Jewel's Catch One
Jewel's Catch One
Jewel's Catch One is a bar that is located on West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. It is owned by Mitch Edelson who also owns Los Globos, which is another bar/club in Los Angeles.
History
The owner of the club is named Jewel-Thais Williams. She graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in History and during her college years she wanted to be self-employed. Her first business was a boutique, but it went out of business so she bought a bar. She opened the club after she experienced discrimination in different clubs around West Hollywood because she was black and female. Women at the time were not allowed to tend bars, but Jewel saved enough money and bought the bar despite the limitations.[1]
When the club opened it became a hub for a diverse population of performers including The Fabulous Sylvester, Rick James and Madonna. Unfortunately, as the years went by the attendance of the bar went down. Jewel was about to shut the club down, but it was bought by Mitch Edelson (who also owns Los Globos). After that, it became known as the last Black owned disco and was renamed.
Currently
The club was under a new owner and reopened as the Union. It's still the site of a large LGBTQ crowd. Also, the club was featured as an organization in an exhibit in City Hall in Los Angeles called Defiant Spaces. It featured Jewel's Catch One in a a new way, as an organization that brought a sense of community and accepted the queer community.[2]
More About Jewel Thais-Williams
After a new owner bought Jewel's Catch One, Jewel went back to school and got her Master of Science degree in Oriental Medicine from Samra University in 1998. Due to the high rate of preventable diseases such as diabetes and obesity in minority populations, Jewel decided to open a non-profit called the Village Health Population. It was created with the purpose of educating lower-income communities on nutrition and living a more healthy lifestyle.[3]
Her active work in the community was documented in an academic journal in 2011 in the series called Thinking Gender Papers. The journal discussed Jewel's use of the club's building as a source to give health advice and run her non-profit. Also, it served as a space for political organizations to have their community meetings.[4]
Another publication wrote about her participation at "Healthy Resolutions" which was an event for lesbians over the age of 50 and focused on staying healthy. Jewel also received the Dream of Los Angeles Award from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on June 1st in 2012. It acknowledged her accomplishments as an activist and a business woman.
References
- ↑ https://lasentinel.net/jewel-thais-williams-celebrates-forty-years-in-four-day-extravaganza.html. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ http://one.usc.edu/defiant-spaces-60-years-of-queer-organizations-in-la/. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Jewel Thais-Williams Celebrates Forty Years in Four-Day Extravaganza".
- ↑ Hope, Analena (2011). "Fast Food, Slow Death and the Propaganda of Health: Jewel Thais-Williams’ Radical Battle for Black Survival".