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With the moment of crisis at hand, the South Central Farmers call on supporters to save the Farm.
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Los Angeles, March 5, 2006--At a convergence this afternoon, the South Central Farmers outined four actions the 200 supporters present and those across the city and the planet need to take over the next two days to save the Farmers from eviction.
Opening the planning session with "The only thing that's real is the eviction notice," the Farmers brushed off the promises of eventual assistance offered by Deputy Mayor Frank on Friday. Instead, they are demanding that the Mayor commit now to saving the Farm, and explained that, to date, "the Mayor has done nothing" and that all they've heard from his office is "politician's talk." They also expressed outrage that their Councilmember Jan Perry refuses to support the Farm, noting that she was elected with 12,000 votes and that the Farmers had over 10,000 letters of support in hand.
With their supporters' help, the Farmers plna on shutting down the city's email server and switchboard on Monday and Tuesday in a mass demonstration of grassroots support for the Farm. Last Friday, Frank mentioned that he didn't think there was the "political will" for the city's intervention to save the Farm.
The Farm received a one-day reprieve, from Monday to Tuesday, when it was discovered that the wrong papers were delivered with the eviction notice. The mistake gave the Farmers until Tuesday to vacate, and perhaps as much as a week more with a court hearing.
When asked about a backup plan, the Farmers flatly rejected any plan to replace the Farm with scattered plots across the City, adding that theire message is to "save this place." They noted that the need is in the Alameda area, that real people, children and elders among them, depended on the 14-acre Farm in their neighborhood for food. "There is no Trader Joe's in this area," a spokesperson added, to the laughter of the crowd.
The Farmers vowed that "they will not allow the land to be appropriated again" and asserted that their right to farm was won by "the sweat and blood of the community," granted to the Farmers as a direct response to the 1992 Los Angeles Uprising. They added that the assault on the Farm is part of a pattern repeated in the county's assault on King/Drew Hospital, and they cited the city's sale of the Farm, after the abandoned dumping ground was resuced by the Farmers, as a paradigm of environmental racism.
A quick walk through the Farm proved the Farmers' determination and confidence in their supporters, as families hoed and weeded, and seedlings pushed through the earth. They received a $500 donation from an anonymous donor and hundreds of dollars more from supporters at the meeting. Meanwhile, a Sheriff's cruiser rounded the corner in a round-the-clock perimeter check that has been going on for days.