At the registration location, Ralphs Grocery on Manchester in South LA, just before the tree-planting.  I’m with Michael Espinosa, who runs the Los Angeles Community Beautification Grant program.  He also attended the tree-planting back in January.  He’s been instrumental in all the projects I’ve done in the area.  Back in 2006, my block club and I applied for a CB grant and I was project director on it when we won.  Michael taught me a lot about the opportunities the city makes available to communities and he’s been supportive of all our efforts here.

Here the Los Angeles Conservation Corps is giving us a demonstration on how to plant the trees.

That red instrument weighs 30 pounds and is used to push the stake into the ground.

Novelist Leonard Chang come to help us.  Here he’s breaking up the dirt in the tree-well with a pick-axe.

Film executive Karen Peterkin helps me shovel out the tree-well.  It was more fun than it looks! 

Eriq LaSalle helped us out and worked  very hard.

Always happy to see E.  We’ve been friends since 1985.

That’s Jeff Stetson, playwright, novelist and screenwriter.  He learned of the tree-planting via my facebook page and surprised me.   He planted a tree a few feet east of the one we worked on.  So kind of him to come out and support.

This is the team that planted our tree that Karen named “Earth:  Me, Leonard, Karen, Eriq and Xavier.  Xavier, 18, works with The Los Angeles Conservation Corps.  He was our supervisor on this job.  Pretty impressive.  Wonderful to see young people doing things to improve communities.  LACC is a fantastic organization.  They train kids as young as 13, so if you know of teens in the Los Angeles area who are interested in the environment, check them out.  They have good opportunities for youth and can train them in green careers.

It was a productive and fun morning.  I’m happy to say that there are 8 new trees in the ground on Manchester Ave. now!  Thanks so much to Lisa Sarno and Kayla Barnett of Million Trees LA, MWH and LACC.  Our community is that much better because of all of you.

On Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 8:30am, Million Trees LA is doing another tree planting in our community!

We will sign-in again at Ralphs Grocery, 1730 Manchester Ave. LA, CA 90047 and walk just a couple of blocks east on Manchester to the location where we’ll be planting several trees.

I’m excited and so grateful to Lisa Sarno and Kayla Barnett of MTLA for making this happen!

When I began my quest back in 2007 to get trees planted in front of the Ralphs Grocery in my South LA community, my vision was merely to have a few trees in front of the store, to bring some life and beauty to the dull concrete and enhance the neighborhood.

What we ended up with, after an arduous battle, was far better than my greatest dream: 20 beautiful Ginkgo Biloba Trees that begin at the corner of Western Avenue at Manchester and stretch east past the store more than a block down on BOTH sides of the street.

I can’t help but smile inside and out when driving past these gorgeous bursts of green. Knowing that my dear friends and neighbors installed these trees that are now flourishing and quietly bringing peace, beauty, and cleaner air to the community gives me profound satisfaction and joy.

A few months after the big planting in January, Lisa Sarno, executive director of Million Trees LA, arranged another tree planting, right around the corner. She had The Los Angeles Conservation Corps plant several African Fern Trees on both sides of Western Avenue going south.

And now it’s about to get even GREENER for us, as she is bringing yet ANOTHER tree planting to our area. When we began in January, she promised us two additional phases of tree installations and she has followed through on that. She is my heroine!

Lisa and her colleague Kayla at MTLA are asking for our assistance in getting the trees in the ground the morning of July 10th and I’m inviting you to join us.

It’s SUCH a rewarding feeling to plant a tree and improve a community, the city and the planet. Planting a tree is one thing you can do to combat global warming. And it will be there for you to visit as the years go by.

I think it’s impossible to see a tree you planted years earlier and not feel great about how it’s grown taller and spread wider, over time, knowing you gave it its start.

Hope to see you there! Thanks.

“It’s the little things citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.” — Wangari Maathai

taj1

It’s been a while… The tree planting was awesome, but exhausting. I needed a break.   Here’s a picture of how the trees look so far.

When we planted them, they just looked like small twigs– Charlie Brown Trees, but that was back in January.  Finally, at the beginning of April, you can see some GREEN.  Yay!  It’s hard to capture in a photo the full scale of all that we planted, but there are trees along the front and all the way down the block on both sides of the street.

Here’s some photos from the event as the trees were going in:

That’s me, digging.   It was a lot of fun, but hard work and I was tired and sore the next day.  Totally worth it, though!!

There’s some awesome volunteers.  It was amazing to see people  helping me make this dream come true.

