The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years. )[2] But the organization's indifference and incomprehension of the subject's significance prompted a realization for Allison that "I could no longer work within institutions that don't validate the importance of my existence. WebIn March of 1991, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was killed by one of the owners of the Empire Liquor convenience store in Los Angeles, Calif. Latasha had entered the store to buy a Photo editor Leonor Mamanna interviews Alice Proujansky about the practical challenges of shooting and publishing a personal project. The buller hit the 15-year-old in the back of the head and she was killed instantly. 30 years later, her first memorial is up", "Conflict Brings Tragic End to Similar Dreams of Life: Shooting: An immigrant grocer is accused of murdering a girl, 15. In March 1991, when Harlins was 15, a store owner accused her of Judge Karlin claimed there were mitigating circumstances surround Latasha's death and that Du had only fired the gun under "extreme provocation and duress", highlighting that she had been the victim of several robberies at her store. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. She made the short walk to the market and picked up a $1.79 bottle of orange. All rights reserved, Man Accused in West LA Hate Shootings Was Subject of Law Enforcement Alert, Pepper Spray Used on High Schoolers as Anti-Racism Protest Grows Unruly', Experts Say Big Bear Bald Eagle Eggs Unlikely to Hatch, This 26-Year-Old Pays $0 to Live in a Luxury Tiny Home' She Built for $35,000 in Her Backyard Take a Look Inside, Beckham High School Teacher in Irvine Accused of Recording Students in Bathroom. 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. Sophia Nahli Allisons short film A Love Song for Latasha describes the friendship between three girls who grew up together in South Central Los Angeles: Latasha Harlins, her cousin Shinese Harlins and her best friend, Tybie Ty OBard. So it was this really beautiful coming together with a community, and of me engaging with my own childhood, my own path. He dedicated his track, Keep Ya Head Up, to the 15-year-old girl, and put her name in many of his other songs. In the aftermath of the riots, LAPD's chief of police, Daryl Gates, resigned and rival gangs called a temporary truce, including the Crips and the Bloods. [3] Ava DuVernay programmed the documentary as part of Array 360, and it was then picked up by Netflix. Latasha Harlins was a 15-year-old African-American girl who was fatally shot by Soon Ja Du, a 51-year-old Korean-born female convenience store owner. EN. More , December 6, 2019 We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. On the morning of March 16, 1991, though, Harlins did plan to make a purchase. A year later, residents of Harlins neighborhood took to the streets in outrage. Her dad worked in a steel foundary while he mum waited tables to try to make ends meet and provide for Latasha and her younger sister, Christina. For example, a police officer in Columbus, Ohio, recently killed 16-year-old MaKhia Bryant, and Ive seen people online blaming Bryant for her own death. Only two weeks before Latasha Harlins walked into Dus Empire Liquor Market, a black man named Rodney King was pulled over by four LAPD officers, three of whom were white, for speeding. Du observed Harlins putting a $1.79 bottle of orange juice in her backpack. All rights reserved. He fired at Latasha as she walked away from him from about three feet away from her. ROGERS: Walk me through the day Latasha died. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 93rd Academy Awards. [29] While the jury convicted Du of manslaughter, which normally carries a maximum of 16 years in prison, the judge, Joyce Karlin, commuted her sentence to probation and a $500 finethis angered many in the black community, as well as other community members, who felt that the sentencing set a dangerous precedent. By this time, a city-wide curfew had been enforced. I wanted to tell Latashas stories from those that knew her best. Menu. And so it just became this collective moment of everyone wanting to remember Latasha together, of all these different moments in time connecting for us to share this story. The judges decision exacerbated racial tensions between African Americans and Korean immigrants. [5], A Love Song for Latasha, reimagines the life of Latasha Harlins, a Black girl shot by a convenience store owner in Los Angeles 1991, fueling the 1992 uprising. One, as an L.A. native, this is a story that was important, one that had not been discussed in the fullness of who Latasha was. These are the names of two Black girls whose lives were stolen from them, 30 years apart. A security camera tape showed the entire heart-wrenching event on fuzzy, silent film. Black folks have always been doing the work, but what dismantling the system for me means is that others acknowledge how they have been a part of the problem, how they have been complicit, how they have allowed the systems to continue, and that no one is challenging or wanting to make others uncomfortable. WebLatasha Harlins was killed just a few years after her mother was shot dead in a South-Central L.A. nightclub. Du concluded Harlins was attempting to steal, and did not see the money Harlins held in her hand. [7] The film was released on Netflix on September 21, 2020. Frames Per Second: How Independent Filmmakers Earn Back Their Production Investment, Tips for Pitching Your Film Successfully to Festivals and Funders, The Funding and Distribution of a Feature-Length Documentary, First-Time Director Jonathan Olshefski on Creating a Feature-Length Documentary, Funding & Publishing Personal Projects: Alice Proujanskys Coming-of-Age Story, Meron Menghistab on Photographing Trevor Noah, and Shooting Personal Work, Photographer Benjamin McMahons Celebrity Self-Portrait Collaborations, An Immersive Experience: How Renowned Photographers are Captivating Audiences with Prints. Bryant and Harlins, like so many Black girls in America, have