I’ll firstly start off by saying, I didn’t know a garden could make me cry. Le sigh.
Okay, so the premise for the documentary was to tell the story of the garden that was built after the L.A riots happened in 1992. When the riots happened, there was looting, murders, and building the community was left in shambles. The buildings were destroyed, and there was an estimated $1 billion dollars. After the riots, there was 14 acre lot just left in decay, so the community decided to create something beautiful out of the ashes of this devastation. It was a tender moment to see the families and people come together, and see what they created, which was a community haven. They grew their own food, and for some people, this community garden is what helped them survive. This idea of a large community garden is an amazing one, and I wish that we had more of them around the United States, and certainly in San Diego. Unfortunately for those who built, relied, and tended to the garden, their little oasis was taken from them. The land was sold to an independent person, and he didn’t want these people on the land. what crushed me the most was the fact that he said he would sell it back to them for 3 times the price that he bought it for, probably assuming that these people would never raise the money, but they did! They organized, came together, and gathered support in order to save their garden! I was hoping this would have a happy ending, but I guess this isn’t the movies, it’s real. And thats what killed me, when the bulldozers came, and they tore down this beautiful thing, all the while the community is standing by the fences just watching in horror. I was tearing up in class when I watched this. These people depend on this garden to survive, and when something is unjustly taken from you, you fight, you lose, and what else is there to do but weep. Weep for the garden and for the people.
As far as I know, what was once a garden, is still just a vacant lot.
Please watch! I only watched a few sections of the film, but I’m making it a point to watch the rest. Here’s the trailer.
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