{"id":467819,"date":"2026-09-18T10:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467819\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T10:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T10:40:12","slug":"what-a-failed-run-club-takeover-of-a-black-neighborhood-says-about-l-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/467819\/","title":{"rendered":"What a failed run club ‘takeover’ of a Black neighborhood says about L.A."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I saw a video of a run club called Barrio Athletics promising that it would be \u201ctaking over\u201d Leimert Park on Sept. 6, I thought: <\/p>\n

Here we go again.<\/p>\n

An online flame war soon erupted over one of the most explosive allegations in L.A.: Latinos are trying to drive out Black people.<\/p>\n

It came in an election year that will bring the city down to just two Black councilmembers for the first time since the early 1960s, with two Latino candidates facing off for a South L.A. seat<\/a>. It came four years after secretly recorded audio emerged<\/a> that captured some of the city\u2019s most powerful leaders, all of whom happened to be Latino, scheming about how to dilute Black political power. <\/p>\n

South L.A., long the epicenter of Black life in the Southland, has been majority Latino for decades<\/a>. The 2020 census places Black Angelenos at just 8% of the city\u2019s population, the fifth census in a row where the community\u2019s share has shrunk. In a sign of gentrification, Realtors regularly cold-call longtime Leimert Park residents<\/a> with cash offers for their homes.<\/p>\n

\"Vision <\/p>\n

The entrance to the Vision Theatre in Leimert Park features a 2025 mural by artist Sei Shimura titled \u201cLeimert Park Cultural Icons.\u201d <\/p>\n

(Myung J. Chun\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see folks post up in your space and say, \u2018Get ready for a takeover,\u2019 you see it and think, \u2018OK!\u2019 \u201d said Karen A. Clark, treasurer of the Leimert Park Merchants Assn., which represents business owners in the economic and cultural heart of Black Los Angeles. <\/p>\n

We stood inside the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center, which Clark co-owns and where she serves as creative director. <\/p>\n

Her group reached out to Barrio Athletics founder Henry Gallardo soon after the video emerged, to let him know that he had to pull permits to hold a public event, just like everyone else.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut before they could respond,\u201d Clark said, \u201cit just took on a life of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallardo, 25, the son of Guatemalan immigrants who grew up in South L.A., moved his event to Elysian Park \u2014 after delivering apologies on podcasts and radio shows that Clark deemed \u201clovely\u201d but have drawn more online scorn. <\/p>\n

My colleague Corinne Purtill went to the relocated meet-up for Barrio Athletics, which is based in South L.A. and attracts a multiethnic group of runners. About 150 people showed up for a 5K run Sept. 6 on a rainy morning.<\/p>\n

\"Participants <\/p>\n

Participants take part in the Barrio Athletics 5K Run at Elysian Park earlier this month.<\/p>\n

(Caroline Brehman\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

A 38-year-old South L.A. native who gave his name as D-Ranks told Corinne that he had to deal with online haters because he spoke in support of Barrio Athletics as a Black man. <\/p>\n

\u201cKill that noise right now. Like we don\u2019t deal with the same things?\u201d he said of Black and Latino people.<\/p>\n

Jocelyn Juarez, 24, participated in her first run that day. The South L.A. native recently moved back home after living in Kansas, where she told Corinne that strangers seemed far more at ease living with each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in L.A.,\u201d Juarez said, \u201cwe have our guard up.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a city where neighborhood displacement \u2014 whether by gentrification<\/a>, government<\/a> or natural disaster<\/a> \u2014 is as commonplace and messy as the bloom of jacarandas<\/a>. Few communities have weathered those forces more than Black L.A.<\/p>\n

After their jog, Gallardo told Barrio Athletics runners that he had no ill intent when he chose Leimert Park.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Organizer of the Barrio Athletics 5K Run, Henry Gallardo, speaks to participants after the run in Elysian Park.<\/p>\n

(Caroline Brehman\/For The Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople try to paint it as violent,\u201d he said via megaphone. \u201cLook around. Is this violent? No. This is love. We\u2019re just running.\u201d<\/p>\n

I believe him. But he shouldn\u2019t be let off so easy, because he committed another sin that too many Angelenos are guilty of:<\/p>\n

Ignorance about the city we profess to love.<\/p>\n

Gallardo admitted on the \u201cScottie & Frnds\u201d podcast<\/a> that he didn\u2019t know about Leimert Park\u2019s significance to the Black community, admitting he \u201cshould\u2019ve done more research\u201d before deciding to take Barrio Athletics there.<\/p>\n

I had never visited Leimert Park\u2019s Sunday open-air market, either, so I asked Clark to give me a tour last weekend. That\u2019s what you do when you go somewhere new: Ask someone who knows. <\/p>\n

\"People <\/p>\n

People take part in a drum circle at at weekly market in the Leimert Park neighborhood.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

