compton Schools

Exhibition curator Charlene Diggs waited patiently Tuesday morning as about 30 fifth-graders filed past rows of photographs featuring possible role models: artists, teachers, executives and police chiefs.

As soon as the students were sitting quietly in the gallery, Diggs told them why they had been invited.

“What you’re about to see is an exhibit on the positive side of Compton,” she said.

Nearly all the people whose stories make up the exhibit attended the same school system, said Diggs, secretary of the Compton Coalition for Progress, a political reform group that sponsored the exhibit.

First, she mentioned Calvin Sims, a technology reporter for the New York Times and 1981 graduate of Compton High School. Then she pointed out Howard Bingham, an acclaimed photographer who graduated from Centennial High in 1956. Next came Lakers’ star forward Cedric Ceballos of Dominguez High’s class of ’85.

Then Diggs started throwing out the big names.

“How many of you know Yogi Bear?” she asked. “Fred Flintstone? Did you know that the originator of those cartoons graduated from Compton High School?”

Indeed, Bill Hanna--co-chairman and co-founder of Hanna-Barbera--is among more than 350 success stories on display at Compton’s Martin Luther King Jr. Transit Center through Friday.

“We just wanted an exemplary group to show kids what can be done when they apply themselves,” Diggs said.

Another reason for the weeklong show, coalition president Ellis Cooke said, is to counter Compton’s nationwide reputation as a neglected home to gangsters and corrupt politicians.

“There is another side of the news that is not being recorded,” Cooke said. “We’re trying to do something to try to revise the image.”

The exhibit at 300 N. Willowbrook Ave. is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.