Lino's Pad: African American Los Angeles and the Formation of the Underground Musicians Association

The performance of original music was only one aspect of what Horace Tapscott and his cohorts envisioned. Another was bringing that music to the South Central community to help fill an increasing cultural void. UGMA was dedicated to performing music from the community for the community. Despite varied distractions, UGMA's focus was a commitment to free artistic expression and the development of a social consciousness about its community. From the schools and parks to the growing swell of protest movements, Horace and UGMA moved through the community offering an undiluted, noncommercial artistic expression of their experiences and evolution as African Americans, aligning themselves with a broad spectrum of political movements, from civil rights activists to revolutionaries.