Du, however, grabbed the girl by the sweater, and the two began to fight. Like Udeorji, Duncan was eager to help tell Harlins story., When Allison and Duncan toured South Central, they had ideas of what they wanted to shoot but let a lot unfold, Allison says. A police officer testified later that injuries Du received may not have all come from the fight with Harlins. The Harlins shooting is one of several confrontations between Korean grocers in South-Central and their customers. By this time, a city-wide curfew had been enforced. 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. The killing was captured on a grainy security video. Then read about Mickey Cohen, one of Los Angeles most notorious gang leaders. Do you find this information helpful? [35] Many of the targets of looting and destruction were Korean stores; more than two thousand Korean stores burned or looted. Meron Menghistab on shooting "A Day in the Life of Trevor Noah" for Vice.com, and his strategy for staying busy. Menu. Latasha cried whenever she walked past a nearby cemetery. 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. Something went wrong, please try again later. The area was recovering from the recent Watts Riots and Koreans began buying businesses because they were inexpensive and there wasnt much competition. They dont have to perform for anyone to be important. [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. 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. Harlins, after telling Du she intended to pay for the juice, hit the grocer twice in the face as Du held onto her clothing, the witness said. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Du was arrested and when her case came to trial she told the court that she had shot Latasha on self-defence and that she believed her life was in danger. ACOFF: That morning, Madea - she asked me to go to the store. After the four police officers that senselessly beat Rodney King that night in 1991 were exonerated by a mostly white jury, the people of South Central finally had enough. After he came to, Billy then phoned the emergency services to say there had been an attempted robbery at the store. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Sophia Nahli Allison at the Oscars last Sunday. But what is justice today is justice always. The community simmered in anger. Judge Karlin also became a target for numerous protests and later stepped down from the bench. And so I think it is so important for that visibility to exist so Black girls know how worthy their lives are. Who is that really benefiting? I think that we must unanimously reject such demands What's politically correct today may not be politically correct tomorrow or the next day. Months later, they gave her a grant. [23], The incident and reduced sentencing by the court exacerbated the existing tensions between African-American residents and Korean-American merchants in South Central Los Angeles. Drawing on memories from the subject's cousin and best friend, the film reimagines the life of Latasha Harlins, a Black Los Angeles girl shot and killed by a convenience store owner in 1991. The gunshot struck Harlins in the back of the head, killing her instantly. And she had the money in her hand to pay the lady. [2] (Harlin was shot to death by a convenience store owner only days after the police beating of King. It made it so much easier working with young girls, not actors, to not have a big bulky camera in their face, Allison says. I said: This cannot be the only way that this young girl exists. She did some research, and found Harlins cousin and then her childhood friend. Some Koreans and others contend that activists who have called for boycotts at a handful of Korean-owned stores are fanning racial tensions. How do I challenge traditional rules of documentary so that Latasha can live in her fullness, and show evidence that she existed?. erupted in protests and riots, fire and gunshots. You will see Latasha being killed. In August 1991, a small fire broke out just before the trial kicked off. 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. [17] The Los Angeles Police Department ballistics report also found that the handgun Du used was altered in such a way that it required much less pressure on the trigger to fire than an ordinary handgun. This may have been the last known photo taken of Latasha Harlins. Latasha Harlins, however, saw no such justice. Shocked, Latasha can be seen hitting Du twice, which knocked her to the ground, before she started to back away, after dropping the orange juice in the fracas. By the summer of 2017, Allison had edited the first two minutes of the video, which helped her establish the films visual style. Thousands of people took to the streets when the verdict was announced and looting and arson was widespread. The childrens maternal grandmother, Ruth Harlins, then raised Latasha and her siblings. The family moved from Illinois to South Central Los Angeles in 1981 when Latasha was six years old. Tupac dedicated his song, Keep Ya Head Up, to Latasha Harlins. How 15-Year-Old Latasha Harlins Murder Over A Bottle Of Orange Juice Helped Spark The L.A. 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. But she didn't belong [on the bench] anyway. