Sylvia Lacy

Sylvia Lacy was born in Los Angeles, California in 1948 and grew up on 51st and Main St, which is where Sylvia’s parents Emiel and Elizabeth (Jeanie) owned and ran Reasonable Cleaners. Sylvia’s parents moved to the East side of Los Angeles during the Great Migration to flee racial discrimination. Her mother passed away when Sylvia was nine and Sylvia was raised by her father on the East side in a predominantly Black community, which she describes as having a village mentality. Sylvia attended a racially diverse high school, and faced disapproval when she and her classmates visited other parts of the city. She reflects on shifting racial demographics in Los Angeles after the Watts Uprising in 1965 and today, as a result of gentrification. Sylvia married out of high school and had two children, Jenise and Tyrei. When she was a young mother, Sylvia became involved in the public school system and her neighborhood association, eventually working for Los Angeles High School. She worked on the Advisory Council for the community-based policing initiative founded by Willie Williams where she worked to plant trees on Washington Boulevard and address growing crime there. Through a relationship with Devon Williams, Silvia went to work for councilman Nate Holden and continued to work in the Council office for 25 years under Jan Perry and Herb Wesson.