Docuseries 'Rooted in White Center' Captures a Changing Neighborhood

Keo Sanh's business, Eazy Duz It, is no longer in White Center, but he has every intention of bringing it back.

The lowrider car club is a White Center staple. Its members build, customize, and display their cholo-inspired cars across Washington, especially in Seattle. The club also provides mentorship to White Center youth. In 2024, Eazy Duz It received $87,950 from King County's participatory budget process to create a program that teaches local youth how to design and build lowrider-style bicycles.

The club is currently located in Kent and is waiting for its lease to end (in 2027 or sooner) so it can find a space in White Center and return.

"Even though we're not there at this exact moment, I'm looking forward to coming back," Sanh said over the phone.

Eazy Duz It is one of many small businesses in White Center impacted and displaced by the fires that engulfed the 16th Avenue strip in 2021. His story and the stories of eight other businesses are the focus of Rooted in White Center, a five-part documentary series that is set to release later this spring and was sponsored by the White Center Community Development Association (WCCDA). So far, the documentary has turned out to be more of an ode to a community that is actively experiencing gentrification, told through the perspective of the businesses that find themselves at risk in their changing space.

The documentary features White Center business owners, such as La Típica Oaxaqueña owner Yesica Lopez Reyes; Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery's Jake Prendez and Judy Avitia-Gonzalez, and Huong Xua Deli owner Kevin Bui. Also featured are the clothing company Highly Hated, Pho-S, Patrick's Café and Bakery, Lake Defense Force, and Mynt Salon.

Reyes says she was willing to participate in the documentary because it was highlighting legacy businesses and businesses owned by People of Color. Reyes grew up in White Center and remembers a time when the neighborhood had more Samoans and Latinos.

"Through gentrification, we've also lost a lot of cool and unique businesses," she said, adding, "[It's been a challenge] to see the direction [White Center] is going; for example, they're about to open on the main strip a wine-tasting room, and so, you know, some people are like, 'Oh, that's really cool,' but it's another alcohol business on the strip. There's already a lot of bars there."

While the documentary aims to showcase raw conversations with business owners about displacement and gentrification, Helen Shor-Wong, who is the WCCDA economic development manager and helped manage the film, says editing the series around that theme has so far proven difficult. Specifically, getting businesses to talk about it on camera has proved harder than expected.

"I think because it comes upon relationships where they don't have a lot of power … there's tension to challenge [or] speak up on [displacement] in a greater way," she said.

For Sanh, displacement is something he sees as a temporary obstacle, and he says the documentary is meant to show the beauty of what it's like to be part of the established community.

"If you look at the big picture, [displacement] is not like the end of the world, it makes you aware that you gotta work a little harder to be noticed, to come back," he said, adding that he hopes the documentary helps people better understand Eazy Duz It and car culture. The club is searching for a more permanent garage space where it can continue to build and customize its award-winning lowriders.

Director and producer Moses Olson says he approached the documentary in a "shut up and listen" way. He hopes the takeaway is that viewers see who the community is.

" I wanted someone to come out of this particular series with an understanding that these are human beings, that these are people, these are families, these are artists, these are mothers, these are fathers, these are friends," Olson said. "I really wanted people to just kind of understand the beauty of the area."

Despite the differing expectations on what the documentary's purpose is, Shor-Wong pressed that there is still value in a series that celebrates White Center.

"It's important for people to know what is here, what needs to grow, and what needs to be sustained and how to grow," she said, adding, "What's at stake?"

An extended trailer is available online, with a release date and future screenings of the series to be determined.