Paula Peebles

Paula Peebles, Pennsylvania state chairwoman of the National Action Network and a prominent community activist in Philadelphia, died on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024.

She was born on June 27, 1953, and received a bachelor’s degree in education from Temple University and a master’s in community economic development from Southern New Hampshire University.

Peebles was early to observe glaring injustices in her predominantly Black North Philadelphia neighborhood: poor living conditions, inadequate funding for education and racial segregation.

Inspired by her activist mother, she organized the city’s first-ever student walkout when she was 14 years old. Students who participated in the walkout demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the hurried and general lack of education on Black history in their schools.

Two years later, Peebles joined the Black Panther Party at 16. She moved to Oakland, where she continued her activism and community organizing. She was vice president of the National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party until her passing.

After returning to Philadelphia, Peebles was the driving force behind the creation of Renaissance Community Development Corporation, Inc., which sought to provide affordable homes for low-income residents. She worked there for 38 years before retiring in 2017.

From 2005 to 2012, Peebles was a professor at the University of Delaware, where she taught courses on community development.

Peebles was the founder and chairwoman of the National Action Network’s Pennsylvania chapter. She joined the Black Women’s Leadership Council upon its establishment in 2018. The next year, she was a founding member of the Philadelphia Human Relations Council, later becoming vice president of the council.

On Oct. 25, 1997, large numbers of women marched on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to promote what it means to be a Black woman in America. The event was spearheaded by Peebles and became known as the Million Women March.

Her leadership was critical to several neighborhood initiatives and campaigns.

In 2015, she started a campaign to remove the statue of Mayor Frank Rizzo, which had been in front of City Hall since 1998. She was victorious — the statue was ultimately taken down in 2020.

In 2018, she joined organizations advocating for the elimination of Philadelphia’s tax abatement, which speeds up the eviction of long-term residents from gentrifying areas.

She received a number of awards for her dedication to advocacy, organizing and leadership, including an Exemplary Performance Award from other community leaders in 2017 and a Philadelphia City Council resolution introduced by Councilmember Kendra Brooks in 2022.

She will be greatly missed by family, friends and the community which she tirelessly served.

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