Paula Peebles, lifelong social activist, retired community developer, and teacher, has died at 70

Paula Peebles, 70, of Philadelphia, retired founder, president, and chief executive officer of the Renaissance Community Development Corp., cofounder of the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Action Network, teacher at the University of Delaware, and lifelong social activist, died Sunday, Jan. 21, of cancer at her home in Jefferson Manor.

Seemingly born to be a community leader and social activist, Ms. Peebles spent nearly her entire life working to make things better for her neighbors and society in general. Her mother, Nancy, was a community activist in North Philadelphia in the 1950s, and Ms. Peebles learned early that justice often required action.

She carried a bullhorn to make sure her voice was heard at protests for decades and made it a point to address students about social justice and Black history. She told 30 eighth graders in a 2017 story in The Inquirer: “Love your beauty, love yourself, and then you’ll be able to help other people, other ethnicities.”

Ms. Peebles founded the nonprofit Renaissance Community Development Corp. in 1979 to provide affordable housing and jobs, stimulate business growth, and support other grassroots improvement efforts in North Philadelphia. One of her proudest achievements before her retirement in 2017 was helping rental residents become first-time homeowners in the Jefferson Manor community.

She worked with the national board and Philadelphia chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, and established its Pennsylvania chapter. She was national program director of the 1997 Million Woman March in Philadelphia and cofounded the Philadelphia chapter of the Freedom Riders in 2007.

“She was a drum major for justice,” said her brother-in-law, Sultan Ashley-Shah. “She spoke truth to power.” City councilmember Kendra Brooks said on Instagram: “She paved the way for so many Black women leaders in Philly.”

Ms. Peebles joined the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in 1970 and worked at both local and national levels for the rest of her life. She shared Black history lessons, provided low-cost medical service, and served free breakfast to students in Philadelphia as a teenager.

She became the party’s local communications director after high school and was invited to the national office in Oakland, Calif., in 1972. Later, she was president of the party’s national alumni association.

She was also vice president of the Philadelphia Human Relations Council, a leader on the Black Women’s Leadership Council, and president of a business association that helped revitalize Girard Avenue in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She was active in many political campaigns and ran unsuccessfully for city council in 1991.

Ms. Peebles protested often against gun violence, police brutality, racism, and unchecked urban development. She was featured in The Inquirer, Daily News, and other publications, and hosted talk shows on WURD radio and elsewhere.

» READ MORE: Paula Peebles has a long history of protecting her neighborhood

She conferred with Rosa Parks, Hillary Clinton, and other national leaders and politicians, and admired U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisolm so much that she adopted Chisolm’s 1972 presidential campaign slogan “unbought and unbossed.”

She had a lifelong love of books and education, and taught about urban affairs and public policy at the University of Delaware from 2005 to 2012. In 2022, the Philadelphia City Council recognized her with a resolution that said her “dedication to advocacy, organizing, and leadership has empowered Philadelphia’s movements for class and race equity.”

Her family and friends marveled at her loyalty, empathy, tenacity, and energy. “She would never sweat the small stuff and forgave without hesitation,” her family said in a tribute.

Paula Sharon Robertson was born June 27, 1953, and grew up in North Philadelphia. She was vocal and active about social injustices she encountered, and she and other students walked out of school when she was 14 to protest the lack of Black history classes at John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls’ High School.

» READ MORE: Paula Pebbles gives lessons in Black liberation to Philly students

She graduated later from Germantown High School, moved to Oakland in 1972, and returned to Philadelphia a few years later to raise her family. She worked full-time and earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Temple University in 1980 and a master’s degree in community and economic development from Southern New Hampshire University in 1985.

She married William Brown, and they had daughters Fonya, Azania, and Aja, and lived in Oakland and Philadelphia. They divorced later, and she married Ken Taylor. They divorced, and she married William Peebles. They also divorced.

“She was fiery with a passionate heart, sometimes to a fault,” her family said. “But she would always say, ‘That’s how my parents raised me. Family over everything.’”

In addition to her daughters, brother-in-law, and former husbands, Ms. Peebles is survived by two grandsons, three sisters, three brothers, and other relatives. Three sisters and a brother died earlier.

Visitation with the family is to be from 8 to 10:30 a.m., Friday, Feb. 2, at the Metropolitan Opera House, 858 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19130. A service is to follow.