South Central Farm: RED ALERT
A firsthand account of the urgent situation at the South Central Farm from guest blogger Irina Contreras:
Another Warehouse????
Keep the Pigs Out of the Farm!
Last I heard warehouses don’t grow FOOD!
These are some of the things my partner in crime, Camryn Bustamante, and I wrote on our signs inside the South Central Farm yesterday evening. The deadline for fundraising to buy the farm via a deal negotiated by the Trust for Public Land passed on Monday – with the farm and the TPL $10 million short of their fundraising goal (see prior farm update below). Now, the farmers may be forcibly evicted any time, and a red alert has been sent out calling for supporters to come to the farm and help save it with their presence.
When I visited the farms last night, farmer-organizer Tezozomoc was hesitant to talk about any plans that the campesinos might have, but he seemed much more calm than one might expect. He stated simply, “I can feed my family and friends healthy food that grows here. Where else can I do that? This is what it is about.”
I also spoke with Aleika, a volunteer and advocate who expressed great worry that the sheriffs deputies responsible for executing the eviction would wait to enter until late in the night, when supporters’ numbers dwindled. There seemed to be a lot of rumors floating around—that nearby warehouses are housing bulldozers, that people had promised money to buy the farm and backed out … All these rumors swirled around the green, with many people pretending it was a joyous gathering and others looking like they had seen a ghost.
There was no movement on the train tracks adjacent to the farm, which was another thing that concerned Aleika. We spoke, though, about the presence of the National Lawyers’ Guild, which I always find to be helpful and soothing in times like this. Upon arriving at the farm, I was immediately given a number to write on my arm in case I was arrested, and was checked in through the front gate with a number of other people. I was thanked repeatedly for the items I brought to the farmers and was treated like extended family.
Whatever worry we had seemed to temporarily dissipate as the procession began, and we marched and rode bicycles throughout the farm. Once back inside the encampment area — where Joan Baez, John Quigley, and Julia Butterfly were tree-sitting — we grouped for a moment of song, dance, and brief prayer. Ms. Baez came off the tree and sang a song she had written while working with the Farmworkers and Cesar Chavez in 1966. Shortly after, around 8:30 p.m., the ghettobirds started making their rounds, casting an ominous though beautiful glow throughout the encampment area.
All in all, yesterday at the farm was both a joyous gathering and one for solemn preparation.
There’s something about the scent of nopales that is familiar, and that I know I would rather have than another warehouse or recycling facility. With the farms, we see what is possible with our city. With the threat of imminent eviction of the farmers and yet another broken promise by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, we need to stand strong and firm. Everyone is urged to come to the farm, bring signs, bring chairs, and — most importantly — take up space and be visible! Food Not Bombs has the grub, so there is absolutely no excuse. As SCF volunteer and activist Rosa said last night: “How many people like to jog? Well, I think you should start jogging around here for the next couple of days. It’s a beautiful place to jog! Do you have lawn chairs at home? Bring them to 41st and Alameda! Make signs!”
The encampment and vigil carries on.
Los Angeles can be livable for everyone! This land is promised to the farmers and us. Act now!
—Irina Contreras
Guest blogger Irina Contreras is an artist, activist, and educator who is currently editor in chief of LOUDmouth Zine. You’ve never seen anybody clamor like this lady.
PS (from Jessica) — WTF is up with the LA Weekly on this story? I mean, I know they’re not as progressive as they front, but this is something else. After publishing a badly sourced smear of the farmer-organizers a while back, today they ran a story that reiterates the smear and literally calls the failure to meet the fundraising deadline on Monday the “end of a 13-year saga to defend the farm” and announces, “any day now, the farmers will be forcibly evicted.” The end? WILL be evicted? Even Yahoo! and CBS (yes, corporate TV news) are reporting the story more open-endedly, recognizing that there’s no knowing what the vibrant and growing grassroots effort to save the farm may bring. Daniel Hernandez, I dunno what’s going on with you — can it really be that you’re so unfamiliar with group process that you don’t know how ordinary infighting is and are totally distracted and flipped out by the fact that, yeah, there’ve been some political differences among the farmers, and some of them got pretty heated about it, cuz it’s a serious struggle they’re in? or maybe it’s just toxic ink from the American Apparel ads smeared all over the Weekly getting to your mind? — but it seems like there’s something f-i-s-h-y going on over at that not-so-alternative rag …