Procrastination Crenshaw: Black Los Angeles Is Sick and Tired of Waiting

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Destination Crenshaw was promised as a monument to Black culture and economic power. Five years later, the community deserves completion, contracts, transparency—and respect.

By Dr. Gloria Zuurveen
Publisher, PACE NEWS
The Southern Truth

There comes a time when patience stops being a virtue and starts becoming permission for those in power to continue postponing what they promised.

That time has come for Destination Crenshaw.

Broadcaster and veteran journalist Tavis Smiley has rightly raised the alarm over what he has nicknamed “Procrastination Crenshaw.” Through his KBLA Talk 1580 commentaries, Smiley has questioned why a project celebrated as a historic investment in Black Los Angeles has accumulated what he describes as more deadlines than deliverables.

Destination Crenshaw was envisioned as a 1.3-mile cultural corridor and open-air museum celebrating Black art, history, commerce and community along Crenshaw Boulevard. It was supposed to protect the cultural identity of the neighborhood, strengthen local businesses, create jobs and make certain that the arrival of the Metro line did not simply accelerate the displacement of Black residents and entrepreneurs.

That is a beautiful vision.

But a beautiful vision without accountability can become another broken promise.

The project was originally described publicly as costing approximately $100 million. A more recent 2026 report from the California Community Foundation now describes it as a $150 million project, says construction was paused, and reports that another $35 million must be raised for completion.

How did we get here?

Who received the contracts?

How much money has been spent?

How much money remains?

Which Black-owned businesses were hired?

Which businesses were displaced, damaged or forced to close while waiting for the promised economic benefits?

What is the binding completion date?

And who will be held responsible if another deadline passes?

These are not disrespectful questions. These are the questions that every taxpayer, resident, business owner, donor and community stakeholder has the right to ask.

The project’s supporters report impressive goals and projections, including more than 1,000 jobs and millions of dollars in anticipated economic activity for surrounding businesses. They also report significant percentages of local construction hiring and wages.

But projections are not the same as paychecks.

Announcements are not the same as completed parks.

Press conferences are not the same as thriving Black-owned businesses.

And public art honoring Black struggle cannot become another backdrop behind which Black people are denied access to the economic benefits created in their own neighborhood.

This is the Eighth Council District represented by Los Angeles City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is also identified by Destination Crenshaw as the project’s founder. That leadership position carries both honor and responsibility.

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The community deserves a complete public accounting—not hostility, political talking points or another carefully staged presentation. The people need contracts, budgets, payments, schedules, audit information, funding commitments and a written completion plan placed before them.

Let us be clear: this is not an attack on Black leadership.

This is a demand that Black leadership be accountable to Black people.

We cannot condemn neglect in other communities while making excuses for it in our own. We cannot preach economic empowerment while Black merchants along Crenshaw are left wondering whether they will survive long enough to benefit from the development taking place around them.

It is pathetic—and that is The Southern Truth.

It is pathetic that our community must repeatedly beg to receive a fair share of projects built in our neighborhoods, promoted through our culture and financed in the name of our advancement.

It is pathetic when everyone wants to profit from Black culture, but Black businesses must continue fighting for contracts, customers, capital and consideration.

It is pathetic when patience is demanded from those who have already waited through generations of redlining, disinvestment, displacement and economic exclusion.

This is why the community must attend the upcoming public hearing organized by Tavis Smiley and KBLA Talk 1580:

DESTINATION CRENSHAW—YOUR TIME IS UP

Thursday, July 30, 2026
6:30 p.m.
Bethesda Temple Church
4909 Crenshaw Boulevard, Los Angeles

The public hearing is free and open to everyone.

Come prepared not merely to complain, but to demand measurable commitments:

A complete accounting of public and private funds.

A list of contractors, subcontractors and vendors.

The percentage and dollar amount awarded to Black-owned businesses.

A report on businesses assisted, businesses displaced and businesses still waiting for help.

A firm construction schedule with publicly announced milestones.

An independent process for monitoring spending and completion.

A permanent community and Black-business advisory body with meaningful authority—not merely ceremonial participation.

We must show up because silence can be mistaken for satisfaction.

We must show up because unity is not simply standing together for photographs. Unity is standing together when answers are being withheld.

We must show up because Destination Crenshaw belongs to more than a nonprofit corporation, elected office or development team. It belongs to the people whose history, labor, businesses, sacrifices and culture made Crenshaw Boulevard worthy of becoming a destination in the first place.

Fannie Lou Hamer declared that she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Today, Black Los Angeles is sick and tired of being told to wait.

Sick and tired of watching development happen around us instead of for us.

Sick and tired of seeing our culture used to raise money while our businesses struggle to receive their fair share.

And sick and tired of asking politely for what is rightfully yours and mine.

Bring the contracts.

Bring the accounting.

Bring the completion date.

Bring the Black businesses to the table.

And bring Destination Crenshaw across the finish line without any more excuses.

See the flyer. Attend the hearing. Raise your voice. Stand with Tavis Smiley. Let us organize, unify and demand accountability without delay.

That is The Southern Truth.

What do you have to say? Let us hear from you in the comment section—without delay.