On Monday, another one of the Southland’s warriors for justice and equality was laid to rest. Caffie Greene, a feisty, multitasking, whirlwind who emerged from the destruction of the 1965 Watts Riot taking charge of the changes it wrought, died last week at age 91 after a long period of illness, and I had already been missing her for years — ever since she became too old and too sick to kick butt. Caffie Greene was a legend. I had known her virtually all my life and I really liked her. I liked her style, her energy, her righteous indignation, her flair for achieving change, her tactical ability to make naysayers say yes, and her selflessness, as everything she did was about “us,” never about her.

As Sen. Ted Kennedy said about his dead brother, Bobby: “He never saw a wrong he didn’t right,” the same can be said of Caffie, as she, too, never saw a wrong she didn’t right or a need she did not fill. Caffie is famously remembered for being a primary force that created the Martin Luther King Jr. General Hospital, the Charles R. Drew University medical school, the Watts Health Foundation, and a metropolitan transportation system that brought buses to South L.A., thus ending the area’s isolation from the rest of the county.
She fought police brutality, organized residents to protest employment discrimination, pulled together women to picket markets that sold rotten meat and vegetables and most notably, fought racism in Lynwood, which, at the time, was a bastion of anti-Black activity. Caffie, who lived and died in Lynwood, led the hard-fought campaign to retain Charlie Mae Knight as superintendent of the Lynwood School District 25 years ago. White people didn’t like Knight and their school board ultimately bought out her contract for about $200,000. Caffie then worked to get Black people elected to the school board, and succeeded. Then there was that controversy involving the destruction of peoples’ homes for the construction of the Century Freeway through Lynwood. Caffie was all over that, too.
Whatever Caffie was into was always a news story and she was, therefore, an asset to my career; plus I really enjoyed being around her. When she had the time, she was a good cook and I delighted in just going to her house to eat — and talk about people. I will continue to miss her.

SAY WHAT?! — The Hallmark company has been distributing a talking graduation card that calls African-American women “Black whores”!!! No stuff. This card was purchased at the Walgreen’s drug store on Pico Boulevard and at the CVS drug store on LaCienega and brought to the attention of the Los Angeles NAACP. Chapter President Leon Jenkins dashed off letters of complaint to the Hallmark, Walgreen’s and CVS corporate offices and demanded that they cease and desist selling this outrageously offensive card or the wrath of the world will be unleashed upon them. All three companies removed the card from their inventories immediately upon receiving the NAACP’s demands. What country is this?

SOME JOBS, AT LAST! — Pressed by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and Councilman Herb Wesson, the Exposition MTA voted unanimously last week to develop a strong local hiring policy to ensure that unemployed and  underemployed residents receive jobs in the Exposition Light Rail Line Phase 2 project. The board instructed the Expo Authority staff to develop a local hire program that targets residents within five miles of the project, disadvantaged workers and individuals residing within areas of L.A. County where unemployment exceeds 150 percent of the county average. The Ridley-Thomas/Wesson motion specifically requires that at least 30 percent of the employment hours provided by contractors be completed by workers living within a five-mile radius from the project alignment.

DATEBOOK — “The Impact of Professional Sports Stadiums and Arena Facilities on Local Economics” is the topic of a hearing Assemblyman Mike Davis will hold Friday from 9 a.m. to noon in the Walli Annenberg Building in Exposition Park. Davis is chairman of the Assembly Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media.

The California Commission on the Status of Women will hold a public hearing on issues confronting women and girls tomorrow from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut St. in Pasadena. The hearing is being co-sponsored by the Legislative Black Caucus, among others, and is the first of three such meetings scheduled in the state.

PERSONAL DIGRESSION — A man I adore and with whom I’ve worked closely throughout my professional life, needs to be mentioned here: legendary photographer Guy Crowder. Guy and his wife, Patricia, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 29. For many years, Guy was a staff photographer for Los Angeles’ mainstream and minority newspapers and national magazines and is the former owner of the community’s Guy’s Photography studio. He retired as Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ chief photographer after 31 years and his wife retired after 31 years with the L.A. Unified School District. Felicitations, Guy and Patricia! (And yes, I’m getting maudlin in my old age.)