had their lives reduced to the circumstances of their deaths, as videos and images of their final moments continue to circulate for the world to see. [22] In July 1992, Latasha's brother and sister received a $300,000 settlement from a civil suit brought against Soon Ja Du, which was paid by the store's insurance policy. Our premiere educational content channel. Diversity, I think, is a really watered down word just for visibility. Do you find this information helpful? Her death happened thirteen days after the videotape of the Rodney King beating was released. In 1998, the California State Assembly named April 29 as Latasha Harlins Day. This conversation will be archived at the Library of Congress. We [talked to] real girls, and I never wanted the image of any of the girls in the film to feel like something that was curated or feel like it was of an actor, but for other Black girls to just see themselves reflected. After they had scouted a church they wanted to film, they returned just as the deacons wife was walking in with her two young daughters. We encountered an issue signing you up. [6], In early 2021, a mural celebrating Latasha Harlins was unveiled in front of Algin Sutton Recreation Center. Karlin added, "this is not a time for revenge and no matter what sentence this court imposes Mrs. Du will be punished every day for the rest of her life." But just for me, as a young girl, acknowledging that there was this secret language happening on the screen, it made me feel like I had a community, a place to be seen and understood. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. BUY THE MOVIE: According to a young witness named Ismail Ali, who was in the store with his older sister at the time, the middle-aged Soon Ja Du saw the girl and immediately yelled, You bitch, you are trying to steal my orange juice.. A Love Song for Latasha is not about Black trauma, but the most important part about this film is that we did not incorporate the footage of Latashas death. [29] Despite intervention from leaders of both communities, the time after the death of Latasha Harlins was characterized by boycotts, tense debate, bitterness, Molotov cocktails, and more convenience store murders. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 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. She entered Empire Liquor, which was owned by a Korean family, to purchase a bottle of orange juice. I wanted people to realize that Latasha could have been anyone, she could have been me, Allison explains. There is no space held for what it means when a Black girl is threatened, when a Black girl is accosted, when a Black girl does not feel safe and does not have protection. You bitch, you are trying to steal my orange juice, the boy quoted Du as saying when Harlins approached the stores counter with currency in her hand and the bottle of juice halfway protruding from her backpack. She shot the footage herself, usually using a handheld Canon 5D Mark III. OBard reads a poem that Latasha Harlins wrote, and cries. The reaction to Harlins killing was quick and bitter. When Du's husband, Billy Heung Ki Du, heard the gun go off he raced into the shop to see what was happening and after speaking to his wife, saw Latasha and then fainted. Shes not even buried there.. 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Tupac dedicated his song, Keep Ya Head Up, to Latasha Harlins. [31] The distrust ran possibly even further, because in the same editorial the writer exclaims, "The real question is, why was my brother's brains blown out fighting for those Koreans?" Udeorji advised Allison on sound editing and music licensing, and helped her with logistics, locations and casting during the two years she was shooting the film., At a gathering of filmmakers, Allison met Janice Duncan, who had worked as a director and producer on fictional features. Black customers were continuously frustrated by what they saw as rudeness and price-gouging on that part of Korean store clerks, as well as store owners refusal to hire any black employees. [46], Hip hop artist 2Pac took particular note of the death of Harlins and in 1993 released a song titled "Keep Ya Head Up" which was dedicated to Latasha Harlins. One of my favorite memories is just wandering into a church in South Central and then being allowed to film the granddaughters of the pastor, because their parents remembered Latasha. Webhow old is alec and kaleb on the shriners commercial. I ran out the back of the gym, ran home. I think about when I was a young girl and the films that really inspired me. I think that it was." Ty and Shinese want to create their own community center. And it still hurts," Ruth Harlins, her grandmother, said. 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. Contact Us | Latashas younger brother, Vester Acoff Jr. was born in 1979, and her younger sister, Christina, was born in 1981. Beverly White and Heather Navarro, Family Gathers on 25 Year Anniversary of Latasha Harlins Death, NBC Los Angeles, March 16, 2016; Brenda Stevenson, The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins; Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the LA Riots, Los Angeles Review of Books, July 23, 2017; Andrea Ford, Settlement Awarded to Harlins Siblings but Not Father, Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1992. It also shows Du pointing a handgun and Harlins dropping to the floor, mortally wounded. I remember when I watched Eves Bayou and when I watched Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. Advertise | And when I was 15, I actually lost my dad. However, on the morning of the shooting, Du was working behind the counter, and her husband was outside resting in the family van. Lastasha and her siblings were taken in by their grandmother, Ruth Harlins, but the youngster was understandably devastated by what had happened to Crystal. