this fight to integregate the lafd had re-vitalized the naacp l.a.chapter under newly elected pres. thomas neusom and v.p. loren miller, by the 1960s blacks and whites began marching en-masse to gain recognition culminating with the march on washington and passage of the voting rights act. the struggles of the civil rights era had begun with the stands made by civil service workers such as those old stentorians who fought for fairness and diversity in the ranks of the lafd. by recruiting and mentoring youth to apply for the title and later in the ranks of the paramedics the 1970s saw a rise in the number of black officers and while occasionally there was racial tension in the firehouse, the lafd began to find itself under fire from the very communities they served. in 1965 watts exploded into riots and firefighters of every stripe came under fire while on duty. the stentorians came to understand a different sensibility of jim crow, namely harassment in various forms that didn’t quite rise to the level of racial animosity, but as ret. f.f. arnett hartsfield recounted in 1973, "i had a degree in law yet i went to work and cleaned toilets!." when the call came in 1969 from ny that a national black firefighter organization was being formed, the stentorians stepped up.