Zack de la Rocha, members of Ozomatli, Quetzal, and others perform to support the struggle of the South Central Farmers
For release Oct. 27, 2005
Media contact Fernando Flores
(909) 605-3136 cellular
Zach de la Rocha, Members of Ozomatli, Quetzal and others join 350
Families in South L.A. to Defend Community Farm
Concert to save the community farm @ 41st & Alameda.
Nov. 22nd event will mobilize the community in Support of the South
Central Farmers
Who: South Central Farmers
What: Concert at the Farm
When: Tuesday, Nov. 22nd , 8:30 p.m.
Where: 41st St. and Long Beach Ave.
For 13 years, 350 families have tended a 14-acre community farm in the
middle of South L.A.‚s gritty industrial belt. Growing their own
cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes and other staples has helped make good nutrition
affordable. Traditional crops like chipillin, alachi, quelite and pipicha
have helped keep traditional cuisine and folk-medicine alive.
The City of L.A. acquired the land in the late 1980s, but abandoned
plans to build a trash incinerator after community protests. In 1994, officials
transferred title to the Harbor Department, which contracted with the
L.A. Regional Food Bank to operate a community farm on the property. In
2003, the City Council agreed to sell the 14 acres back to the original
owner, private developer Ralph Horowitz, who wants to demolish the garden and
build a warehouse.
The 350 families ˆ organized as South Central Farmers ˆ have camped out
in the field for weeks to prevent Horowitz from grabbing the land. A
sneak attack can come at any time, though, and the group will hold a
candlelight ceremony on Sunday to call public attention to their plight, as well as
celebrate the traditional holiday, Day of the Dead.
Ozomatli began their career in the Los Angeles and San Diego/Mexico
border-area club scene.
Zach De La Rocha:
Machine, a politically-inspired band founded in who were highly regarded as one of
the most influential rock bands in recent history, having helped pave the
way for many of today's hard rock bands that fuse rap and rock
SON DE MADERA: Founded in 1992 and endowed with an enormous talent for
musical arrangements and tradition research, Son de Madera represents
the leading success in the current Son Jarocho movement.
LOS COJOLITES: Six years ago, the Center for Documentation and Research
of the Son Jarocho, began their efforts to recover their history and
culture in the refinery town of Cosoleacaque. A lot of workshops and classes were
going on, and Los Cojolites project was one of them. It was made up of a
group of kids that were getting together to learn how to dance and play the "son
jarocho."
QUETZAL: In 1993 Flores formed „Quetzal-A new experience in Chicano
Music.‰ His idea was to push the boundaries of Chicano Music as we knew it.
The centerpiece would be female vocals and the use of the violin as the
lead instrument. Proclaimed by no less an authority than Los Lobos as ready
to carry the torch for Los Angeles's Chicano community, Quetzal embody the
soul and the struggle at the heart of the Mexican-American legacy. Their mix
of Mexican and Cuban rhythms, jazz, and rock is supercharged by the
dynamic vocals of siblings Martha and Gabriel Gonzalez, who could send
brown-eyed soul trifles straight to the top of the charts if they wanted to. Their
music is informed by radical authors and grassroots tenacity.