In 1781 11 founding families coming from Sinaloa, Mexico founded the city of La Reyna de los Angeles. Today its called…you guessed it…Los Angeles, California. Of these 11 men, 11 women and 22 children, 26 persons were of African ancestry, 15 were Indian, 2 were White, and 1 was Mestizo (Indian mixed with Spaniard). In 1793 Juan Francisco Reyes became the first Los Angeles mayor of African descent. This was brought to light during the term of Thomas Bradley, who was mayor from 1973 to 1993 and who was considered to be the first person of African ancestry to hold the post. Equally overlooked is the fact that he was also the first “Hispanic mayor” too since he was from Mexico. Maria Rita Valdez, granddaughter of Luis Quintero, a Black founder of Los Angeles, acquired the rancho Rio Rodeo de Los Aguas in the 1820’s, which today is known as Beverly Hills. But California’s era of relative racial harmony died in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. A defeated Mexico turned California over to the United States, and within a few years, the California Legislature ruled that anyone who was of one-eighth African descent was black and, therefore, denied the right to vote, testify in court, homestead or attend integrated schools. By 1860, one of the few reminders of LA’s Black History was a street downtown called Calle de los Negros, where saloons and gambling dens were found.