I immediately saw the issue when I arrived at Leimert Park\u2019s quaint business district, known locally as the Village \u2014and it wasn\u2019t that I was one of the few non-Black faces.<\/p>\n

Barrio Athletics had planned to start and end their run in tiny Leimert Plaza Park while also setting up a DJ and smoothie stand there.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, just outside the fenced-off green space, street vendors were selling everything from African fabrics to soap. Delicious food \u2014 Jamaican patties, raspberry tarts, Nigerian-style goat, salmon tamales \u2014 scented the streets. Young people took turns on the ramps outside Neighbors Skate Shop.<\/p>\n

A bunch of runners, no matter their race, would have thrown off the vibe and made themselves the center of attention. In what world is that cool?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you wanna pay my rent, you can be any color,\u201d Benedict Bernardez said with a laugh from his food stall. \u201cBut know where you\u2019re visiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A man walks past a mural during a weekly African Marketplace & Drum Circle and vendor market in the Leimert Park.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old Belizean immigrant remembered getting raised eyebrows when he first set up here 17 years ago, because \u201cthey heard I had an accent and my last name.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Bernardez eventually earned acceptance by establishing himself as someone who was committed to the neighborhood, not an interloper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about respect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That was the same sentiment offered by Merchants Assn. President Aminah Muhammad, who owns Sisters Marketplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would\u2019ve been wonderful to let us know in advance,\u201d she said of Barrio Athletics. \u201cBut then I\u2019d ask, \u2018Are you gonna patronize us, or just run through?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Milan Dwimfo runs a jewelry and gift store named after its founder, Sika, who was her late father and a Leimert Park pioneer<\/a>. A nearby alley is dedicated to him. Milan, 41, grew up seeing the \u201chighs and lows, ebbs and flows\u201d of the neighborhood and said she\u2019s \u201cso exhausted\u201d of the press and digital warriors trying to fan Black-brown fires in the city at any chance.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A young girl high-fives a jewelry maker named Ishmael during a weekly market in the Leimert Park.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople love a war, people love the drama of it all,\u201d she said. \u201cBut that\u2019s not who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Clark and I walked into Nappily Naturals, Umaar Askia said he had just attended to a group of Latino regulars who asked about the Barrio Athletics controversy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t even know about it until they heard it from their nephews,\u201d said Askia, 58, who owns the apothecary with his wife. \u201cAnd [the Latino regulars] were like, \u2018I don\u2019t feel uncomfortable in Leimert. I\u2019m here all the time.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Not a single vendor I spoke to expressed any enmity toward Latinos, or even Gallardo. But damned if they were going to let a group of randos storm into Leimert Park and expect a hero\u2019s welcome.<\/p>\n

\"Earrings <\/p>\n

Earrings are seen for sale during a weekly market in the long-running African Marketplace & Drum Circle and vendor market.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Genelle Brooks-Petty is an interior designer and fourth-generation neighborhood resident who opened the hip-hop-themed All Chill ice cream shop<\/a> five years ago. She wanted to open something that \u201cfeels like what [Leimert Park] looks like right now but also welcomes\u201d the thousands of people expected to move into new developments along the Crenshaw Boulevard corridor on Leimert Park\u2019s western edge.<\/p>\n

The 49-year-old knew that Barrio Athletics\u2019 \u201ctakeover\u201d language wasn\u2019t meant to be taken literally.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut some people are sensitive about how you talk about their sacred space,\u201d Brooks-Petty added. \u201cAnd we do need safe emotional spaces for Black people, no more than other people need their own sacred spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was big issues,\u201d she concluded, \u201cthat were brought up in an inopportune time.\u201d<\/p>\n

I ended my Leimert Park Village tour at a weekly drum circle in front of Sisters Marketplace that\u2019s open to all. A group of about 20 \u2014 mostly Black people but also some middle-aged white women and young Latino men \u2014 pounded away with hands or sticks to a unified beat. <\/p>\n

Looking on was Osvaldo Barraqu\u00edn, a 38-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who lives in South L.A. He comes to the Sunday market \u201cwhenever I have a chance,\u201d because he likes the food and music.<\/p>\n

Barraqu\u00edn saw Barrio Athletics\u2019 Instagram video and thought it \u201csad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t just show up to someone\u2019s party and say, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m going to hold my own party, too,\u2019\u201d he said in Spanish. \u201cAnd the thing is, the [Black merchants] would have probably said, \u2018Let\u2019s all party together sometime.\u2019 But first, you need to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When I saw a video of a run club called Barrio Athletics promising that it would be \u201ctaking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[184230,184232,2680,1409,11150,76301,142213,60221,7244,48,52,51,14833,5831,47,50,49,184231,7855,2130,5050],"class_list":["post-467819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-barrio-athletics","tag-black-neighborhood","tag-black-people","tag-city","tag-clark","tag-election-year","tag-gallardo","tag-gentrification","tag-group","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-latino","tag-leimert-park","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-south-l-a-seat","tag-street-vendor","tag-takeover","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}