What do you make of police violence and racism continuing to rob Black girls of their childhoods and, in some cases, their lives? Instead, she sentenced Du to 400 hours of community service, five years on probation and a $500 fine, which is around 385. A brother and sister remember Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old girl who was shot and killed in 1991 by a store clerk in South Central Los Angeles the same month Rodney King was beaten. Photography equipment news and reviews, business and technical advice from top pros, industry news and much more, delivered to your inbox each week. Latasha Harlins, American Girl South Central remembered the 15-year-old girl killed 13 days after Rodney King was beaten. The family moved from Illinois to South Central Los Angeles in 1981 when Latasha was six years old. 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. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Still to this day, it's devastating for our family," Christine Harlins, her sister, said. Some Koreans and others contend that activists who have called for boycotts at a handful of Korean-owned stores are fanning racial tensions. cultfacts 1.6K 31 dethb0y 3 days ago NSFW 4 dead including 3 teens in murder-suicide khou 1.5K 148 AmethystOrator 7 days ago NSFW Who is it harming? I think every single one of them deeply affected me. 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. Judge Karlin also became a target for numerous protests and later stepped down from the bench. I feel so grateful and honored that they would agree to it., At the time, Allison was living and working in Los Angeles while taking a break from getting her masters in visual communication from the University of North Carolina. WebA 15-year-old girl formed a cult that murdered up to 35 people as human sacrifices to become immortal. [13][14] The videotape[15] showed that Du grabbed Harlins by her sweater and snatched her backpack. 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 Latasha Harlins voice isnt heard in the film. How 15-Year-Old Latasha Harlins Murder Over A Bottle Of Orange Juice Helped Spark The L.A. The world didnt. If they don't validate the existence of other Black women and girls then they have no right to work with me. More , December 10, 2019 And so I think it is so important for that visibility to exist so Black girls know how worthy their lives are. OBard reads a poem that Latasha Harlins wrote, and cries. Latasha Harlins was killed just a few years after her mother was shot dead in a South-Central L.A. nightclub. WebThe only video that exists of her is the grainy surveillance footage that captured the last minutes of her life. In justifying his directive, he said "[t]his was such a stunning miscarriage of justice that Judge Karlin cannot continue to hear criminal cases with any public credibility. More than 50 people died and more than 2,000 were injured. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years. Du, however, grabbed the girl by the sweater, and the two began to fight. Du claimed to have asked Harlins if she intended to pay for the orange juice, to which Du claimed Harlins responded, "What orange juice?" It was March 1991 when Harlins had put a bottle of orange juice in her backpack in a store owned by a Korea-born shopkeeper at 92nd and Figueroa Streets. After putting it into her backpack, where it jutted out from the top, she made her way to the counter. In many ways, the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins on March 16, 1991 by convenience store clerk Soon Ty and Shinese want to create their own community center. MARTINEZ: That's Christina Rogers and Vester Acoff remembering their sister Latasha Harlins. When you say dismantling the root, what do you think that looks like? Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. The short documentary film A Love Song for Latasha (2019) gives some biographical background on the life of Latasha Harlins, drawing on memories from her cousin and her best friend. The film also uses experimental animation and music, such as Nonames striking Dont Forget About Me, in which she sings, I know everyone goes someday/ I know my bodys fragile, know its made from clay/ But if I have to go, I pray my soul is still eternal/ And my momma dont forget about me/ I pray my momma dont forget about me/ I pray my granny dont forget about me.. I guess it made her think of her mom, said her cousin, Shinese. [6] Instead, Jude Dry wrote in IndieWire, the 19-minute film is "bursting with sun-kissed sidewalks and faded basketball courts, clean line animation and radiant Black girls posed gracefully, like young queens. She was just always a motivating factor in my life. "[44][45] Karlin was re-elected to the Superior Court bench by a reduced margin from previous elections. This is not television. Latasha 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 shot. They murdered my granddaughter!. The gunshot struck Harlins in the back of the head, killing her instantly. "[41] Since retiring from the bench Karlin has used her husband's surname Fahey. Police, after speaking to the people in the store at the time and watching CCTV of the incident, agreed that the youngster had been planning to pay. 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. She decided to use animation to depict Harlinss death, rather than relying solely on the surveillance video. "[3] Instead she worked closely with Harlins' friends, developing a depiction of their childhoods and South Central Los Angeles. The Harlins shooting is one of several confrontations between Korean grocers in South-Central and their customers. Let me go. . Everyone knew about the disrespect shown to black customers by the Korean owners, and they tried to avoid it as much as possible. And I think people will always blame young Black girls for their outcome. 20072023 Blackpast.org. Both sought to overcome adversity", "Liquor Permit Denied at Site of 1991 Killing", The People, petitioner v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Respondent; Soon Ja Du, Real Party in Interest, "A Senseless and Tragic Killing: New tension for Korean-American and African-American communities", "Merchant Charged in Girl's Fatal Shooting", "Legal Audio Opinions and Courtroom Video LexisNexis Courtroom Cast", "Videotape Shows Teen Being Shot After Fight: Killing: Trial opens for Korean grocer who is accused in the slaying of a 15-year-old black girl at a South-Central store", "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 Historical Timeline", "Judge Who Gave Probation In a Slaying May Be Moved", "U.S. Looks Into Korean Grocer's Slaying of Black", "Grocer Given Probation in Shooting of Girl", People v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (Du), "LOS ANGELES: Family of Latasha Harlins Wins $300,000 Settlement", "African-Americans, Koreans Try to Heal Deep Wounds", "The L.A. That footage has been widely circulated. They remembered being young when Latasha was killed. Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject, "The heartbreaking L.A. story behind Oscar nominee 'A Love Song for Latasha', "Sophia Nahli Allison's 'A Love Song For Latasha' Captures The Fullness Of Black Girlhood", "Netflix to debut heartbreaking doc 'A Love Song for Latasha', "How Six Documentary Directors Explored Untold Stories in 2020", "Latasha Harlins' Death Fueled the 1991 LA Riots. At the time of her own death in 1991, Latasha was a student at Westchester High School. Harlins approached the counter with cash in hand. Just get on with what you want to do and make the pictures you want to make. She then moved to Juvenile Dependency Court, a transfer she had requested before the Du case. Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images. And so for me, dismantling means making people uncomfortable and building something completely new. [6], In early 2021, a mural celebrating Latasha Harlins was unveiled in front of Algin Sutton Recreation Center. She pitched her idea for a video about Harlins life to her employer, the news website Fusion (now called Splinter). Soon Ja Du's store, Empire Liquor, was located at the intersection of West 91st Street and South Figueroa Street, Vermont Vista, Los Angeles,[10] and was normally staffed by Du's husband and son. Family members said they hope Latasha's legacy evolves to be about love and justice. So for me, its always about creating a secret language for other Black girls, so that they know they are seen, they know that their existence is important, they know that there are other people believing in them, supporting them, rooting for them. Latasha cried whenever she walked past a nearby cemetery. Allison, who had only shot documentaries and had no experience directing actors, would first tell the girls what she wanted to show, then simply follow them and observe. THE AFTERMATH OF LATASHAS DEATH. What happened to the schoolgirl is now believed to have been one of the contributing factors to the LA riots, which erupted just a few weeks after the appeal courts ruling. And I had a basketball game. So what will it take for Black girls to just exist on and off screen? Meron Menghistab on shooting "A Day in the Life of Trevor Noah" for Vice.com, and his strategy for staying busy. 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. The Oriental lady started pulling on her sweater saying: Thats my orange juice, the boy testified under cross-examination by Dus lawyer. The property later became a market under different ownership. Support one another, all nationalities. However, the trial judge, Joyce Karlin, sentenced Du to five years of probation, 10 years of suspended prison, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine.[18][19][20]. Outrage ensued after Du testified in court that she acted in self-defense, and the jury convicted her of voluntary manslaughter, which could have carried a sentence of 16 years. Du hurled a stool at the schoolgirl and when Latasha went to pick up the drink and tried to leave the shopkeeper reached under his counter and pulled out a gun. 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. Was there a moment when you were filming that really resonated with you and your own experiences growing up as a Black girl in America? (Never Ignorant About Getting Goals Accomplished)", "True to the Game: Ice Cube's 'Death Certificate', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killing_of_Latasha_Harlins&oldid=1142220736, African-AmericanAsian-American relations, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 04:43. Sixteen-year-old Bryant was shot and killed by a police officer in Columbus, Ohio, on April 20, 2021. Tasha died. Judge Karlin suggested that there were mitigating circumstances in the killing of Harlins. PDN Subscribers get instant access to this site for FREE. Born in Illinois, she was just six when her parents, Crystal and Sylvester, made the decision to move their family to Los Angeles. 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. WebA brother and sister remember Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old girl who was shot and killed in 1991 by a store clerk in South Central Los Angeles the same month Rodney King was ("Korean motherfuckers was crooked/So niggas had to burn and loot 'em [] Lickin' off shots for Latasha, that's proper"). In Esquire, Gabrielle Bruney called it a "stirring portrait". 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. Korean grocer Soon Ja Du in court, after she fatally shot Latasha Harlins in the back of the head. By the late 1980s, racial tensions were high in South Los Angeles, and especially between Korean storeowners and African American residents of the city. WebOn March 16, 1991, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by a liquor store owner who accused her of stealing. Harlins responded by lifting up her hand, which contained two dollar bills, and explained that she intended to pay. WebLatasha was a 15-year-old African-American girl who was unlawfully shot and killed by a Korean American store-owner. A security camera tape showed the entire heart-wrenching event on fuzzy, silent film. I think about when I was a young girl and the films that really inspired me. "[41][43] After Denise Harlins was removed from the ballroom, Karlin gave a speech, stating "There are those in the community who demand that we define justice by what is politically correct. She entered Empire Liquor, which was owned by a Korean family, to purchase a bottle of orange juice. Disrupting American societys harmful tendencies to portray Black girls as more mature than other children their ageto deny them of their childhoodsis key for experimental documentary filmmaker and photographer Sophia Nahli Allison, whose work aims to portray young Black girls as just that: young girls. She insisted that Latasha was attempting to steal a $1.79 bottle of orange juice. [49], Rapper Ice Cube composed a song about the incident for his album Death Certificate titled "Black Korea". For five days, Los Angeles burned and the LAPD left much of the city to fend for itself. L.A. would never be the same. Harlins turned to walk away when Du took out a gun and fired. Los Angeles Times/GettyKorean grocer Soon Ja Du in court, after she fatally shot Latasha Harlins in the back of the head. 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. 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[7] The film was released on Netflix on September 21, 2020. [1] Allison wanted to create a piece restoring the memory of Harlins' life and death to their significance in those events, which are often described only as the Rodney King riots. After speaking to his wife, who asked for the whereabouts of Harlins before fainting, he dialed 9-1-1 to report an attempted holdup. What are you hoping that people take away from your documentary about both Latasha Harlins story and the larger concept of Black girlhood? The family moved from Illinois to South Central Los Angeles in 1981. Some members of Harlins family wept as they watched the March 16 shooting on television monitors. WebKings - The Death of Latasha Harlins: A dramatic realization of the murder of an innocent black teenager by a convenience store owner. ) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373 Times/GettyKorean grocer Soon Ja Du in Court, after she shot! 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