The Los Angeles Sentinel was founded in 1933 by Col. Leon H. Washington Jr., a prominent African American journalist and civil rights activist. Washington established the newspaper to provide a voice for the African American community in Los Angeles, which was often underrepresented or misrepresented in mainstream media at the time. The idea behind the Los Angeles Sentinel was to offer news, information, and perspectives relevant to the Black community. Today, the newspaper is owned by Danny J. Bakewell Sr. and his family, who acquired it in 2004 and have continued its legacy of serving the African American community. Based in Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Sentinel covers a wide range of news and topics relevant to the African American community and beyond. The newspaper and its website provide coverage of local and national politics, community events, education, health, business, sports, and entertainment. The Sentinel pays particular attention to issues affecting the Black community, including civil rights, social justice, and economic empowerment. As one of the oldest and largest Black-owned newspapers in the Western United States, the Los Angeles Sentinel serves as an important source of information and advocacy for its readership in Southern California and across the country. One interesting fact: A unique aspect of the Los Angeles Sentinel is its historical role in the civil rights movement. During the 1965 Watts Riots, the newspaper played a crucial part in providing on-the-ground reporting and perspectives from within the affected community. This coverage was instrumental in offering a more nuanced understanding of the events and their underlying causes, at a time when mainstream media often provided limited or biased accounts. The Sentinel's reporting during this period has since become an important historical record, used by scholars and researchers studying the civil rights era in Los Angeles.