Los Angeles, CA–This week, ‘Grandma’s For Downtown Crenshaw,’ arrived at the home of City Councilman Marqueece Harris Dawson to demand support and accountability.
The battle over the future of the Crenshaw Mall has been a huge topic of conversation in recent months in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw community in Los Angeles. The area has long been home to the middle-class Black community who were able to gain some sense of upward mobility despite L.A’s history of institutional racism and genocide against the Black community.
The Crenshaw Mall has been a staple in L.A’s Black community for decades and has been a goto spot for generations. Throughout the years due to local gang-activity and disinvestments, the mall is seen to some as less appealing than other malls such as the Fox Hills, although it is farther away.
In 2020, the future of the mall is now up for contentious debate and grab between local community groups and corporate real-estate investor groups such as CIM and companies with ties to Donald Trump, Deutche Bank, and Jared Kushner.
This has only fueled the motivations behind the community to gain control of the mall. Downtown Crenshaw, a community-led group, have submitted their own proposal for the Crenshaw Mall.
Downtown Crenshaw holds zoom calls and has been present in the community doing press conferences regarding the mall, as well as fundraising events to gain the necessary capital.
This morning they sent this email out in regards to their online town hall happening tonight at 8:00 p.m.
| Wow.This morning we received a letter sent by Black business, civil rights and faith community leaders to the Attorney Generals of California and New York demanding answers to important questions regarding the awarding LivWrk-DFH Partners with the right to buy the mall. While the sale has not been finalized and we are fighting to stop it, the presidents of the local chapters of the SCLC, National Action Network, NAACP, CORE and Baptist Ministers Conference, along with the Leimert Park ambassador of the LA South Chamber of Commerce pose important questions: “Questions exist as to why Deutsche Bank’s DWS passed over multiple more experienced, capable, and culturally competent Black-led development teams in favor of LivWrk-DFH Partners, which has business dealings with Donald Trump’s family members.” In the letter, the Black leaders pose six major questions:Why were several more qualified Black teams passed over in favor of a less qualified developer who is not Black? Why were higher and credible bids by Black teams passed over? Is there foreign money involved in the deal?Who is DFH Partners and who is financing this deal? What conflicts of interest exist between Deutsche Bank and LivWrk-DFH Partners?Why is there no Black ownership? We’re asking some of these questions too! Read the letter for yourself: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oY-jWfKuM6CzIOwMVVj-Hra6lKjHN-ELSADt_M6E4UQ/edit |
| EMERGENCY VIRTUAL TOWN HALL TONIGHT AT 8 PMWe will have an emergency meeting tonight to address the many misrepresentations made by LivWrk CEO Asher Abeshera with the facts, including LivWrk-DFH Partners direct business connections to the Trump family. We will also discuss the Black leaders letter to the Attorney Generals of California and New York.Please join us after the Empowerment Congress West Area meeting at 8 pm for an emergency town hall meeting YOU MUST REGISTER:https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtd–oqzwrG9Z1kS70C8ACujr8CDbOiitB |
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