Juanita Tate (1938 – July 5, 2004) was an American community developer who organized and developed real estate to address environmental justice, affordable housing, and economic access for all South Central Los Angeles residents. She is responsible for building housing and a shopping center to eliminate food disparities in South Central Los Angeles after the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in S ...

. She incorporated Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles as a non-profit entity. Concerned Citizens of South Central LA. She was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and relocated to the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in the early 1980s to help the telephone company prepare for the 1984 Olympics, and be close to her paternal family that migrated from Augusta, Georgia to South Central Los Angeles in 1905. Tate was a member of the City of Los Angeles's Environmental Action Commission from 2002 until her death from complications of a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

. Juanita Tate Elementary School is built on land seized by the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

from the Concerned Citizens of South Central LA. There is a retail shopping center named for Juanita Tate, The Juanita Tate Marketplace. Opened in April 2014 in Southern Los Angeles, the retail shopping center built on a brownfield that was formerly a scrap yard and recycling center, commemorates her contribution to the community while she was a CCSCLA member. In April 2015 the marketplace was sold to private investors.

Honors

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

Legacy Award *Western Center for Law and Poverty Community Service Award *California Community Foundation Unsung Hero Award *

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

Woman of the Year Award

References

"Juanita Tate, Civil Rights Hero (1938-2004)"
Center for Law in the Public Interest newsletter, 2004.
"Los Angeles Says Goodbye to Juanita Tate"
An Environmental Affair, Volume 15, Issue 8, August 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Juanita American environmentalists American women environmentalists American community activists People from Los Angeles Activists from Philadelphia 1938 births 2004 deaths Activists from California 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 21st-century American women

Honors

See also

References