User:ErikaO28/sandbox

Background
She received an education from public schools and one semester at Penbroke College.

Her first job at the California Eagle consisted of selling subscriptions.

When the founder, John Neimore of the California Eagle died she assumed the role of editor for the paper. She later became the owner of the California Eagle after purchasing it in auction for fifty dollars. At this time she took courses at Columbia University and University of California.

Expansion of the California Eagle
In her pursuit against the Ku Klux Klan Charlotta Bass received threatening phone calls and at one point was confronted by eight men robed in white. She was able to scare off her assailants by taking out a gun on them.

Another confrontation with the Ku Klux Klan came in the courts after the leader of the Klan, G.W. Price sued Charlotta Bass for libel after she published a letter from the Klan which detailed a plan to exterminate black leaders. Charlotta Bass won the case.

Charlotta Bass not only worked to improve the rights of African Americans, but she was a civil rights activist involved with various other issues such as housing rights, voting rights, and labor rights. She was also concerned with police brutality and harassment.

All African American Press was under investigation of the Office of the Secretary of War including the California Eagle.

In 1942, Charlotta Bass was interrogated by FBI agents for claims the paper was funded by Japan and Germany. The FBI kept a file on Bass deeming her actions as part of the Communist Party and considering her actions as advocating the Communist Party.

In 1943, the Department of Justice was asked by the Post Office Department to revoke her mailing permit. The Post Office Department argued that the newspaper could not be mailed due to sensitive and illegal material within the paper. Bass again won the case, and the Department of Justice said her mailing permit would not be revoked.

In 1948, Charlotta Bass made a national victory when housing convents were found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court.

In 1950, Charlotta Bass was called a communist after she traveled to Czechoslovakia to attend a peace conference.

In 1951, Charlotta Bass faced further accusations of being a communist this time by the State Department who classified her as a potential security threat.

After she sold the California Eagle she moved to New York City.

Political Activities
In 1966, Bass had a stroke and afterwards retired to a Los Angeles nursing home.

In 1967, at age ninety-one the FBI still classified Charlotta Bass as a potential security threat.

Inter-Racial Political Activities
Gaye Johnson's essay, Constellations of Struggle (2008) examines Charlotta Bass and Luisa Moreno's significance on political activism and how it relates to the history of struggle communities of color have faced. Both Charlotta Bass and Luisa Moreno shared a "mutual struggle" and were active in fighting for civil rights through organizations together and through their own pursuits. Charlotta Bass primarily focused on the African American community and Luisa Moreno on the Chicano community but both supported a variety of civil rights. Both women were active in the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee, labor rights, and civil rights throughout their lives. Both women also used a technique of influencing one community at a time, employing antiracist activism, and bringing awareness.

Through the California Eagle Charlotta Bass was able to have readers recognize the struggles of communities of color. Even when Charlotta Bass was faced with her own struggles with United States officials she used it as opportunities to further the influence of her paper. This can be seen after her detainment by United States officials caused her to miss her flight to China for a conference, where afterwards she continued to work on the next issue of the paper. Charlotta Bass was able to strengthen the community by pointing out the issues in Los Angeles, bringing the African American community together. With the strategy of one community at a time she was able to publicize the unequal treatment in a majority of issues from housing to police brutality. Through the newspaper she was able reverse the long used tactic of blaming people of color to shift the blame onto white officials who were responsible for the unequal treatment continued to be perpetuated in various areas such as housing and police brutality.

Gaye Johnson's book, Spaces of Conflict, Sounds of Solidarity (2013) furthers this concept of "constellations of struggle" by looking at the "history of resistance" where communities have fought back and how they have reclaimed space. The work of Charlotta Bass and Luisa Moreno represents an interracial struggle and moments of solidarity. These moments of solidarity between African Americans and Mexicans was a way of reclaiming space through not only political means but through leisure spaces like music. When communities of color were violently attacked by whites it brought these communities together to further resist by unifying their forces together.

The California Eagle was utilized as a tool to change the communities ideology by challenging the police even comparing their tactics to Hitler's tactics, challenging the assumption criminal behavior was biological in people of color, and linked fascism to racism. The California Eagle was a way of reaching global attention to the issues of people of color. Charlotta Bass was able to promote the creation of "spatial entitlement" by bringing communities together through her work with organizations and the newspaper.

Legacy
Charlotta Bass is known for her work as owner and editor of the California Eagle from the 1912 to 1951. The California Eagle was used as a platform for publicizing the issues of the African American community and later included the issues of a variety of civil rights. She worked to improve the conditions of people of color through a multitude of civil rights such as housing rights, labor rights, voting rights, and police brutality. She was the first African American woman to be a jury member in the Los Angeles County Court and to run for Vice President of the United States.