I come from a very unique family. On the Mexican branch of my family tree, we come from a long line of curanderos. A curandero is basically a healer, and in our family that comes in the form of either via medical healing or art. My grandfather was a brilliant doctor with two medical degrees, who spent the entirety of his adult life studying the intersection between science and spirituality. His father was a badass artist, who designed both King Kong and The Brown Derby. He also happened to form friendships with both Walt Disney and Frida Kahlo.
In my brain, I carry a very detailed, carefully crafted plan, put together with love from all of the people listed above. A plan that will help steer the Los Angeles area into the future, in a way that can help heal the planet and feed the hungry. I’ve been trying to quietly send this plan to the city, but perhaps I wasn’t shouting loud enough.
In the past, city planners in Los Angeles only used men to plan the landscape designs here, leaving us with an imbalance of male trees, which then aggressively spread their pollen. When trees are aggressively spreading pollen, children develop increasingly severe pollen allergies. Since I have become a mother, I have watched in horror as one of my boys spent years foaming at the mouth in his sleep due to severe environmental allergies. His condition has improved significantly with the steps I’ve taken, and I hope to help bring that same healing to the rest of the children in my community. I need help to do that though, and it seems this city only likes to assign men to do a woman’s job.
My great-grandfather worked with a woman named Kate Sessions to plan the landscape and design of San Diego. I would love the opportunity to do the same for the harbor community of Los Angeles, but haven’t been making any progress with that so far. I have however been noticing a huge increase in deadly and toxic plants in our area. The plants behind me in this photo are new to this area, non-native, extremely invasive and can kill a child with just one bite. If the city won’t listen to me, perhaps other parents in this area want to join me in my mission. Together, we can fight for a healthier future for our children.
Anyone else ready to help me raise an army of fruit trees and clean up the poison in our community? Please feel free to join me in my gardening group over at SoCal Organic Gardening & Urban Reforesting.
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