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Photos:: The Watts riots: 50 years later

Members of St. Lawrence Brindisi Church on Compton Avenue in Watts sing during Sunday morning Mass on July 26, 2015. In the background is a painting known as "Jesus of Watts" that was donated to the church some 20 years ago.

Members of St. Lawrence Brindisi Church on Compton Avenue in Watts sing during Sunday morning Mass on July 26, 2015. In the background is a painting known as “Jesus of Watts” that was donated to the church some 20 years ago.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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The Watts riots: 50 years later

Watts resident Jonia Brewster, 22, waits for her take-out order Flavor & Flames as a bicycle rider makes his way along Wilmington Avenue in Watts.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Jeffrey Davis, 47, and son Jeffrey Jr., 4, walk along Central Avenue in Watts, as they head home after playing baseball together at Ted Watkins Memorial Park in Watts.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Eric Romero, 30, right, a resident at the Imperial Courts Housing Development in Watts, chats with Los Angeles police officers Delano Hutchins, left, and Angelo Marzan on July 30, 2015. The officers are members of the LAPD’s Community Safety Partnership program.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Pedestrians walk past an empty lot at 103rd. Street and Central Avenue in Watts on July 24, 2015. There is an initiative to transform the area into “Main Street Watts,” filled with movie theaters, restaurants and local businesses.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Ramaje Brumfield, 13, does a backflip while playing with friends at Jordan Downs Housing Development in Watts.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Community members in the Jordan Downs Housing Development go on their weekly Friday morning walk around the development on July 31, 2015. Latinos make up more than 70% of the population in Watts.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Watts resident Lonnie McNeil, 59, does pushups on 103rd Street in Watts during his afternoon workout on July 30, 2015.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Castulo Alvarado, 78, left, and friend Abel Santiago, 27, play their guitars in front of Alvarado’s home at the Imperial Courts Housing Development in Watts on July 30, 2015.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Jonhy Blas, 11, plays in front of his home at the Jordan Downs Housing Development in Watts.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Betty Day, 75, center, president of the Watts Gang Task Force, is all smiles while arriving at Grape Street Park in Watts on Aug. 5, 2015.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Aisha Davis, a cosmetology student at Trade Tech College in downtown Los Angeles, walks along Wilmington Avenue in Watts as she makes her way home.

  (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Children, from left, Yarithzy Vasquez, 3, Edwin De Leon, 4, and Cindy Marroqin, 6, play in the park next to the Watts Towers.

  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Students walk home from school, past an angel on East 109th Street and Wilmington Avenue in Watts.

  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Watts riots: 50 years later

Leela Dawson, 8, flies a kite on 105th Street in Watts on July 29, 2015. Her mother said she could be out flying the kite for only a few minutes because of the shootings that occur in her neighborhood.

  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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