The Garden

Hell, you ain't no kind of man if you ain't got land.
--Delmar, Oh Brother Where Art Thou?


Faith Ringgold, The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles, 1991, Private Collection*

I don't often recommend movies to people, because my tastes tend to run from the sappy (Colin Firth + anyone else), the cheesy (STAR WARS! STAR WARS!, but only 4-6), or quirky with a good soundtrack (The Royal Tenenbaums). However, we watched The Garden last night, which is a 2008 documentary directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy. And it is very good.

It tells the saga of the South Central Farm, which was a 14-acre garden/community in the middle of Los Angeles. The land became available after the race-related riots in 1992, and the garden was around for 10 years before a bunch of forces conspired to shut it down. The man who originally owned the land was given $5 million for it, because the city seized it through eminent domain laws. In 2003 he decides he wants it back, and the city sells it back to him--through really, REALLY questionable circumstances. There are alleged backroom deals with the City Council, and another activist group that wants to turn the land into soccer fields (well, they say soccer fields but they really mean a few soccer fields and then 10 acres of warehouses.) It complicates matters that the South Central Farmers are mostly poor Latinos, and the guy who originally owned the land is a horrid xenophobe who says in his deposition that they should be "thanking" him for being gracious enough to let them use the land. He continually calls them un-American.

And there are court orders and secrecy and shady judges and the South Central Farmers raise the $16 million that the owner wants for it (they get a bit of help at the end from Joan Baez and some others.) And he won't sell it to them (to reiterate: he is a xenophobe.) I'll let you watch it and find out what happens, but I will say that I was pretty angry and frustrated, so you can guess what happens...

Community gardens are important. The South Central Farmers were able to grow food for themselves, and it gave them something to work for, for them and their families. And it really was beautiful--tall plantain trees, multi-colored corn, fat radishes, bushels of greens. There is a community garden, of a much smaller scale, near my usual subway stop. And there are co-ops in some of the fancier neighborhoods, but a lot of places in New York have those gardens too. (I mentioned one in an older post on gardens, here.) So--if you have a garden enjoy it! At least when it's warm again.

*Faith Ringgold is totally, totally rad, and it is my not-so-secret life goal to meet her. So Professor Ringgold, if you're reading this... ;)