The South Central Farmers’ cause is still alive even five years after the City of Los Angeles evicted them from their 14-acre garden on 41st and Alameda Streets in South Los Angeles. The land, which once boasted rows of herbs, cactus, and vegetables, is currently in escrow, and the developer, Ralph Horowitz, reportedly said he’d sell the land to the farmers if they could raise the money. Of course that proposition came with its fair share of B.S. when city council member, Jan Perry, who originally orchestrated the sale of the city-owned land on the down-low, refused to meet with the farmers and approve the restoration of the farm.
If the thought of this beautiful oasis that once fed 350 families and attracted thousands of open green space lovers and community activists alike pulls at your heartstrings (like it does ours), you must see Levi’s upcoming film screening of Claudia Mercado’s Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos.
Mercado, an LA-bred indie filmmaker, teacher, and poet originally presented the documentary at the 2006 Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival to promote self-sustainable communities and bring awareness to the South Central Farmers. The film sheds light on years of the farmers’ struggle to save the largest urban farm in the U.S. from corporate greed. Mercado, who studied film at U.C. Berkeley and is a founding member of In Lak Ech, Mujeres de Maiz and Womyn Image Makers, named the film after the South Central Farmers’ chant that inspired a huge green movement in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.
Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos features music by Fandango Sin Fronteras (a collective made up of Quetzal, Domingo 7, and Son de Madera members), indigenous hip-hop collective Farmlife, South Central Farm’s very own trio Campesinos Del Sur Centro, and MoJoW & the Vibration Army.
Aqui Estamos y No Nos Vamos Free Film Screening
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Saturday, July 9 at 5pm
MOCA
152 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90013
