Courtesy photo
SOUTH LOS ANGELES — Accolades continued to pour in for Nate Holden, a political force in South Los Angeles for more than 50 years, who died May 7 at the age of 95.
Mayor Karen Bass, who was a community organizer in South Los Angeles during Holden’s time on the City Council, ordered flags to fly at half-staff in his honor.
“Nate Holden leaves behind a legacy of service and strength,” Bass said in a statement. “Throughout his life, he put the South Los Angeles community front and center. As an organizer, I learned from the way he served — always working to ensure vital services were delivered directly to the residents he represented. For decades, he was a trusted advisor.”
City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said Holden’s impact on the community will last forever.
“His legacy of dedicated service and community leadership set a lasting standard,” Harris-Dawson said. “He inspired many, and his impact will not be forgotten.”
His death was acknowledged by Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who remembered him as “a lion in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”
No funeral services have been announced.
Born June 19, 1929, in Macon, Georgia, Nathaniel “Nate” Holden moved with his mother and brothers to Elizabeth, New Jersey, after his parents separated. At 16, he left high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army, lying about his age to join the military police during World War II.
Stationed in postwar Germany, he patrolled bombed-out towns before returning to the U.S., where he worked nights to earn a high school diploma while studying engineering.
Despite repeated rejection due to racial discrimination — one counselor told him a drafting career was “out of reach” for a Black man — Holden persisted. He eventually earned a certificate in mechanical engineering and worked in the aerospace industry for companies including Hughes Aircraft, Bell Labs and GM Giannini, contributing to NASA-related programs like the Surveyor lunar lander.
Holden entered public service in the 1970s as an aide to Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. In 1974, he was elected to the California State Senate, where he authored or co-authored more than 70 bills that became law. Among his signature achievements were outlawing redlining on home mortgages, increasing funding for inner-city schools, establishing Baldwin Hills Regional Park and introducing legislation that made Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a state holiday in California — five years before it became a national observance.
In 1987, Holden was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, where he represented the 10th District — a historically Black and increasingly diverse part of South Los Angeles — until 2003. As a councilman, he was known for speaking plainly, pushing relentlessly and never ducking controversy. He spearheaded a gun buyback program, pushed for brightly colored toy guns to prevent fatal police errors, and advocated for redevelopment in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles riot.
He also clashed with Koreatown constituents over his conduct during a trip to Seoul, where he was criticized for being entertained by dancers during official meetings. He later apologized but remained defiant.
“You always knew where Nate stood,” Councilman Hal Bernson said in 2003. “He always kept his word.”
Despite tensions, Holden maintained deep loyalty to his constituents and a sharp focus on racial equity. He was a proud supporter of affirmative action and often challenged developers, police officials and colleagues to do more for Black communities. He also wasn’t shy about power dynamics, telling one reporter in 1989, “You get no favors in this city unless you fight for them.”
A tall, sharply dressed presence with a clipped speaking style, Holden ran marathons into his 60s and stayed active well into retirement. His name graces the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center on Washington Boulevard — home to the Ebony Repertory Theatre — which continues to serve as a cultural hub for Black theater and music in Los Angeles.
“Nate Holden was one of kind,” his former council colleague Jan Perry said. “He led an extraordinary life. He set the bar very high on constituent service.”
County Supervisor Holly Mitchell remembered Holden as “a champion for civil rights, economic justice, and an equitable Los Angeles.”
“He led with courage, carrying the spirit of his younger days as a boxer into the political arena, using policy and rhetoric to fight discrimination, challenge police misconduct and demand accountability in public service,” Mitchell added.
“He was kind, compassionate, generous, and always willing to reach back and pull the next generation up,” Assemblyman Isaac Bryan said.
Community activist and journalist Jasmyne Cannick said Holden was a different breed.
“He helped shape a generation of Black political leadership in this city — both the ones in front of the camera and the ones behind the scenes making it all happen,” Cannick said. “He made space, opened doors and taught us that you don’t need to water yourself down to be effective.
“That being bold and Black in these spaces was not only allowed — it was necessary. You didn’t have to agree with him all the time to respect the weight he carried and the legacy he leaves behind.”
After leaving the City Council in 2003, Holden stayed active behind the scene serving as a consultant in government affairs. He somehow found himself in the midst of a story during last year’s presidential campaign when Donald Trump confused him with former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.
In 1990, Holden boarded a helicopter in New York with Trump as part of a proposed deal to redevelop the historic Ambassador Hotel site. The aircraft nearly crashed. During a rambling interview Trump said he and Brown had discussed Vice President Kamala Harris during the helicopter flight. Holden set the record straight saying it was him, not Brown on the helicopter and that Harris’s name never came up.
Holden’s political influence extended into the next generation. His son, Chris Holden, served as a Pasadena city councilman and later as a member of the Assembly.
Another son, Reginald Holden, worked as a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy.
Holden was married twice and had multiple grandchildren.
