Growing Community

"Estamos como si estuvieramos allá en el pueblo, trabajando, se distrae uno."

By Clare Robbins

Listen to this Commentary!

It took hundreds of police officers and eight hours to evict the dozens of remaining farmers and activists from the South Central Farm, a 14-acre community garden in Los Angeles. Before it was bulldozed, the Farm was a valued community resource where local residents grew plants for medicinal, nutritional and spiritual purposes in an otherwise run-down industrial area. Many of the supporters surrounding the Farm were high schoolers and youth. Youth Radio’s Clare Robbins brings us some of their voices.

For months, local high school students have been organizing in support of the farmers to keep this South Central community farm open. Edwin Amaya from Central High says he wasn’t expecting the eviction as he sat down to catch up with the World Cup results yesterday morning.

EDWIN (on tape)
I turned on channel 52 and then there was like mentioning about the farms and I saw the cops inside and so I was like confused because I thought they were gonna save it. I was angry so I quickly came down here in support.

CLARE
Edwin and his fellow students didn’t make it to school yesterday. Some of them covered their faces with bandanas or t-shirts to remain anonymous from police video cameras. They joined friends and teachers in a reluctant march North, up Alameda Street, pushed by police away from the farm.

Most of the protesters were gathered outside the site and couldn’t see what was happening beyond the police barricades. That worried Edwin Amaya’s classmate, seventeen-year-old Marilyn Cuadra.

MARILYN (on tape)
We don’t know what’s happening because to our...to our, how do they say it in Spanish? It’s “campesinos.” To our campesinos, they work hard for it. And for them to just cut it down it’s like it didn’t matter, that’s really hard.

CLARE
Even though the owner of the site, Ralph Horowitz, had the legal right to ask police to evict the farmers, many people living around this industrial corridor, both young and old, wanted him to let the farm remain as a bit of green space.

DON TEODORO (on tape)
Estamos como si estuvieramos allá en el pueblo, trabajando, se distrae uno.

CLARE
This is Don Teodoro, one of the farmers, from an interview with Youth Radio’s Esperanza Barajas last year. He said being in the farm was like being in his village instead of in the city. It gave him something to do, and it was better than being in a factory.

DON TEODORO (on tape)
Tu sientes como en el rancho no como aquí. Está mejor acá que en una factoria.

CLARE
But a factory is one possible outcome for this space.

As police helicopters hovered above the last cluster of protesters yesterday afternoon, 23-year-old Brian, who didn’t want to give his last name, wondered about what message the eviction would send to the children of the families connected to this place.

Brian (on tape)
Especially for the kids, what does this teach the kids? You know like to view thing unlawful such as like nature, organic foods and people trying to be self reliant.