by Zack de la Rocha (posted by Leslie)
Monday, Mar. 13, 2006 at 8:36 PM
On Friday, March 10, Zack de la Rocha made a compelling statement outside of LA City Hall on behalf of the South Central Farmers.
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my name is zack de la rocha im a musican and a poet and former singer of the band rage against the machine. here to voice my solidarity with the south central farmers. here to remind the elected representatives of the communities throughout los angeles that the south central farm has become an indispensable institution for our city, and those who stand in the way of its preservation will face the full force of a united community.
the city governments deference to the interests of multi million dollar developer Ralph Horowitz over the interests of several thousand people who depend on the food grown on the 14 acre plot to survive reveals what i consider to be an inhuman , disastrous, and racist set of priorities. Inhuman because those most affected will be the children of the farmers. disastrous because amidst a sea hunger and basic human needs mr horowitz proposes to build a concrete wherehouse from which no one living in that community will benefit. Racist because if mr horowitz proposed to build a wherehouse that would replace a community park in anglo affluent Beverly hills we would not be having this discussion. It would not be constructed. when its construction is disrupting black and latino communities who work for a living , here we are having this
discussion. its my opinion that mr horowitz isn't simply building a wherehouse, he is building a powder keg. And if there is no intervention in the interests of these families the city government may be lighting the fuse.
as we approach the 14th anniversary of the la uprisings its is my hope that we listen and learn from what the south central farmers are teaching us about sensible , humane , and truly democratic forms of development in this city. through their courage and ingenuity, they are taking steps to confront the savage inequalities that produced that upheaval , and are replacing them with hope and popular community power.
im here to say that the word is out. that the fate of the nations largest urban farm no longer exclusively lies in the hands of a greedy developer and a self serving city council person and they're backdoor midnight dealings. the word is out and cannot be contained. the fate of this new source of social imagination, this 14 acre plot of hope and resistance now also rests with the people so that the land can be retained for those who work it.
