Art and Upheaval :: Photo Essay :: 1

The Watts Prophets in front of the legendary Watts Towers (from left to right Otis O’Solomon, Amde Hamilton, and Richard Dedeux). The Prophets live, work and create in Watts, California, something they have done for more than thirty years.

The group met and connected in the early seventies at the Watts Writers Workshop. They were among the best of the students coming from this legendary community writing and performance center. Quincy Troupe, Stanley Crouch, and Kamal Daa’ood were also among the program’s early graduates.

In the 90ies, the Prophets came back matured and fully grown into an elder/griot role for the hip-hop generation.