When violent riots broke out in Los Angeles in 1992 after a majority white jury acquitted white members of the LAPD of charges surrounding the beating of Rodney King, the city was in upheaval for three days.
The rampage left more than 50 people dead, more than 1,000 wounded and millions of dollars in damage. It also left the community torn and unsettled.
In the most unlikely of solutions, residents of the South Central neighborhood came together to create a 14-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda. It was a form of healing, and it became the largest community garden in the United States.
The South Central Farmers, as they call themselves, helped to pacify the anger in people through transforming a large chunk of blighted land into a functioning and successful urban farm. They weren't doing it for profit; they were merely growing food to feed themselves and their families, as well as uniting a disenfranchised community.
When an eviction notice showed up on the garden's gate one day in January 2004, the campesinos (the Spanish word for farmers) -- most of whom were immigrants from Latin America -- rallied together and fought, some for the first time in their lives, for their rights for the land, for their happiness, for survival.
This is where director Scott Hamilton Kennedy picks up the story in his 2009 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature, "The Garden." The owner of the 14 acres -- who had been loaning the space out to the farmers -- is suddenly demanding his land back to build warehouses and the community garden is just weeks away from being bulldozed by the city.
When the farm's fearless leaders, Tezozomoc and Rufina Juarez, find shady holes in the land contracts between the city of Los Angeles and the landowner, they take their case to City Hall. Amazingly, their not only backed by community support, but also help from celebrities like Daryl Hannah and Zack de la Rocha and, perhaps most notably, millions of dollars from the Annenberg Foundation.
But, of course, these things never come easy, and the case of the South Central Farmers vs. one greedy landowner is no exception.
Scott Hamilton Kennedy does an exceptional job of capturing the desperation, the emotion, the in-fighting and the small victories of everyone involved -- on both sides of the story. And the story itself is plagued by racial issues, socioeconomic issues, environmental issues and, underlying it all, backroom political gains.
It's a fascinating glimpse at how even the simplest of pleasures can be destroyed by the complexity of it all.
"The Garden" makes its Milwaukee premiere Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. at UWM's Union Theatre, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., with subsequent screenings on Wednesday, Sept. 9 and Thursday, Sept 10, both at 7 p.m.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
