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| The Garden Grows with Urban Emotion |
| Written by Randy Montgomery on Friday, 15 May 2009 02:24 | |||
 Documentaries are often intriguing to watch, as they follow the lives of real people living through real situations. The outcome can be more dramatic than any script created by Hollywood writers. Such is the case with The Garden, which spans several years and documents the struggles of three hundred plus families that have possession of plots in the largest community garden in the United States, located at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles. The concept for the garden came from the devastation left behind after the 1992 riots ravaged that portion of Los Angeles and left behind vandalized and burnt out buildings. The community was in dire need of something to help them heal. The property that houses the garden was turned over to the citizens by the City of Los Angeles. The property was acquired through imminent domain when it was slotted to be the home of a trash incinerator facility. The owner of the property was paid approximately $5 million for the 14-acres, yet the project never came to be. A local resident, Juanita Tate, formed the Concerned Citizens of South Central group which blocked the project from being built, citing environmental concerns. Tate joined forces with 9th District Councilwoman Jan Perry to secure other sites in the community and turn them into soccer fields. Those fields came under much scrutiny by the community as one significant development never came to be. After being used for years by local residents to grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs for their families, an eviction notice was placed on the entry fence. In a closed-door deal, the Los Angeles City Council, headed by Jan Perry, agreed to sell the property back to the owner for just slightly more than the original payment. The property was slated to be the site of a new industrial building, with a few acres set aside for yet another soccer field – a project proposed by Tate. This deal was considered illegal and improper by the farmers, a majority of whom are Hispanic and/or undocumented. The deal supposedly done by Tate and Perry (both African Americans) raised the question of racism. The farmers untied under the direction of their leader, Rufina Juarez. An attorney was hired and a long, drawn out court case ensued. While the story is fascinating, and was quite newsworthy in Southern California at the time, the movie itself is as much about the garden as it is the people, and how uniting for a common cause can show the true power of the human spirit.
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