Leimert Park Village The core of Leimert Park is Leimert Park Village, which consists of Leimert Plaza Park, two blocks of 43rd Street, and one block of Degnan Boulevard. Leimert Park Village has historically served as a hub of
African-American art and culture in Los Angeles, has been compared to both Harlem and Greenwich Village, and in 1998 was seen as "the cultural heartbeat of black Los Angeles." Leimert Plaza Park was designed by the Olmsted Brothers to serve as the public hub of the master planned community. The park has been a go-to community space for the African American community since the 1980s hosting art walks, a regular drum circle, annual celebrations, rallies, protests, and memorials. The village has
blues and
jazz night clubs, theaters for musicals, dramatic performances, award ceremonies, comedy specials, and poetry readings, and venues for hip hop. The intersection of 43rd Street and Degnan Boulevard was dedicated as
Barbara Morrison Square on the anniversary of her birth, September 10. 2022.
Project Blowed is the longest-running
hip hop open mic in the world, started in 1994 by rapper
Aceyalone and friends. It is hosted by Kaos Network, and held every Thursday night at 43rd Place and Leimert Boulevard.
Vision Theatre Leimert Theatre, located at the south end of Leimert Park Village at 3341 West 43rd Place, was designed in 1931 by the architectural firm
Morgan, Walls & Clements and opened as a movie theater on April 21, 1932. In 1977 the theater came under the ownership of the
Jehovah's Witnesses. Actress
Marla Gibbs bought the theater in 1990 and renamed it
Vision Theatre, intending to make it a venue for African-American movies,
live theater, and
dance productions. In 1992,
the Los Angeles civil unrest and an economic recession hit the area hard, and in 1997 the property fell into
foreclosure. The city of Los Angeles acquired the theater in 1999. The first phase of renovations to Vision Theatre began in 2011 and included upgrades to the lobbies, restrooms, office space, and classrooms. Rehabilitation of the remainder of the theater includes refurbishment and expansion of the theater and auditorium, and the addition of an orchestra pit and a fly loft.
The Leimert Park Book Fair The Leimert Park Book Fair began in 2007 and attracts "more than 200 authors, poets, spoken-word artists, storytellers and other participants."
Destination Crenshaw Sankofa Park will anchor the northern end of
Destination Crenshaw, an open-air museum of African American history and culture that will extend 1.3-miles (2.1 km) down
Crenshaw Boulevard through the
Hyde Park neighborhood.
Juneteenth Juneteenth is commemorated with a
street festival that brings together artists and residents for a day of fun and remembrance. The event celebrates the day in 1865 when the last enslaved African Americans were
liberated. The celebration in Leimert Park dates back to 1949 when a new resident started hosting a barbeque in his backyard. He was surprised that it was not a popular tradition like it was in Texas. The celebration expanded and has been organized by Black Arts Los Angeles since 2009. During the
2020 celebration, the iconography of the
Black Lives Matter movement, and images of
George Floyd and
Breonna Taylor were part of the celebration. ==Parks and recreation==