Between 1970 and 1990 the South LA area went from 80% black and 9% Latino to 50.3% black and 44% Latino. Today, Latinos account for about two-thirds of the residents in the neighborhood and the black churches in the area are being forced to adapt to the changing community.

Churches like the Second Baptist Church, the host of several N.A.A.C.P. conventions and speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, are now part of neighborhoods that are only about 10% black. According to a New York Times story published last month many of the members that could walk to the church now have to listen to the Sunday service on local radio or travel an hour to attend service. And as gas prices continue to rise some black churches have been left with just a dozen members who attend Sunday service.