This was when the folks from The Los Angeles Conservation Corps were giving  the volunteers a tutorial on how to plant the trees.  It took at least 5 people per tree.  We had to dig the hole– it had to be DEEP, too!  Then we had to place the tree in the correct position and remove the box, then shake the roots loose,  install it and then shovel the dirt back in to cover it.  It doesn’t sound that hard, but it was quite a workout!

This was one of the “teams” assigned to install one tree.  In the center in the purple is my next door neighbor Wanda and in the white beside her is another neighbor.  The little boy is Jack, the son of my grad school friend, Kate.

That’s Teague Weybright battling the ground with a pick axe.   He was one of the people that encouraged me to find places in the neighborhood to plant the trees.  He works for The Los Angeles Conservation Corps and I’d worked with him on my previous beautification project on my street.   I’m standing there speaking to a dear friend, Monique Matthews.  She’s been so supportive of my tree planting efforts.  And to our left in the gray sweatshirt is another friend, Ericka Butler and a little farther left, in the black is Heather Hamilton, whom I’ve been friends with since the late 80s.  It was so fun to have my girlz there!

I couldn’t believe that my friend Nicole wore a skirt to plant trees!  hahaha!  She worked hard, though!  And in the white with her is another Nicole, my neighbor, Nicole Burns-Henderson.

Michael Espinosa took this photo of me.  He was on the same planting “team” as I was.

That’s Michael on the far right.  He oversees the City of Los Angeles Community Beautification Grant.   He was the one who introduced me to Lisa Sarno, of the Million Trees LA Initiative.  Between me and Michael is Bruce Saito, executive director of The Los Angeles Conservation Corps.

That’s author Leonard Chang.  He was on my team, too.  And he was so helpful, not only with the planting, but he took lots of photos for me.

This picture makes me laugh.  I think I look like one of the Seven Dwarfs.  Zipadeedodazipadee-ay.  My oh my what a wonderful day…

That’s Teague again.   Though the tree planting is a bit hard, it’s really enjoyable, too, and it makes you feel good to do it.  There were lots and lots of smiles that day.

I’m talking to the lovely Jill Tarlow.  She and I go WAAAAAAY back.  I won’t admit how long, but we met when we were 16 years old, back in New York City.  You always hear people say “life is short,” but reuniting with old friends makes me feel that life is actually  long!   It was so kind of her to help out and I appreciated it very much.

Look at the little cub scout!  Adorable.   A troop came out to volunteer.  So sweet.

In addition to the Scouts there were also volunteers from Ralphs, Screen Gems, The Neighborhood Council, Firemen and lots and lots of my facebook friends.

I’m told there were over 100 volunteers.  Pretty cool!

That’s Arlene and David Nelson and their cute daughter Sophie.

Bernard Parks gave me a Certificate of Appreciation.  I received one from the Mayor, too, but the Mayor didn’t show up.  Councilman Parks told me I was “vertically challenged.”  Okay, I’m not THAT short, he’s just super tall!   I pestered his office repeatedly to get him to attend.  He mentioned something like, “Don’t say no to Toni Ann Johnson, cause she’ll never leave you alone.”  I guess that’s true.  That’s how we got this day to happen– I wouldn’t take NO for an answer.

It was fun thanking the volunteers, but I don’t know what I said or if I made any sense.

This Jerkin’ crew entertained the volunteers early in the morning.  Don’t know what “Jerkin’” is?  Betta ask somebody!  It’s taking over the world!  The crew is called “Kream Kidz” and the little boy with the blue hair is named Freshman.  All the kids were friendly and gracious as they could be.  The were also smart, socially and environmentally conscious and incredibly eloquent when they spoke to the crowd.

Impressive, talented and poised young men.

That is the dapper and debonair Shariff Hasan, Godfather of Jerkin’.   He arranged for Kream Kidz to be with us that day and he was the one that explained to me that the Jerkin’ movement has an interest in protecting the environment.

That’s the spectacularly brilliant Lisa Sarno.  Many thanks to her!  Not only did she get us the 20 trees that day, she had MORE trees installed around the corner on Western.   I’ll post some photos of those in the coming weeks.

A lush green South LA (my dream) is slowly coming true!!

