In the L.A. courtroom during the trial months later, the Harlins family sat in the front row, praying for justice. In August 1991, a small fire broke out just before the trial kicked off. Let me go. . About Us | She stated, "Did Mrs. Du react inappropriately? 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. Absolutely. WebSecurity-camera footage which showed Harlins attempt to pay for the juice and the subsequent scuffle between the two women convinced a jury to find Du guilty of voluntary 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. 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Not enough has changed Filmmaker Shannon Dion, left, places a portrait of Latasha Harlins as friends and community members And I had a basketball game. Work on the film became harder, she says, when she reached the point in the film when she had to reveal what happened to Latasha. She will die in front of your eyes.. Still to this day, it's devastating for our family," Christine Harlins, her sister, said. [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. They came to StoryCorps to remember her. Just get on with what you want to do and make the pictures you want to make. White Judge Joyce Karlin, however, gave Du probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine. "[3] Instead she worked closely with Harlins' friends, developing a depiction of their childhoods and South Central Los Angeles. The neighborhood had its own host of problems during this time. The Oriental lady started pulling on her sweater saying: Thats my orange juice, the boy testified under cross-examination by Dus lawyer. She wanted to be a lawyer. But she didn't belong [on the bench] anyway. The best-known fact about Harlins, whose friends and family called her Tasha, is that she was killed over a $1.79 bottle of juice. The graphic images of the killing of 15-year-old Harlins, captured by a security camera inside the Empire Liquor Market in South-Central Los Angeles, drew gasps in the packed Superior Court courtroom where grocer Soon Ja Du is being tried for murder. WebLatasha 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 Kisuk Jun of the Koreatown Neighborhood Council said. The buller hit the 15-year-old in the back of the head and she was killed instantly. In memory, especially when trauma is involved, details are blurry, she notes. One of my favorite memories is just wandering into a church in South Central and then being allowed to film the granddaughters of the pastor, because their parents remembered Latasha. She entered Empire Liquor, which was owned by a Korean family, to purchase a bottle of orange juice. Im hoping that people really begin to engage with new ways of discussing Black trauma. But I think there are so many ways to dismantle the system. You bitch, you are trying to steal my orange juice, the boy quoted Du as saying when Harlins approached the stores counter with currency in her hand and the bottle of juice halfway protruding from her backpack. 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? Du grabbed the bag and the two women had a violent scuffle. MaKhia Bryant. Meanwhile, their loved ones and communities are left upholding the truth about who they were, while media reports and larger conversations might not include aspects of these girls that point to their humanity, such as their favorite hobbies, their career aspirations, or how they were doing in school. WebLatasha Harlins. It is a fictionalized account of the killing of Latasha Harlins and the effects on both her family and the family of the shooter. Left Ken Browar and Deborah Ory; Right John Paul Caponigro, Sundance Institutes New Frontier Lab Programs. The area was recovering from the recent Watts Riots and Koreans began buying businesses because they were inexpensive and there wasnt much competition. The story of Latasha Harlins, who was killed at age 15, is explored in "A Love Song for Latasha," which scored an Oscar nomination Monday. Residents shouted Latasha Harlins name as they torched Korean-owned businesses including Soon Ja Dus own Empire Liquor. In Esquire, Gabrielle Bruney called it a "stirring portrait". Her death happened thirteen days after the videotape of the Rodney King beating was released. We did our best to pay just about everyone who was a part of the crew, and some people did it out of love, Allison says. She will die in front of your eyes.. PDN Subscribers get instant access to this site for FREE. 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. WebLatasha Harlins was killed just a few years after her mother was shot dead in a South-Central L.A. nightclub. 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. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity. Who is that really benefiting? Once Allison had figured out the films narrative arc, she outlined some ideas for what footage she might shoot. Diversity means we see you, but we really dont need to engage with you. 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. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The shopkeeper, Soon Ja Du, accused Harlins of trying to steal the juice before a scuffle broke out between the two. [7][9] Their unstable marriage eventually ended in 1983. After speaking to his wife, who asked for the whereabouts of Harlins before fainting, he dialed 9-1-1 to report an attempted holdup. 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. Those tensions were later interpreted by some members of the public and activists as being one of the catalysts for the 1992 Los Angeles riots. By the late 1980s, racial tensions were high in South Los Angeles, and especially between Korean storeowners and African American residents of the city. WebLatasha King was just 15 when she was shot dead by a shop owner one Saturday morning - her death is widely thought to be one of the contributing factors to the 1992 LA Riots and The sister firmly denied Lloyds repeated suggestion that Harlins had threatened to kill Du. Click here to sign up for our email newsletter and get the weeks top stories delivered straight to your inbox. 