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Campbell Square designated in South Los Angeles

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The Los Angeles City Council voted recently to name the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Stocker Street as Don “Campbellock” Campbell Square to honor the famed South Los Angeles dancer, choreographer and hip-hop pioneer.

City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson said in his motion that Campbell invented a popular dance move called “locking” and named it the “Campbellock.” In 1971, he joined the cast of “Soul Train,” which was one of the first television shows that featured a primarily Black cast.

“The show gained such popularity that Don and his fellow Soul Train dancers toured nationally,” Harris-Dawson said in his motion. “The tour highlighted the dancers’ popularity and convinced Don that dancers should be compensated for their work on ‘Soul Train.”’

In 1973, Campbell was removed from the program for attempting to organize a walkout in support of the dancers’ rights, according to Harris-Dawson.

After he left the show, Campbell formed a group known as “The Lockers,” which toured and performed with many well-known entertainers and was honored at the first hip-hop conference in 1999 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, according to the councilman’s motion.

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