Green is good.  I’ll update with more photos as the trees grow in.   Thanks for stopping by!

xo

photo by Michael Espinosa

–Written by Adrienne Crew, for LA OBSERVED

Toni Ann Johnson, a screenwriter, community activist and blogger, uses her blog to document her efforts to bring more green to her neighborhood in South Los Angeles. It’s been a two year struggle but she’s finally achieving visible results. Partnering with Million Trees L.A., the Southwest Los Angeles Neighborhood Council and Ralph’s super market, Toni Ann gathered with over 100 volunteers to plant Ginko Biloba trees in front of Ralphs supermarket at Western and Manchester on Saturday, January 23, 2010.

Not content to rest on her laurels for a moment (sorry I couldn’t resist), Toni Ann gave Native Intelligence a quick interview.

How did you feel after the event and as you were putting in the trees?

Right after the event I was delighted, gratified and very tired. Later when I reflected on what we’d accomplished and how long it took to reach the goal, I was profoundly grateful and feeling very connected to God,  blessed.

As we were putting in the trees I was joyful. Many of my very dear friends and neighbors came down to help out and it was pretty amazing seeing them work to make the community better. It moved me. I enjoyed digging the dirt and seeing the roots of the trees, thinking about how they were going to reach down into the soil and become a real part of the landscape. I love the idea of an urban forest!

What was the toughest obstacle in this process?

The toughest obstacle was actually what motivated me the most and I’m grateful for it. It was when the director of store operations for Ralphs told me that they wouldn’t allow the trees to be planted. He said there were no plans to green that location and that there probably never would be. Knowing that all the other Ralphs in Los Angeles had trees, the fact that he said no infuriated me and propelled me into action. I made as much noise as I possibly could, determined to be a pest until they’d install the trees just to shut me up. I gained momentum in 2009 when an op-ed that I wrote was published in the Los Angeles Times. The forces against me allowed me to develop strengths and skills I hadn’t cultivated previously, so I appreciated the challenge.

Did the result match your vision?

Honestly, not yet. : ) The trees are Gingko Biloba and they’re going to be spectacular! However, they look bare right now because the trees are dormant and they have no leaves. They look like Charlie Brown trees. We pitched this project to the community telling them that there would be an immediate visual impact, because they were 24-inch box trees, which are pretty large. Had these been evergreen trees, the “immediate visual impact” would have been true, but since they’re deciduous and it’s winter now, the visual impact is significantly reduced. But, I anticipate that in a couple of months, the result will absolutely match my vision. I am thrilled about the trees, even the way they look now.

How long did it take to put in the trees?

Not long at all. It went much faster than I expected. The event began at 8:40am and we were pretty much finished by 11:30am. We had a ceremony, a dance show, and a tutorial prior to the planting, so I’d say the entire planting time was only about two hours. We had more than enough volunteers– well over one hundred people. There were 20 trees and each tree takes 5 people to install. There was a demonstration before we all went off to our respective trees and people seemed to follow the instructions very well. Also, there were “team leaders,” representatives from The Los Angeles Conservation Corps, who helped and guided all of us.

What’s next for your group?

There are going to be two more phases of tree-plantings along Manchester Avenue, I’m happy to report. So, hopefully by 2011, much of that commercial corridor will be green! It’s very exciting.

A Lush Green South LA, with Toni Ann Johnson

www.toniannjohnson.com
www.fs.fed.us
www.Turnt-Up.com
www.milliontreesla.org

Interview with Executive Director of LA, Lisa Sarno

Interview with Screenwriter/Community Activist, Toni Ann Johnson

Interview with Council Member, Bernard C. Parks

That’s me with Russell Ferguson who recently won SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE.  So, what does THIS have to do with Community Beautification?  The connection is a slight stretch, I’ll admit, but there IS a connection.  As well as being the force behind the tree planting event tomorrow, I am also a screenwriter who’s worked on a number of dance movies.  Currently, I’m developing a script set in the world of the JERKIN’ Movement and, more specifically, set in my own South LA community.  It tracks a kid who makes a transformation from gang culture to the Jerkin’ culture (which is anti-gang).   I met with Russell and his mom and brother yesterday to tell them about the story and to see if it might interest him as a vehicle.  As I shared it with him, he lit up and when I was done, he told me that it sounded much like his own trajectory.  He was surrounded by negative influences, but he used his talent for dance to turn in another direction, toward something positive.   God willing, we’ll work together.  He’s a truly talented and lovely kid with a beautiful, bright spirit.   He deserves all the success he’s having!