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. This is not television. Then read about Mickey Cohen, one of Los Angeles most notorious gang leaders. They rented a place near 89th Street and Broadway, just a few blocks from where Latasha would later be murdered. She had dreams in life. The Harlins shooting is one of several confrontations between Korean grocers in South-Central and their customers. MARTINEZ: Latasha's brother Vester and her sister Christina were 10 and 8 when she died. Thereafter, Shakur made frequent mention of Harlins in his songs, including in tracks like "Something 2 Die 4 (Interlude)" ("Latasha Harlins, remember that name 'Cause a bottle of juice is not something to die for"), "Thugz Mansion" ("Little Latasha, sho' grown/Tell the lady in the liquor store that she's forgiven/So come home"), "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto" ("Tell me what's a black life worth/A bottle of juice is no excuse, the truth hurts/And even when you take the shit/Move counties get a lawyer, you can shake the shit/Ask Rodney, Latasha, and many more"), "White Mans World" ("Rest in Peace to Latasha, Little Yummy, and Kato"), "Hellrazor" ("Dear Lord if ya hear me, tell me why/Little girl like Latasha, had to die")[47][48] and "N.I.G.G.A." ROGERS: I remember we were at the park, and that's where the ice cream truck used to come. L.A. would never be the same. After the change in national immigration laws in 1965 a large number of Korean immigrants arrived in Los Angeles and by 1968 the first Korean-owned market opened in South Central LA. [38], The killing of Latasha Harlins was one of many events in Los Angeles that may have led to the riots in 1992. Residents shouted Latasha Harlins name as they torched Korean-owned businesses including Soon Ja Dus own Empire Liquor. People Cant Stop Fighting Over the Politics of the, The Quarterback Conundrum at the Very Top of the NFL Draft. "[41] Since retiring from the bench Karlin has used her husband's surname Fahey. A videotape played Monday in a Los Angeles courtroom showed that Latasha Harlins had turned away from a scuffle with a Korean grocer when the black teen-ager was shot in the back of the head. It really bothers me when I see people talk about these young girls that we have lost to violence and they describe them as a young woman, when actually they were just a child. Some black activists say the incidents stemmed from racism on the part of the Koreans. This is real life. The community simmered in anger. Wednesday night, family and community members came out to remember Latashas legacy. Just get on with what you want to do and make the pictures you want to make. WebLatasha Harlins was remembered Wednesday by a fervent crowd of about 50, including her grandmother, siblings and aunt, at a vigil in South Los Angeles in the place where she was [11], Shortly before 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, Harlins entered the store. She started to rebel and their relationship turned sour. The family moved from Illinois to South Central Los Angeles in 1981. [2] The sentencing was widely regarded as an extremely light sentence, and a failed appeal[3] contributed to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, especially the targeting of Koreatown, Los Angeles, California. Obsessed with Netflix? The sister firmly denied Lloyds repeated suggestion that Harlins had threatened to kill Du. [35] Many of the targets of looting and destruction were Korean stores; more than two thousand Korean stores burned or looted. RUTH HARLINS: I had said, get some orange juice. Harlins then picked up the orange juice bottle that dropped during the scuffle and handed it to Du, who snatched the bottle from her, and Harlins turned to leave. "[3] Instead she worked closely with Harlins' friends, developing a depiction of their childhoods and South Central Los Angeles. In August 1991, a small fire broke out just before the trial kicked off. WebIt was a major reason why Korean-Americans believed they were targeted during the 1992 unrest the death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins at the hands of a Korean-American in When she wanted to give up, I thought: But Latashas story deserves to be told. In the spring of 2018, she landed a grant from Glassbreaker Films. She created a script based on her interviews with OBard and Shinese Harlins, choosing recollections and anecdotes that touched the core of Latasha. She wanted the film to draw viewers into Latashas life and portray her girlhood dreams for the future before it revealed how she died. Time now for StoryCorps. And Im someone that deeply wants to interrogate and reimagine parts of the archive that are left intentionally blank or that are erased or destroyed. A year later, residents of Harlins neighborhood took to the streets in I should say between diversity and agency. She added: "This is not a time for revenge and no matter what sentence this court imposes Mrs Du will be punished every day for the rest of her life.". And she had the money in her hand to pay the lady. Latasha Harlins voice isnt heard in the film. The videotape of the incident lasted less than a minute, but showed Harlins and Du grappling at the store counter in a dispute over a bottle of orange juice. Harlins responded by lifting up her hand, which contained two dollar bills, and explained that she intended to pay. Allison spent two years making A Love Song for Latasha, serving as director, cinematographer, editor and producer. Witnesses testified that once inside the store, Latasha Thanks for signing up! This documentary focuses on how she experienced the society and what dreams and hopes she developed rather than focusing on her death. Du, 49, sat at the defense table crying after the tape was shown for the first of numerous times during the day and for the first time in public. She was just always a motivating factor in my life. Sixteen-year-old Bryant was shot and killed by a police officer in Columbus, The world didnt. Latasha Harlins was born January 1, 1976,[5][6] in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Crystal Harlins and Sylvester "Vester" Acoff Sr. Latasha had one younger brother, Vester Acoff Jr., and one younger sister, Christina. 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