Not Colored - Tapa blanda

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Crystal Jackson is an author, filmmaker, historian, and the Founder and President of the Pacoima Historical Society. A native of Pacoima, California, she has devoted much of her work to preserving, documenting, and expanding public understanding of Pacoima's rich history and that of the greater San Fernando Valley.In 2019, Jackson published the critically acclaimed "The Entrance: Pacoima's Story," an expansive history tracing approximately 1,500 years of Pacoima's development and heritage. Through extensive research and hundreds of interviews with longtime residents, community leaders, and families, she has worked to preserve stories often overlooked, misrepresented, or excluded from traditional historical narratives.Jackson's work highlights Pacoima's remarkable contributions to Los Angeles and American history, including its elected officials, civil rights leaders, celebrated athletes, Heisman Trophy winners, world-champion boxers, and the story of one of America's earliest Black suburban communities. Her research and advocacy have helped challenge long-standing stereotypes about Pacoima while bringing greater recognition to the people and events that shaped the community.Numerous media outlets have featured her historical work, including ABC, CBS, PBS, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR.As a filmmaker, Jackson has written several motion-picture screenplays and directed the award-winning documentary "PacoimaStories: Land of Dreams," which won Best Feature Documentary at the Pan African Film Festival.Jackson also contributes her expertise to several educational and historic-preservation organizations. She serves on the Advisory Council for the Getty Conservation Institute and the City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Preservation and has worked as a special consultant with the UCLA History-Geography Project, supporting efforts to incorporate local history into the Los Angeles Unified School District curriculum. She has also served on the boards of the Center for Advanced Learning Charter School and the Museum of the San Fernando Valley.In addition to her nonfiction work, Jackson has written historical novels inspired by overlooked figures and events in Los Angeles history. "Not Colored" is based on the life of Veda James, an African American woman who became the first woman to work in the Los Angeles Police Department's detective unit. "The Marilyn Monroe Connection" explores the story of Pacoima resident Lionel Grandison, who signed Marilyn Monroe's death certificate and later challenged the official suicide ruling surrounding her death.Her newest book, "Valley Chronicles: Told & Untold Stories of the San Fernando Valley," is a comprehensive historical narrative and photographic archive chronicling the evolution of one of Southern California's most significant regions. Spanning the Valley's geological beginnings and Indigenous civilizations through Spanish colonization, industrial expansion, suburban growth, and modern development, the book brings together documented history, rare imagery, and often-overlooked stories to provide a broader understanding of how the San Fernando Valley became a nationally and internationally recognized cultural region.Through her books, films, preservation work, and community advocacy, Crystal Jackson continues to ensure that the people, communities, and untold stories of the San Fernando Valley are documented, preserved, and shared with future generations.