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. From 1986 to 1990, 83 lawsuits against the LAPD for excessive force resulted in a settlement of at least $15,000. A police officer testified later that injuries Du received may not have all come from the fight with Harlins. She started to rebel and their relationship turned sour. 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. A videotape played Monday in a Los Angeles courtroom showed that Latasha Harlins had turned away from a scuffle with a Korean grocer when the black teen-ager was shot in the back of the head. Frames Per Second: How Independent Filmmakers Earn Back Their Production Investment, Tips for Pitching Your Film Successfully to Festivals and Funders, The Funding and Distribution of a Feature-Length Documentary, First-Time Director Jonathan Olshefski on Creating a Feature-Length Documentary, Funding & Publishing Personal Projects: Alice Proujanskys Coming-of-Age Story, Meron Menghistab on Photographing Trevor Noah, and Shooting Personal Work, Photographer Benjamin McMahons Celebrity Self-Portrait Collaborations, An Immersive Experience: How Renowned Photographers are Captivating Audiences with Prints. 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 The Los Angeles mayor's office estimated that 65 percent of all businesses vandalized during the riots were Korean-owned. I think we have a very long way to go. A Love Song for Latasha was nominated for an Oscar. "Latasha was defenseless. She had dreams in life. ROGERS: And we would have, like, spelling bees. Dus trial, originally scheduled to be heard in Compton, was moved to Los Angeles this month by a judge who concluded that jurors and witnesses might be intimidated in a city that has a large black population. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. [50], Singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane composed "Empire Liquor Mart (9127 S. Figueroa St.)" for the album The Ambassador in 2014, which tells the story of Latasha's life and the event that transpired.[51]. It made it so much easier working with young girls, not actors, to not have a big bulky camera in their face, Allison says. Some members of Harlins family wept as they watched the March 16 shooting on television monitors. I wanted it to feel intimate and personal and not invasive at all.. Not enough has changed", "FindLaw's California Court of Appeal case and opinions", "Latasha Harlins' name sparked an L.A. movement. She was trying to walk out the door, said Lakeshia Combs, Alis sister and another witness. Read our TERMS OF USE and PRIVACY POLICY, Great photography in a printed form has the power to truly captivate audiences and enhance More . Born in Illinois, she was just six when her parents, Crystal and Sylvester, made the decision to move their family to Los Angeles. These are the names of two Black girls whose lives were stolen from them, 30 years apart. 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. I think thats why movements like #MeToo and #SayHerName have to exist, because people still refuse to think theres a problem. WebYou will see Latasha being killed. 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. According to a young witness named Ismail Ali, who was in the store with his older sister at the time, the middle-aged Soon Ja Du saw the girl and immediately yelled, You bitch, you are trying to steal my orange juice.. 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. ROGERS: She was killed. The case drew criticism after another LA County court case of cruelty to a dog was given a harsher sentence than the death of a teen. [11], Shortly before 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 16, Harlins entered the store. Du concluded Harlins was attempting to steal, and did not see the money Harlins held in her hand. Du was tried and convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Harlins' death and sentenced to time served, five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, a $500 restitution, and funeral expenses. [4] Alice Walker and Saidiya Hartman were influences in Allison's approach to creating a missing archive in the absence of home videos or other archival footage of Harlins. 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. You always have dreams.. In March 1991, when Harlins was 15, a store owner accused her of [6], In early 2021, a mural celebrating Latasha Harlins was unveiled in front of Algin Sutton Recreation Center. The girl was saying: Let me go. I hate the word reform. . How come she can she just die for one bottle of juice?" ? How did the young Black girls, the young boys that knew Latashahow were they affected by this? Please try again. Surveillance video captured the shooting. 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. 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. [1] At the time, security camera footage of Harlins' death was broadcast widely on television news, but Allison's work does not include it. Judge Karlin also became a target for numerous protests and later stepped down from the bench. One of the businesses targeted was Du's store, Empire Liquor, which was burned to the ground and has never re-opened. MARTINEZ: Latasha's brother Vester and her sister Christina were 10 and 8 when she died. Du, 49, sat at the defense table crying after the tape was shown for the first of numerous times during the day and for the first time in public. 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