By Dr. Marie Y. Lemelle for The LA Sentinel
Originally published Sept. 23, 2026
When a proposed 5K run placed Leimert Park at the center of a heated public debate, much of the coverage concentrated on racial conflict, social-media rhetoric and the decision to move the event. The people who open the neighborhood’s businesses each morning, employ workers, and depend on customers to survive are missing from the story.
The Leimert Park Village Merchants Association (LPVMA) is correcting that omission.
The merchants whose businesses were at the center of the dispute have not been represented. The LPVMA wants to make clear that the merchants did not create this conflict, and unaffiliated voices do not speak for us.
LPVMA is an organized body representing brick-and-mortar businesses operating in Leimert Park. Membership is open to businesses in the Leimert Park zip code. Its members include merchants, cultural venues, restaurants, and service providers whose investments help sustain the district year-round.
Their position does not ask LA to choose between protecting Black culture and welcoming non-Black visitors. LPVMA maintains that cultural respect, public access, and economic survival can and has coexisted for decades
A 5K became a dispute about more than running
Barrio Athletics, a Latino-led South LA running organization, planned a 5K on Sept. 6 beginning in Leimert Park and continuing along Crenshaw Boulevard. A promotional message announcing that the group would “take over the streets” drew objections and raised safety concerns among residents, merchants, and community advocates.
The planned Sunday gathering also raised concerns about potential negative economic and crowd-safety effects on the merchants, residents, and cultural activities already operating in the Village. The affected businesses and community organizations had not been properly notified through the online events request form before the event was publicly promoted.
The disagreement intensified online. Some social-media users threatened to contact U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about Latino participants. Those comments widened the controversy and shifted public attention from event coordination and merchant impact to accusations of racial hostility.
Barrio Athletics ultimately apologized and relocated the run to Elysian Park. The organization said its decision followed conversations with community leaders and reflected respect for Leimert Park and the surrounding community.
The location change resolved the immediate scheduling dispute, but it did not repair the reputational damage the merchants suffered. The Village carries cultural and commercial significance.
Leimert Park Village is not an interchangeable event location. The LA Department of Cultural Affairs identifies Leimert Park as the city’s Black artistic and cultural hub, describing it as a cornerstone of Black culture and art.
For decades, the Village has brought together jazz, blues, African drumming, theater, literature, visual art, food, fashion, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. Its businesses and cultural institutions have helped preserve a visible center of Black life as other Black commercial districts have faced displacement, evolved demographics, and rising operating costs.
That legacy does not eliminate the need for visitors. It makes responsible visitation essential.
“Leimert Park Village is a historic center of Black culture and commerce. Its continued survival depends on customers, events, tourists, and new audiences,” said Karen A. Clark, co-owner of The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center and treasurer of the LPVMA. “We are committed to preserving the legacy, and that means continuing to open our doors to city-wide neighbors.”
The merchants’ concern extends beyond the neighborhood symbolism. A poorly coordinated event can block access, interrupt existing activities, affect parking, and influence whether customers can reach businesses. For a merchant operating on narrow margins, the consequences are economic.
A social-media controversy can cause another form of damage. When inflammatory statements are attributed broadly to “Leimert Park,” people may decide the Village does not want their presence or their business. The merchants then bear the cost of remarks they did not make, authorize, or endorse.
Visitors are welcome in Leimert Park Village
LPVMA makes its position clear: Multicultural Los Angelenos and visitors from beyond the borders of LA are welcome in Leimert Park Village. Cultural respect, public access, and economic survival can coexist, and this incident should not be framed as a Black-Brown issue.
That distinction matters. Describing the entire episode as a Black- Brown conflict overlooks the differences between an institutional position, a community concern, and an individual social-media comment.
LPVMA does not support threats involving immigration enforcement. Such threats do not protect Black culture or advance the economic interests of the Village. They also carry an especially painful meaning in LA, where immigrant families may already live with uncertainty and fear.
The association also rejects the assumption that any outside organization, activist, or social-media account speaks for Leimert Park Village merchants without authorization.
This is not an attempt to erase the concerns that preceded the online escalation.
For Genelle Brooks-Petty, Leimert Park Village represents more than a place to operate a business. As a fourth-generation Leimert Park resident, she carries a family connection to the neighborhood and a personal commitment to protecting the culture that generations of residents, artists, and entrepreneurs have built.
Brooks-Petty serves as vice president of the LPVMA and is co-owner and head ice cream maker at ALL CHILL Hip Hop Ice Cream Shop. Her perspective combines the lived experience of a longtime resident with the daily responsibilities of a merchant whose livelihood and community service depend on the Village remaining culturally vibrant and economically viable.
“We are the merchants of Leimert Park, the business district within the Black Arts and Culture District of Los Angeles,” Brooks-Petty said. “We have our own voice about how we serve as guardians of that culture, and we believe other people should be welcomed to respectfully experience it through the businesses that exist in Leimert Park.”
That welcome comes with an expectation of mutual respect. Brooks-Petty said organized events, street closures and large gatherings should follow established procedures designed to protect public safety, access and the businesses operating in the Village.
“We believe there should be a common understanding of how to respect the Village,” Brooks-Petty said. “There is a protocol for events that affect businesses in Leimert Park. There is a protocol for street closures and large gatherings, and everyone should be subject to it.”
One standard should govern organized events
LPVMA, in collaboration with Council District 10, developed a neutral consultation standard that applies to every organized group, regardless of race, mission, or identity of its members; and this includes LPVMA. This has been in effect since 2025. The application to host an event in Leimert Park is located at leimertparkvillage.org
Once the application is submitted, the organization is invited to a joint LPVMA and CD10 meeting to describe and discuss the event to ensure that the event is aligned with other activities on the same day. Additionally, the city must be consulted for support such as permitting; street access and/or closures, parking, public safety, trash cleanup, and traffic. All of these issues impact the brick-and-mortar businesses in the Village.
This process should occur before promotional materials are released.
This standard established a responsible process for using shared space in a district where public activity and private livelihoods operate alongside each other.
The city and county of Los Angeles each has a page on planning events in public parks. It is customary to engage in pre-planning for large events, which surely benefits other culturally significant communities across LA.
Early consultation creates an opportunity to avoid conflicts while connecting visitors with local restaurants, shops, galleries, and entertainment venues. An event that coordinates with merchants can become an economic partner instead of an unexpected competitor.
The merchants can define what happens next
Public officials have called for respectful dialogue and constructive cooperation across LA communities. The LPVMA is in alignment.
LPVMA encourages event organizers to use the protocol in place, but also to identify merchant representatives, existing activities, and operational concerns by opening a dialogue. “We Love Leimert welcomes collaboration with cultural institutions, neighborhood organizations, event organizers, and City partners. Our opportunity now is to make the process clearer and easier to understand so we can engage earlier and work more effectively together,” said Kaya Dantzler, co-founder of We Love Leimert, a close ally with the merchants.
“With better communication, we can welcome new audiences while honoring Leimert Park’s cultural legacy and creating meaningful benefit for the businesses, artists, and institutions that sustain the Village year-round.”