Easing race relations in Ramona Gardens

Jeff Littrel holds a rock that was thrown through the window of his home in Ramona Gardens shortly after he and his son moved in. “I still have the rock,” the 49-year-old restaurant cook says. “Just to remind me where I’m at. So I’ll never be slipping.”  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

C.J. Johnson, left, prepares to play in a basketball tournament. Johnson’s family is one of about 16 black families living in Ramona Gardens.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Spectators cheer at a basketball tournament in the Ramona Gardens gym.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

C.J. Johnson, left, fist bumps gang intervention worker George Sarabia inside the gymnasium. “C.J. opened a door,” Sarabia said. “I told him, ‘You know what I want to do. I can’t do it without you. We’ve got to break that barrier.’”   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Spectators sit on the stage inside the gym between games. Last year, during the NBA finals, a more historic championship game was about to take place in Ramona Gardens: the first one played between two mostly black teams.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Children mill around outside the gym.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

An LAPD officer assigned to Ramona Gardens keeps an eye out for trouble outside the gymnasium, the heart of the projects.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)