Black-led nonprofit, Creating Justice LA, recently announced its plans to purchase the Skid Row People’s Market. Located at 5th and San Pedro Streets, Downtown LA, the Market has been an enduring community hub for this Los Angeles neighborhood.
The previous owner, Danny Park, took over the business from his Korean immigrant parents, who had originally purchased it in 1995. Under his leadership, the market blossomed into a sanctuary for the community, with Danny changing its original name from Best Market to Skid Row People’s Market. Committed to providing affordable and fresh products to the predominantly Black community, including by offering credit to those low on funds, the Market features images and messages across its walls, including one that reads “joy is an act of resistance”. Near the entrance is a photo of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old girl who was shot to death in 1991 by a Korean shopkeeper at a LA liquor store. Park says that this image is necessary because “that’s how we heal.” There are also portraits of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the store.
Wanting to keep ownership within the community, Park, who is also on the board of Creating Justice, decided to transfer ownership to Creating Justice LA. An initiative of The Shaw Community Transformation Corporation, the nonprofit was established by pastor Stephen Cue Jn-Marie and aims to foster social and economic health, focusing on creating job opportunities in the community and addressing food insecurity.
In order to finalize the purchase, and continue running the organization, Creating Justice LA is raising $300K. The acquisition of this business would ensure that the market could continue “responding to structural racism and criminalization of poverty by [creating] access to healthy food and equitable jobs, while uplifting the creative spirit”.