Some of the kids involved in the Jerkin’ movement live in the community and will be attending tomorrow’s tree planting.  They’re scheduled to perform at 8:30am.  For those of you who don’t know what Jerkin’ is, it’s a relatively new youth culture and it’s one worth supporting.  As Shariff Hasan, who’s making a documentary on the subject, explained to me, Jerkin’ has been described as “youth rebelling against rebellion itself.”  It is a move AWAY from gangs, violence, drug use and low aspirations, toward something healthy and positive and fun.  Kids in the Jerkin’ movement make their own music and videos, upload their stuff to youtube and their myspace pages and share it with their social networks.  They are also using these networks to sell themselves, their music and even fashion, thus creating a generation of new entrepreneurs.  I met Indigo Vanity last week–a beautiful and talented 16-year-old who is fast becoming a mogul of her own making.  On her website, she is selling not only her music, but she’s also selling fashion, including some sunglasses she was rockin’ when we met.  Her fans had seen her with them on and she has had them mass produced.  She’s a performer, but she’s also a savvy businesswoman!  At 16!

This is what Jerkin’ is doing for youth.  I’m all for it!   It’s uplifting, it’s self-empowering, it’s kids creating opportunity and wealth on their own using their talent and the internet.   They’re succeeding even without record deals, but the record companies are seeking out these kids with the large social networks, and partnering with them to sell records.   These artists have a lot more power than the previous generation of artists who signed contracts with companies that kept most of the profits.

One of the things that really excites me about “Jerks”–which is a GOOD thing to be, the opposite of what we used to call a Jerk– is that they are environmentally conscious.   I spoke with Indigo Vanity and a 15 year old colleague of her,s and both of them eloquently explained their understanding of global warming and how they feel compelled to do what they can to nurture the environment.   They support tree planting!  So, some of the “Jerks” will be with us tomorrow.  Hope you will, too!

Heard from Pat Jones, chair of the neighborhood council, today. She held a special meeting and they finally have a quorum. Woo hoo! This is awesome. She said they voted in favor of supporting the tree planting. This means that we’ll be able to have them help pay for the second year’s maintenance of the trees! We’re $1900.00 short, so we can really use their support.

Less than 2-weeks till the big day! Can hardly wait!!

I posted the tree planting as an event on facebook and I have 28 confirmed volunteers. I was at Ralphs last night and asked the cashier if he was participating in the tree planting and he told me everyone working that day was going to participate. Glad to hear it! Pat says the NC board members are going to be there. Bernard Parks’ office sent out a flyer to their e-list of community members. We need one hundred, able-bodied volunteers, which is quite a lot, but I’m trusting things will work out.

Hope to see you there with gardening gloves on!

This was taken Wednesday December 16th at the Ralphs on Manchester Blvd., the site for our upcoming tree planting.  That’s me in the hat, looking like I’m wearing a disguise.  To my right is Carrie Ridge, manager of Community Relations for Ralphs.  She and I began corresponding back in the fall of 2007 when I began the journey of getting trees planted at this location.  To her right, Carlton Paysinger, the store director.   And on my left is Kayla Barnett, special programs coordinator at Million Trees LA.  She works for Lisa Sarno, the amazing and energetic executive director of Million Trees LA.

The meeting was a  gratifying occasion for me!  I’m still happily stunned that the tree planting is happening and that so many great things are falling into place.  In an earlier post, I mentioned how difficult it was for the Empowerment Congress Southwest, our Neighborhood Council, to get a quorum in order to vote to approve the expenditure for the maintenance of the trees.  The chair, Pat Jones, had been in touch with me and had been trying her best to get the members together to vote.  Lately, she’s not returning my messages.  We have no commitment from them to pay for the maintenance.  There was a meeting on the 21st, but as far as I know there was no vote.  So, sadly, it doesn’t look like the neighborhood council will be involved with this community event, which is a shame.  This is exactly the kind of project the Neighborhood Council should support, but unfortunately they can’t get it together to do so.  I don’t want to disparage them, because I know that they do the best they can,  but it’s my opinion that they need to do better.   Fortunately, because of Lisa Sarno, we’ll get what we need with or without them.

Ms. Sarno has received a donation from Screen Gems for our project!  They’ve donated funds to cover the first fully year of maintenance:  $2400.00.  My amazing cousin Elle Johnson donated $500.00 which will go towards the second year.  So, we still need $1900.00 for the second year of maintenance, but at least we can get the trees in the ground knowing they’ll be taken care of for the first year.

