How 15-Year-Old Latasha Harlins Murder Over A Bottle Of Orange Juice Helped Spark The L.A. MaKhia Bryant. The best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered to your inbox. More , December 10, 2019 I just knew that I was blessed to have an older sibling that looked after me, that loved me. Operation Hammer took off in 1987, an LAPD initiative that sent police officers into poor neighborhoods to conduct massive roundups of suspected gang members. How did the young Black girls, the young boys that knew Latashahow were they affected by this? Allison spent two years making A Love Song for Latasha, serving as director, cinematographer, editor and producer. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. Harlins was 15-years-old in 1991 when she died instantly after being shot at the time by 51-year-old, Soon Ja Du, who accused her of attempting to steal the juice. By this time, a city-wide curfew had been enforced. Du's husband, Billy Heung Ki Du, heard the gunshot and rushed into the store. Tasha died. [13][14] The videotape[15] showed that Du grabbed Harlins by her sweater and snatched her backpack. This conversation will be archived at the Library of Congress. BUY THE MOVIE: Longtime African American residents in the area at first welcomed the Koreans but eventually grew angry with them because they refused to hire black employees and often treated their customers poorly. She started to rebel and their relationship turned sour. 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On Something 2 Die 4, he sings, Latasha Harlins, remember that name, Cause a bottle of juice aint something 2 die 4.. I think that we must unanimously reject such demands What's politically correct today may not be politically correct tomorrow or the next day. "We got all this racism, hate going on. In memory, especially when trauma is involved, details are blurry, she notes. I wish MaKhia had someone else to call rather than the police who could have helped in that situation, because theres just no protection when it comes to police. It took years before Los Angeles was rebuilt and many who live there say little has changed, with huge economic divides still existing in the city. She pitched her idea for a video about Harlins life to her employer, the news website Fusion (now called Splinter). I think Im just grateful that we have Black folks who are willing to do the work that is necessary, folks that are willing to challenge policies that are being set in place, people that are willing to march in the street, people that are willing to lay their lives down on the line, people that are willing to tell truth through art, through film, through music, scholars that are giving us the language to understand what it means to build new futures. I never want to believe that a film will humanize anyone, because I really believe humanizing comes from folks in their own consciousness. So often we hear from elders, adults, or community activists, and Im always really curious as to how our children process this moment. WebYou will see Latasha being killed. That footage has been widely circulated. EN RU CN DE ES. Tensions were high in the area after just two weeks before, the video of officers pummeling Rodney King came to light. Upon hearing of retirement, Denise Harlins stated, "I'm glad to hear that she's removed herself from the bench and that she's retired. Hannah McKennett is a Dublin-based freelance writer that is dedicated to traveling the world while writing about it. Meron Menghistab on shooting "A Day in the Life of Trevor Noah" for Vice.com, and his strategy for staying busy. Steph Cha's novel Your House Will Pay centers on the aftermath of the murder of a 16-year-old African-American girl in South Central Los Angeles. The Harlins shooting is one of several confrontations between Korean grocers in South-Central and their customers. If they don't validate the existence of other Black women and girls then they have no right to work with me. 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Jadakiss) N.I.G.G.A. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. I think we have to first acknowledge that theres an issue. When you say dismantling the root, what do you think that looks like? She insisted that Latasha was attempting to steal a $1.79 bottle of orange juice. [32], In 1984, seven years before Harlins was shot, an editorial was posted in a black community newspaper urging a boycott of Korean stores, saying that any black person who went to their stores was a 'traitor'. The neighborhood had its own host of problems during this time. For Latasha, the action had come to late and she is buried next to her mother in Paradise Memorial Park in California. Protesters noted that a week after the death of Latasha Harlins, a Glendale man received a more severe sentence than Du for kicking a dog. So understanding this idea of how loss can deeply affect and disrupt Black girl childhood, I thought it was important for us to talk to the women who were then young girls [when Latasha died, in 1991,] about who Latasha was to rebuild the story, to engage in this process of collective memory and rebirth and archive. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. They rented a place near 89th Street and Broadway, just a few blocks from where Latasha would later be murdered. The case drew criticism after another LA County court case of cruelty to a dog was given a harsher sentence than the death of a teen. For help with production, she turned to her childhood friend Fam Udeorji, who has worked as creative producer on the Childish Gambino video This is America, written for the TV show Atlanta, and was the music supervisor for Creed II. We explained what we were doing, Allison says, and she let us film her daughters with the girl we had playing Latasha that day.. She was killed. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. On a Saturday morning in 1991, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins walked to a market five minutes from her home in South-Central Los Angeles to buy a bottle of orange juice. And it still hurts," Ruth Harlins, her grandmother, said. Copyright 2022 NPR. These are the names of two Black girls whose lives were stolen from them, 30 years apart. RUTH HARLINS: I had said, get some orange juice. Latashas younger brother, Vester Acoff Jr. was born in 1979, and her younger sister, Christina, was born in 1981. More than 50 people died and more than 2,000 were injured. We could make the most beautiful films, and there are still people that would not understand what the conversation is, would not understand why its important. Instead, she sentenced Du to 400 hours of community service, five years on probation and a $500 fine, which is around 385. [9], The documentary short received strongly favorable reviews. One of the businesses targeted was Du's store, Empire Liquor, which was burned to the ground and has never re-opened. WebIts been 30 years since the death of Latasha Harlins, and through the efforts of her family and a new documentary, South Central Los Angeles is embracing her legacy in a new way. [39] In both cases, there was video evidence depicting wrongdoing and in both cases, the defendants did not serve any jail time. And I really believe in collaboration to inform the process, to help inspire the visuals, and I wanted to share their truth, their memories, as a way to fill in this archival gap. Born in Illinois, she was just six when her parents, Crystal and Sylvester, made the decision to move their family to Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times/GettyKorean grocer Soon Ja Du in court, after she fatally shot Latasha Harlins in the back of the head. If you are a current subscriber and have not activated your pdnonline.com access, please provide the following information. The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years. Some black activists say the incidents stemmed from racism on the part of the Koreans. Latasha Harlins, however, saw no such justice. This is real life, Deputy District Attorney Roxane Carvajal had warned the jury. All rights reserved. People have seen it, and I think we really need to interrogate what it means to constantly think that it is necessary to see Black trauma, to see Black death as a way to make some sort of connection or as a way to make people understand the importance and the significance and the core of it. A police officer testified later that injuries Du received may not have all come from the fight with Harlins. 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