Developed by Walter H. Leimert in 1927, Leimert Park's commercial center began as a typical main street but, beginning in the late 1960s, Degnan Boulevard emerged as a center of black art, commerce, and creative exploration in Los Angeles. In 1967, brothers Alonzo Davis and Dale Davis opened Brockman Gallery at 4334 Degnan to create space and visibility for black artists excluded by the mainstream art world, helping promote artists including Elizabeth Catlett and Romare Bearden. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the area drew more artists, entrepreneurs, and organizations such as Museum in Black, Africa by the Yard, Bak Tu Jua, Kongo Square, and the World Stage, while Marla Gibbs renamed the Leimert Theatre the Vision Theatre and opened Crossroads Academy nearby, Video 3333 offered media technology instruction, and Ramsess worked from his Degnan studio-home. After the civil unrest fires of 1992, the arts scene continued to flourish, with the World Stage, founded in 1989 by Billy Higgins and Kamau Daaood, becoming known for jazz performances and writing workshops, and 1990s additions including the Dance Collective, Eso Won Books, and 5th Street Dick's, Richard Fulton's jazz coffeehouse born from a promise he made while homeless on Skid Row. As the area adapts to the accessibility created by the Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line, local residents remain committed to preserving its authenticity and legacy as a distinctive cultural hub, sustained by festivals, the Leimert Park Artwalk, and the Sankofa Passage, a 2007 sidewalk tribute honoring figures who contributed to Leimert Park's cultural renaissance and to the cultural life of black Los Angeles.
