The Bruce family could soon inherit the legacy that was stripped from them! According to Because of Them We Can, Willa Bruce purchased two lots of land from a white land developer in 1912 for $1,225. While her husband, Charles Bruce, worked as a chef on dining-cars for a train that ran between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, Willa ran a cafe, lodge, and dance hall for Black families to enjoy weekends at Manhattan Beach — the area was known as Bruce’s Beach. During the time, more Black families began to enter the area either purchasing or building homes that overlooked the sea, ultimately creating a small community. “They were pioneers,” said historian and author of the book “Living the California Dream: African American Leisure Sites during the Jim Crow Era,” Alison Rose Jefferson in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. “They did what every other Californian was doing during that time.” The Bruces and their neighbors weren’t even able to enjoy the fruits of their labor without...