Supporters of Cal Anderson BLM Garden Persist Beyond Deadline

by Agueda Pacheco Flores

Community members in Capitol Hill are staunchly objecting to the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department's decision to demolish the 3-year-old garden that was planted in Cal Anderson Park following the George Floyd protests in 2020.

For the past month, members and supporters of the grassroots organization Black Star Farmers, who call themselves the stewards of the gardens, have been keeping a close eye on the garden and appearing whenever the Seattle Parks Department shows up with heavy machinery.

"If there hadn't been resistance, they would have torn it down," said Orion Grant of Black Star Farmers.

The Black Lives Memorial Garden, as it is known, consists of four plots that total approximately 400 square feet. The gardens grow indigenous plants, perennials, and produce that can be freely harvested by anyone in the community. The garden became a centerpiece during the CHOP/CHAZ protests and, according to Grant, is a symbol of Black liberation.

Grant said Black Star Farmers have been speaking with everyone in the community, from unhoused neighbors to local businesses to churches adjacent to the park, to get their input on the garden. He said what they've heard is support for the continuation of the garden.

"If the community says this doesn't reflect their values and to go elsewhere, we would," Grant said.

Earlier this month, on Oct. 7, the Seattle Parks Department said in a statement that the areas would need to be reseeded and that the "Sun Bowl," the space where the garden sits, is needed for events and is not appropriate for a garden. In lieu of that space, the department has offered Black Star Farmers several alternative spaces in city parks to place the garden. Those spaces include Sam Smith Park, the Garfield Community Center garden area, the Rainier Community Center, and other areas in Cal Anderson itself.

Black Star Farmers is open to relocating, but Grant says the options offered to them have never felt genuine, given the stewards' input has never been welcomed by the Seattle Parks Department.

"We've asked for negotiations with Parks in many different ways," Grant explained. "The biggest hang-up for us is that Parks has never wanted to have negotiations or dialogue about what we want and what the community wants."

The Seattle Parks Department gave Black Star Farmers at least two weeks to vacate. Nearly three weeks later, the gardens remain. Still, the department is doubling down.

"The plan is still to remove the garden," said Rachel Schulkin, a Seattle Parks and Recreation Department spokesperson, in an email, adding, "There is not an official date for removal."

📸 Featured Image: Stewards of the Black Lives Memorial Garden at Cal Anderson Park hope to keep the garden memorializing George Floyd intact. (Photo: Susan Fried)