Voice -- Chavez Ravine - Eviction Day

Residents Evicted From Chavez Ravine
~ An Exercise In Voice ~


This photograph tells me it takes a lot of men to tear a woman from her home. It tells me that history is often diluted by the way people see it – in heaps of black and white; never relevant. This photograph tells me that some police listen, some silence, and a good reporter stands back and lets news happen before them. This photograph tells me that the good guys are white, the bad people not, and the Angeleno sky blue all the while. This photograph tells me to listen to histories that have come to pass, like the beachgoer remembers the tide by its massive coastal wavelength. This photograph explains why the Dodgers suck, and its because their franchise grew on a now splintered staircase, a once hardwood deck, and a junkyard of broken memories. This picture evokes a sense of social justice from somewhere within me, something that perhaps has for too long been dormant, suppressed by the desire to reach, and reach, and attain. This photograph tells me that people leave their homes kicking and screaming. This photograph tells me to look for the subtle, to elaborate on the nearly invisible, and create a set of circumstances on which a reader might hang his hat. This photograph tells me to Google search it’s name, print it out in color, and re-analyze. This photograph speaks to me in so many different ways, it challenges me to tap life from the still like a fish from the pond, like yolk from the membrane; to anticipate where the subjects will be in .01 seconds, to literally predict the future and be content with being incorrect. This photograph tells me that an illegitimate voice would misrepresent these people who remain frozen in time like Dr. Evil. It tells me that depth is not 3-dimensional, not necessarily associated with the amount of ‘craze’ in an image, but with the amount of perspective one can inject into an image. It tells me there is something to tell, and tell I shall, until I shall not.

-- Mr_Cavalier

CHAVEZ RAVINE

The first thing that comes to mind is image. From the beginning, Los Angeles has been all about its image and how it is portrayed in order to bring new residents and get more revenue. The poor and close-knit community of the Chavez Ravine did not fit this image, and being that it was in close proximity to downtown Los Angeles, which was supposed to be the center of all that was great in the city, it was not acceptable. Instead, a brand new housing project plan was developed and the families of Chavez Ravine were sent eviction notices. When the housing project was axed and the Los Angeles Dodgers bought the land, a small number of residents were still there because they refused to take the cash payments and leave. This particular photo is of Aurora Vargas, forcibly taken from her home by the LAPD. Other photos from that day show her children sobbing while she is being dragged out.

At what price did Los Angeles become Los Angeles? The Dodger Stadium was another greedy ploy to bring tourists and make money but the question is why here and couldn’t they have found another piece of land in the rapidly growing city? Unfortunately, once they found an excuse to get rid of this ugly “shantytown,” they couldn’t have done it sooner. The importance of forcing the city to be this shiny, movie-like dream world full of perfect people while shoving the lesser immigrants into a corner seems unreal. Sure, they gave the families money and offered them first choice in a housing project that never happened. But they never acknowledged the people or the area as a community of generations of family and friends that was above all, their home.

The way these people were treated reflects the fact that they were never cared about by city officials or boosters or politicians. They needed a way to get them out and that was all. In a city booming with business and people, it seemed as though all anyone cared about was cashing in on the gold that was Los Angeles. These families had been living in the city for generations and they grew up in it, but in the end the city outgrew them. They were pushed aside to neighborhoods where officials believed they would fit in more, away from downtown and the beloved Dodgers stadium.


The irony of it all is that the stadium is now a staple of Los Angeles and everyone loves the Dodgers, the all-American baseball team. While there is nothing wrong with this, it is saddening to know the history of how the stadium came to be. After years of building a city on the basis of perfection, it is still not perfect today. There are beautiful areas of Los Angeles as well as completely ugly and ruined areas. Not only do “white Protestants” live here, but all kinds of cultures, races and ethnicities. That is one of the most unique things about this city, its diversity, and the undeniable fact that people have never stopped living here because of it.


The city has not decreased in population or size since it’s beginning; rather it has increased and gotten better. Los Angeles has had a bumpy history and those who took part it in were probably not proud of all the things they did to get it here. Yet, I think it is safe to say that it’s a better place today because everyone is still here, bad areas and all. The corporate giants and corrupt city officials couldn’t completely kick people out even if they did force them out of their homes. While different types of people live in certain areas and their respective neighborhoods, they are all part of the same city.
--Claire Ensey

(photo via alef.net)