Black culture has spread worldwide, but Black communities in Los Angeles which created portions of that culture have been historically overlooked for tourism.
By Jason Lewis
Leimert Park Village is the center point for Black culture, art, and music in Los Angeles, and it attracts thousands of people every weekend. But without tourism dollars, the businesses are unable to thrive.
James Burks, a past director of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the founder of the African Marketplace in Los Angeles, has been pushing for more exposure for South Los Angeles to attract tourism, with Black Los Angeles’ culture, which has spread worldwide, to market the area.
“If you have a culture, it’s just a matter of monetizing the value of that culture,” Burks said. “If we’re going to sustain ourselves, we have to build a destination in Leimert Village where Black culture is alive and well. It’s a great culture that’s given so much to this country.”
There are multiple Black-led projects that are taking place within walking distance to Leimert Park Village which will bring people to the area.
“This is an interesting period right now with the development of Destination Crenshaw, the development of the Stocker Street Creative film studio, and what we’re doing right now in Leimert Park is great. It’s landmark and a challenging project, but it’s a wonderful thing to see people working together to do that.”
Burks pointed out that there are about 50 festivals and special events that are held in Leimert Park every year, but those events are independently operated and do not produce revenue for the local merchants throughout the week.
“I appreciate festivals for what they are, but I also understand exactly what they are,” he said. “They are temporary projects. But in-between there is nothing for that small merchant to do.”
During the week there is not much foot traffic along Degnan Boulevard, while well known tourist destinations around the city attract customers throughout the week.
“For years I’ve always said that we have not taken advantage of the African-American economic impact on domestic tourism,” Burks said. “People travel and visit cities based on interests. When the Olympics happened in 1984, the South Los Angeles community got very little tourism.”
Burks points out that one major problem is that Los Angeles’ Black communities historically have not been well promoted by the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board.
“Los Angeles is promoted around the world through the convention and tourism bureau” he said. “You have destinations in L.A. that people are aware of. Like Little Tokyo, Chinatown, Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Malibu. People come here to visit those places. They know Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm, and Magic Mountain. They know Old Town Pasadena. If you’re not advertising us, people are not going to come to South L.A.”
Burks has attended meetings with directors from hotels in Los Angeles, and he found out that they do not promote Black communities to the people who hold conventions at their hotels.
“I said to them, ‘You guys have not mentioned South L.A. How many African American conventions are you bringing to your hotel every year? Are you not telling them that there’s a Black community here in Los Angeles?’ One Black director of a hotel said, ‘Nobody wants to go to Black communities.’ I said, ‘Yeah, because you’re not telling them about those communities. How would they know about going to a Black community unless you tell them?’”
A part of attracting people to Leimert Park is merchants and festival promoters pooling their financial resources together to promote the area and to bring in new business.
“We have to build a consolidation of resources,” Burks said. “We do special events in this community, but they’re all done independently. They don’t partner.”
With several venues in Leimert Park along Degnan Boulevard, the area could hold conferences.
“You could hold preliminary sessions in the Vision Theater and breakout sessions in places like Ora Cafe, Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center, the Regency West, Fernando Pullum Community Art Center, the World Stage, and at Art and Practice,” Burks said. “We need to do that here.”
Major events are coming to Los Angeles over the next several years. Soccer’s World Cup is coming in 2026, the Super Bowl in 2027, and the Olympics in 2028. City officials are heavily promoting the Metro rail to drive tourism to various areas of the city. With the efforts from community organizers in the Leimert Park area, more tourism dollars should come to these communities.