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. They murdered my granddaughter!. [39] While King's case was the immediate catalyst to the violence, cases like that of Harlins fueled anger and demonstrated injustices against black people, which ultimately led to the riots. The reaction to Harlins killing was quick and bitter. Latasha, 15, was shot in the back of the head by a Korean woman who owned a South Los Angeles liquor store. Harlins hit Du four times and one of the blows caused Dus eye to swell, Combs said. WebA 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. "[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. Absolutely. [11], Shortly before 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, Harlins entered the store. PDN Subscribers get instant access to this site for FREE. The court also stated that Du shot Harlins under extreme provocation and duress and deemed it unlikely that Du would ever commit a serious crime again. Judge Joyce Karlin, however, rejected the jurys recommendation and instead sentenced Du to five years probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. It hurts, because I think the only answer is to defund the police. I felt as though she was a celebrity because everyone knew her. "[7] The day of the shooting is depicted in animation, intercut with VHS tape static, to heighten the sense of memory despite the lack of any home movies of Harlins. [21] Furthermore, Karlin deemed that Du's capacity to act rationally in the situation was undermined by her experience with past robberies. On the morning of March 16, 1991, though, Harlins did plan to make a purchase. Let me go. . [4] The killing of Harlins came 13 days after the videotaped beating of Rodney King. Riots. When interesting scenes happened in front of them, we felt Latashas spirit with us, she says. And something that really deeply touched me was some of the young girls that I featured, I went to high school with their parents. 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." In cross-examining Combs and her brother, Lloyd pointed out discrepancies among statements they gave to police the day of the shooting, to the grand jury that indicted Du, and to the jury Monday. This is not television. The decision fanned the flames of racial unrest, which led to the LA riots. A video of the incident was given to a local TV station and ignited international outrage. And something that was really important to me is, what does it mean to speak to people like her cousin, Shinese Harlins, and her best friends, like Tybie OBard, who were the same age as Latasha? [31] Since then, they had been a target of anger from both black shop-owners and black customers, with incompatible claims from either group that say Korean shop-owners "undercut prices" by the shop-owners and that they overcharged customers. And a little girl didn't have enough money. in reference to the Korean War. You will see Latasha being killed. Please don't believe the hype. She made sure other people had before she had. 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. L.A. would never be the same. Jasmine M. Ellis: What inspired you to make A Love Song for Latasha? 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. OBard reads a poem that Latasha Harlins wrote, and cries. And we are the ones that are understanding how important it is that art is a representation of our current times, that we are forced to confront and be uncomfortable. One of the businesses targeted was Du's store, Empire Liquor, which was burned to the ground and has never re-opened. How did the young Black girls, the young boys that knew Latashahow were they affected by this? Latashas mother, Crystal, who worked as a waitress in a local tavern, was found brutally shot on November 27, 1985, in a Los Angeles nightclub. The girl was saying: Let me go. Latasha Harlins (January 1, 1976 March 16, 1991) was an African-American girl who was fatally shot at age 15 by Soon Ja Du (Korean: ), a 49-year-old Korean-American convenience store owner. The jury found Du guilty of voluntary manslaughter, an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 16 years. The same month that King was beaten, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by a store clerk in South Central Los Angeles. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. RedditThis may have been the last known photo taken of Latasha Harlins. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiw6Q9-lfXc&has_verified=1. because of the force he was using.. 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. 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. Support one another, all nationalities. [3] Ava DuVernay programmed the documentary as part of Array 360, and it was then picked up by Netflix. Hannah McKennett is a Dublin-based freelance writer that is dedicated to traveling the world while writing about it. 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. Joyce Karlin, the judge on the trial disagreed and overruled the jury's decision. [34] These events were considered factors in deadly and destructive riots which began on April 29, 1992, and continued through May 4, 1992. For five days, Los Angeles burned and the LAPD left much of the city to fend for itself. These are the names of two Black girls whose lives were stolen from them, 30 years apart. 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