James was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Los Angeles before he was a year old. He was raised in Watts where he began his studies at 92nd Street and Weigand Avenue elementary schools, and Markham Jr. Liceo. He graduated from Compton High School. He attended LA Southwest College in 1967 where he studied Mechanical Engineering. After graduation he attended California State University at Northridge on a Track & Field Scholarship and majored in Mechanical Engineering, minored in Physical Education and Music. He accepted an academic scholarship to Pepperdine where he received a degree in Urban Planning. He later studied Business Law at California State University at Los Angeles. He received a credential from the University of Southern California Anderson School Of Gerontology, and after receipt of scholarship he took an intensive business study program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. During his study at Pepperdine James enrolled as a VISTA volunteer for two years where he worked with the Los Angeles Community Design Center. He was employed as the Assistant Director of Community Services at Los Angeles Southwest College, and at the outset of the Older Americans Act of 1975 he was hired by the City of Los Angeles through People Coordinated Services to create and develop Senior Citizens Multi-purpose Centers in the 8th and 10th Council Districts. He was later employed as Council Deputy for LA City Councilman Robert Farrell responsible for Senior Citizens Affairs. James served as Director of the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center’s Institute for the Performing and Visual Arts where he participated in the accreditation of the school and development of hits curriculum in Theater, Danza, and Music.
Per il passato 33 years James has worked with the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs where he started as Director of the William Grant Still Arts Center Arts Center. He also served as Director of the William Reagh and Encino Photography Centers. After the success of the African Marketplace & Cultural Faire he was appointed by DCA General Manager Adolfo Nodal as Director of the Performing and Folk Arts Divisions. Durante l' 1992 Civil Unrest he served as Director of the Jobs in the Arts Program. For the past fifteen years he has served as Director of Special Projects where he has initiated several International Cultural Exchange programs, and as the designated advisor on the design and construction of the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center and currently with the Leimert Park Vision Theatre.
His achievements include the creation of the annual Los Angeles African Marketplace & Cultural Faire, that spawned several sustaining programs for the Cultural Faire that included the African Marketplace Import & Export Trade Emporiums located in two urban malls, creation of the Salvador, Bahia Brazil based Global Cinema & Urban Media Initiative, the African Marketplace Leimert Park Village Small Business Center, and partnered with Cultural Engineering to open an office in Dubai. James has been responsible for working with or curating more than 100 fine arts and cultural exhibitions, and supervising the implementation of the City of Los Angeles’ cultural festival policy where his staff of 15 were directly involved in supporting over 105 cultural and special event festivals & celebrations annually. His efforts helped create the city’s Annual Festival Guide, the Pacific Island Festivals, Fiesta Broadway, The Filipino Festival, the Cuban Festival, coordination of the Manazar Pilgrimage in 1991 e 1992, and the Annual African American Heritage Celebration.
He has promoted the use of the arts and cultural tourism as a tool for economic development in urban communities through his concept of an urban cultural theme park as year-round destination in African American communities. His African Marketplace & Cultural Faire served as the model for the City of San Francisco’s decision to construct a permanent year-round International African Marketplace as the center piece for the 500 acre Bayview Hunter’s Point shipyard development. A respected cultural developer he was a delegate for the State of California to the 1995 White House Conference on Tourism. The appointment came as a result of the African Marketplace & Cultural Faire’s selection as one of the “Top 100 Events In North America” in 1996. It was selected again to the list in 2002. He has worked tirelessly with the LA Visitors and Convention Bureau to promote the inclusion of South Los Angeles and the African American community in its marketing plans for the city of Los Angeles and to promote historic contributions to the city, and multi-billion dollar economic impact on domestic tourism in the United States by people of African descent.
His effort has provided an opportunity to work with the leadership of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations to promote the use of the arts and cultural tourism as tools for economic development in underserved communities and countries. He has worked with New Orleans on its post Katrina cultural/economic rebuilding efforts and with the cities of Dallas, Atlanta, Johannesburg, Sudafrica, Kamasi, Ghana, Berlino, Germania, Kauai, Hawaii, Salvador, Brasile , Cuba, Giamaica, Trinidad, Bahamas, Bermuda, and others desiring to build cultural destinations in their urban communities.
James was listed by the Los Angeles times as one of the top 100 most influential African Americans in the City of Los Angeles for his efforts, and is currently in several nationwide and international Who’s Who publications. He is on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles South College Foundation, Council District 8’s Destination Crenshaw Project, Leimert Park Village, Inc., and the AfricaUSA international Chamber of Commerce. He was formally ENSTOOLED as a Chief in Jachie, Ghana in 1996, and continues to work with a variety of local, statewide, national and international institutions championing investment by Africa in its Diaspora by pointing out the inherent economic and cultural resources and potential return from African Diaspora and African community expatriates living abroad.
jvburks@earthlink.net
James.V.Burks@lacity.org
www.culturela.org
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