Name Tommy Jacquette | ||
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Known for Founder of the Watts Summer Festival Died November 16, 2009, Los Angeles, California, United States | ||
Watts summer festival founder tommy jacquette part 1 2008
Tommy Jacquette (also known as Tommy Halifu Jacquette) was a community activist best known as the executive director of the Watts Summer Festival.
Contents
- Watts summer festival founder tommy jacquette part 1 2008
- Watts summer festival founder tommy jacquette part 2 2008
- Biography
- References
Watts summer festival founder tommy jacquette part 2 2008
Biography
Tommy Ray Jacquette was born on December 13, 1943 in Los Angeles, California and grew up in the Imperial Courts housing development in Watts, California. In the wake of the Watts Riots of 1965, Jacquette helped found the Watts Summer Festival to honor those who lost their lives during what he described as a "revolt" instead of a riot. "People keep calling it a riot, but we call it a revolt because it had a legitimate purpose," he said in a Los Angeles Times interview conducted four decades later.
In addition to the Watts Summer Festival, Jacquette was intimately involved in the Watts Christmas Parade, the Watts Gang Taskforce, the Wattstar Theatre and the Watts Chamber of Commerce.