By C. U. Powers
(Minolta XD11 35mm)
Since the middle of March, Long Beach has been on quarantine…right? At least some level of it anyway. As the month go by into a new year it seems the terms of this or that “lockdown” has had many different meanings. The city wasn’t really empty until June right after the May 31st Protest when the city turned to chaos. That’s when you would go downtown and see nobody except national guard and the occasional passerby.
Now, I don’t know what to think. Its December and buildings are still boarded up from the first “riot” and some were reboarded in fear of the 2020 election results causing another night of destruction, not to mention the city going back into another lockdown recently. Some places are open. Others are still destroyed from months ago. Then there’s just the streets in general once again virtually empty.
In this photo essay, I explain my thoughts behind every photo and explain what the downtown area feels like as of late November early December. Feel free to comment below.
Some small business apart of a larger franchise is doing whatever they can to make the hustle beneficial. 
A man posts on a street looking for sidewalk traffic that isn’t there. Wonder how many phones he has to give away today to get paid… 
Few weeks ago a lot of businesses completed their little patios for outside dining… now look. 
I wondered how dark it is in there… when’s the last time those records seen light… 
And across the way… same thing. 
Two men skate off after buying items from an antique shop. 
This shop was burned down on May 31st during the riots. Talked to the owner. He had no idea why someone would target his shop… 
Love the art though… 
Empty 
Bugs me the arrows on the ground aren’t perfect. Never had the time to notice before. 
On May 31st there were 5 Black men sitting in chairs outside the newly located church telling protesters and rioters to be careful… Antioch still hasn’t opened since they moved off of 15th Street Pre-Covid. 
Love this building…. Remember the 1st time i noticed the Free Mason “G” at the top of it one day ditching school in the 8th grade to go to the AMC Theater. Man… time. 
Another just cause… 
Mm. Bob wire. 
Yeah…..like we say in the hood. “Scared money dont make no money”. 
So the city blocked off streets downtown months ago so people can…. be consumers during the pandemic… If you ask me it looked really bad at night… too many people. Glad its quite. 
Buses are still bussing…. If people cant get to work the whole economy of the city will falter. Look up the MLK Montgomery Bus Boycotts. 
Never knew Rock Bottom was a national franchise til we got the news earlier this year that they had to shut down the Long Beach location. Only got to eat there once right before they shut down. (Thanks DJ PH Ill) 
A peep inside Rock Bottom… Are they still paying rent orrrr? There’s still stuff inside. 
The city allowed Lime Scooters back….. idk. They closed dine-in establishments again though… this city doesn’t know what it wants. 
The City of Long Beach will prevail.
