She said Harlins and Du called each other bitch.. WebAP. 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." [7] The film was released on Netflix on September 21, 2020. And something that really deeply touched me was some of the young girls that I featured, I went to high school with their parents. Harlins then struck Du with her fist twice, knocking Du to the ground. By 1990, 65% of South Central businesses were Korean-owned and a 1992 survey of these storeowners revealed considerable racial prejudice against black customers and black people in general. I think that we must unanimously reject such demands What's politically correct today may not be politically correct tomorrow or the next day. She had picked up a bottle of orange juice and put it in her backpack and owner, Du, immediately though she was trying to steal it. They came to StoryCorps to remember her. ("Korean motherfuckers was crooked/So niggas had to burn and loot 'em [] Lickin' off shots for Latasha, that's proper"). [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. What do you believe that we as a society must do in order to better protect and support Black girls? Rather than shooting crisp, clear frames that offered a literal recreation of what youre hearing, she wanted to combine the voiceover with fleeting images that suggest visual memories. 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 Latasha, the action had come to late and she is buried next to her mother in Paradise Memorial Park in California. Diversity, I think, is a really watered down word just for visibility. She made sure other people had before she had. In his opening statement, Dus attorney, Charles Lloyd, contended that Du pulled a handgun in self-defense and accidentally shot Harlins. She was trying to walk out the door, when she was shot, Lakeshia Combs testified. The shopkeeper, Soon Ja Du, accused Harlins of trying to steal the juice before a scuffle broke out between the two. [9], The documentary short received strongly favorable reviews. I just knew that I was blessed to have an older sibling that looked after me, that loved me. She pulled the trigger and Harlins hit the floor. A New Documentary Celebrates Her Life", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Love_Song_for_Latasha&oldid=1141558250, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Janice Duncan (Creative Producer) Fam Udeorji (Producer) Sophia Nahli Allison (Producer) Aubrey Aden-Buie (Executive Producer) Elisa Gambino (Executive Producer), Shinese Harlins and Tybie O'Bard, Raigan Alex, Zoe Flint, Shinese Harlins, Brittany Hudson (as Irie Hudson), Tybie O'Bard, Londyn Sharp, English (original), Turkish, French, Italian, German, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 17:32. Harlins' death came 13 days after the videotaped beating of Rodney King. We could make the most beautiful films, and there are still people that would not understand what the conversation is, would not understand why its important. They dont have to perform for anyone to be important. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. 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. Joyce Karlin, the judge on the trial disagreed and overruled the jury's decision. She was just always a motivating factor in my life. 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. They called her name as they set fire to hundreds of Korean-owned businesses. You will see Latasha being killed. "I have been honored to spend the last 20 years serving the public but now I want to devote time to my family," Karlin wrote. Harlins repeated, Let me go, let me go, but the woman wouldnt release her grip. She made the short walk to the market and picked up a $1.79 bottle of orange. 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. That is, until April of 1992, when the verdict came down for Rodney Kings assaulters. For myself, growing up in Los Angeles as a young Black girl, I always want to really document these different stages of Black girlhood. Karlin and Du's son also attended that ceremony. Soon Ja Du leaves court with har husband Billy Hong Ki Du. She decided to use animation to depict Harlinss death, rather than relying solely on the surveillance video. As she approached the counter, Soon Ja Du, one of the storeowners, accused her of stealing after seeing Harlins place the bottle in her backpack, despite her holding the $2 payment for the $1.79 price of the juice and approaching the counter to pay. This is not the movies. So understanding this idea of how loss can deeply affect and disrupt Black girl childhood, I thought it was important for us to talk to the women who were then young girls [when Latasha died, in 1991,] about who Latasha was to rebuild the story, to engage in this process of collective memory and rebirth and archive. [32], In 1984, seven years before Harlins was shot, an editorial was posted in a black community newspaper urging a boycott of Korean stores, saying that any black person who went to their stores was a 'traitor'. WebLatasha 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. Empire Liquor became a target for protests. BUY THE MOVIE: 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 However, two eyewitnesses who were in the shop at the same time denied the conversation and instead claimed Du had called 15-year-old Latasha a "witch" and accused her of trying to shoplift. 20072023 Blackpast.org. 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. And I was even thinking about just how Black girls are continuously having to deal with the adultification bias, how Black girls are not protected, wanting to hold space for this young girl who deserved so much more. 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. Harlins threw the juice bottle back on the counter and turned to leave the store when Du pulled a .38-caliber handgun and shot 15-year-old Harlins in the back of the head. 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. in reference to the Korean War. 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. 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 At just 15 Latasha Harlins had known more than her fair share of tragedy. Still to this day, it's devastating for our family," Christine Harlins, her sister, said. There have been conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion within the film and television industry for years now. Thirty years ago today, four police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King. I wanted it to feel intimate and personal and not invasive at all.. The buller hit the 15-year-old in the back of the head and she was killed instantly. The sister firmly denied Lloyds repeated suggestion that Harlins had threatened to kill Du. By the late 1980s, racial tensions were high in South Los Angeles, and especially between Korean storeowners and African American residents of the city. Dus store was looted, set on fire, and never reopened. Du grabbed the bag and the two women had a violent scuffle. 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. WebKings - The Death of Latasha Harlins: A dramatic realization of the murder of an innocent black teenager by a convenience store owner. Allison spent two years making A Love Song for Latasha, serving as director, cinematographer, editor and producer. Once Allison had figured out the films narrative arc, she outlined some ideas for what footage she might shoot. I never want to believe that a film will humanize anyone, because I really believe humanizing comes from folks in their own consciousness. He suffered massive injuries, including several skull fractures, broken bones and teeth, and permanent brain damage. ? . Soon Ja Du the markets Korea-born owner saw the orange juice sticking out of Harlins backpack and assumed she was stealing it, even though the teenager had cash in her hand. ACOFF: You know, she was a caretaker. THE AFTERMATH OF LATASHAS DEATH. Du reached under the counter, retrieved a revolver, and fired at Harlins from behind at a distance of about three feet (one meter). [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. 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. She pitched her idea for a video about Harlins life to her employer, the news website Fusion (now called Splinter). She shot the footage herself, usually using a handheld Canon 5D Mark III. So what will it take for Black girls to just exist on and off screen? She was briefly caught but escaped from jail and was never seen again. That footage has been widely circulated. Now 30 years later, a mural honoring the South-Central L.A. teenagers life has surfaced at the Algin Sutton Recreation Center in Los Angeles. Wednesday night, family and community members came out to remember Latashas legacy. I wanted people to realize that Latasha could have been anyone, she could have been me, Allison explains. People getting pitted against each other. The best of movies, TV, books, music, and more, delivered to your inbox. I think we have a very long way to go. Proceedings held in Compton were marked by confrontations between Dus supporters and backers of Harlins family. 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. WebOn March 16, 1991, 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by a liquor store owner who accused her of stealing. 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