That’s Lisa on the far right in this photo.   I’m really grateful for her efforts!   She told me that there’s more good news…  Shell, the gas station just west of the Ralphs, is also a Million Trees LA supporter and so there’s a strong possibility we’ll receive even more trees!  They want to extend the planting west along Manchester Blvd.  This is spectacular news!  My dream of this becoming a tree-lined commercial corridor may soon come true!

This experience has bolstered my ability to hope.  There are elements of South LA that have felt so discouraging and bleak, but now I see that with patience and persistence– faith– we really can make things better.    And we’re doing it!

Coincidentally, I have  recently been exposed to a new movement in hip hop youth culture called Jerkin’.  It is turning the negative aspects of hip hop– gang culture, violence, low aspirations, and turning it on it’s head into something fun, hopeful, empowering and new.  There’s a possibility that some participants in the Jerkin’ community will come and perform during the tree planting event.   I’m happy that there are multiple components of revitalization happening in the hood and think it’s super exciting that they may intersect.  According to Shariff Hasan who’s become a voice in the Jerkin’ movement, greening is part of this culture.  That makes me smile.  It’s thrilling!  I’d been worried in recent years, seeing evidence that elements of hip hop had been doing a disservice not only to urban youth, but to the community at large.  Some (not all! rap was feeling like a destructive force, encouraging kids to be violent, uneducated and ultimately without hope of finding ways to succeed in the larger culture.  As I see it, when people don’t see a way toward a better life, they aren’t able to nurture the environment they live in.  Instead, they destroy it with graffiti, trash, vandalism– lack of pride .  This new movement is all about fun, but it’s also about the kids creating, owning and distributing their own work via the internet.  This entrepreneurial spirit coming out of South LA through this culture is invigorating and uplifting.  It’s breeding confidence and pride and when that happens it has a ripple effect, making other things (like the environment) better.   I read an article that said: “this new youth culture is actually the youth rebelling against rebellion itself.”   Hallelujah!   They’re rebelling against violence, gangs, drugs, dropping out of school, destroying the environment…     That civil rights song said, “We shall overcome someday…”   I used to think that wasn’t real at all,  just something struggling people told themselves to get through their lives.  But with the coalescence of this new movement in youth culture and the greening movement that nurtures our environment, I feel that we’re finally moving in the right direction and that we’re not only overcoming, we’re transforming.

That’s me with Lisa Sarno (she’s in pink), executive director of Million Trees LA.  We’re pitching our tree planting event to the Neighborhood Council board members and the stakeholders.

Our goal was to get the board members to vote to approve the expenditure for the maintenance of the trees for two years.  Unfortunately, there was no quorum, so no vote could take place.  I’d spent two weeks leading up to this meeting calling and emailing board members asking them to be there for this vote.   So it was disappointing that it was not to be.  At least not yet.

But Lisa did a sparkling presentation that sold the people that were there, so if we ever do get a quorum, I believe they will vote in favor of it.

My lovely Cousin Elle was kind enough to make a donation toward the maintenance, so once the trees are in the ground, we can begin getting them cared for even if the Neighborhood Council doesn’t get it together to vote.  I really hope they do, though, not just for my project, but for them as well.

In light of the recent events with the former chair, he was arrested for embezzlement, they need a morale boost.  I think the tree planting event can be that!

Something happened the night of the meeting that boosted my own morale.  A woman I have admired immensely, Maria Rangel, who used to be on the board, but had stopped coming to meetings, came out to support this vote.  Maria is a beautiful, smart young woman who lives in the neighborhood  and was very active at one time.  She was a passionate advocate for our community.  I would hear her speak at Neighborhood Council meetings and at Community Coalition meetings.  She was eloquent and so engaged and committed.   She was a role model for me.

But in the past couple of years, I think she grew frustrated with the lack of action and follow through she was seeing.    It takes a lot of energy to work on behalf of the community and when you see very little pay-off to all the energy you spend, it can be disheartening.   I called her about 10 days before the meeting and got her voicemail.  Even though I hadn’t seen her in a couple of years, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask her if she would come.  And she did!

She told me she came to the meeting to support me, and that she was excited about the project.   The sincerity and hope I saw in her eyes as she said this moved me to tears.

I can’t even convey how difficult and frustrating what we do is.  If I were to articulate the list of obstacles one faces when trying to do good things for South Los Angeles, it would sound absurd and  I would seem like a fool to continue.   But when you inspire one another to keep going and when you can see the good you’re trying to do reflected back in another person’s face, those moments are so deeply felt that they jolt you awake to the fact that you really are alive and making a difference, however small.