The Black Lives Memorial Garden lives on.
“On December 27, 2023 at 6AM, Seattle Parks and Recreation, backed by Seattle Police and private security guards, violently removed the Black Lives Memorial Garden (BLMG) from the Sun Bowl area of Cal Anderson Park by order of the Seattle Mayor's Office.
Black Star Farmers and the BLMG community are mourning the physical destruction of years of collaboration, deepened connection with native plants, and convening to share life, knowledge, food, and medicine.
The Black Lives Memorial Garden is a manifestation of the people's right to have access to natural spaces and the need for radical conversations around race and land sovereignty. It was built to be a nexus point for rest, reflection, and the commemoration and liberation of the poor, working-class, Black, queer lives that continue to be murdered by the state here in Seattle and all over the world.
The state has claimed that they were removing the garden because of public health and safety, but the garden did not create the conditions for the unhoused crisis and drug epidemic. Removing the garden is a theatrical and reactionary response to systemic issues designed to placate business and property owners in opposition to poor people & workers.
The City employed violent tactics to implement this false solution to systemic issues. This pattern of violence continues to show that we need to stand together to resist the oppression we all face. We ask that all of you pay critical attention to the policies and practices of the City and join us in organizing to truly address the needs of our communities.”
In Solidarity,
Black Star Farmers
History of the Garden
The Black Lives Memorial Garden was founded during the 2020 protests against the police murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
In the three years since, it has grown countless pounds of produce and herbal medicine distributed freely to local community, as well as established dozens of native plants that are vital for the health of our local ecosystems. The garden has expanded beyond its symbolic representation of resistance against police violence to become an active community hub for mutual aid networks, food distribution, and political education for building dual power and unity amongst oppressed communities.
More Context
This spring, SPR reached out to Black Star Farmers (BSF) to request that we relocate the garden to Rainier Community Center in South Seattle. We explained that because the BLMG is connected to a legacy of occupation protests, led by Black and Indigenous peoples, and a manifestation of our communities’ right to self-determination - we would not be moving the garden.
We also recognized that SPR is connected to a legacy of settler-colonialism and the forceful displacement of community projects like BLMG is consistent with violent state projects like imperialism, colonization, and gentrification. We cautioned them that if they were to remove the garden, they would be continuing this legacy and urged SPR to consider their complicity in this systemic harm.
On Thursday, October 4, 2023, SPR rep Andy Sheffer contacted BSF to tell us that BLMG would be removed starting as early as Friday, October 13 by Parks. They re-offered the area behind Rainier Community Center to “relocate our operation”, and said that they would “help us move the plants”.
SPR Doesn’t Listen to Community
Their earlier proposition was merely a thinly veiled threat, and the city is using “turf renovation” as an opportunity to sweep away a space that threatens their interests.
We hosted a Community Dialogue on Saturday, October 21st from 12-2PM at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church for people to gather and share thoughts and goals for the garden. This, along with our Community Input Survey, showed vastly positive community support for the garden to remain in its original location.
Despite receiving hundreds of emails and thousands of signatures of support, the city chose to ignore the voices of the masses and focus on a few well-connected voices and well-funded sectors in their narrative and disgraceful actions.