Black Lives Memorial Garden
The past, present, and future of a grassroots community garden established in Cal Anderson Park during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.
In early June 2020, two weeks after the murder of a Black man named George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis, the Seattle Police Department vacated the East Precinct in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood. The vacation was a response by the department to the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests happening in the area and once the police had left, organizers deemed the area around Cal Anderson park and the East Precinct the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” or CHAZ. CHAZ was later renamed CHOP (Capitol Hill Occupied Protest) in an effort to reemphasize the focus on occupation in protest to police violence.
A key component of CHOP’s culture was a strong commitment to mutual aid and community self-reliance. All around Cal Anderson park and in the surrounding streets aid stations, free food distributors & other mutual aid related projects arose. Nowhere was this culture more apparent than in the center of Cal Anderson Park, where a community garden took root.
Marcus Henderson, a trained urban environmentalist and experienced grower, came to Cal Anderson with a shovel and a basil plant. According to Marcus, the garden began growing organically:
“This all started, in my mind, as guerilla gardening. I had been passionate about that for a long time… I was like, I’m going to come here, I’m going to grow a garden. Brought a shovel, I showed up and started digging some holes and immediately people were like, “What are you doing?” And I was like, “Gardening…” And they were like, “Oh man, that’s awesome! I wanna get on it, let’s do it! What are you gonna do, how are you gonna do it, teach me, show me…” So then a small thing turned into a big thing almost on that day…”
Almost immediately, gardening resources began pouring in from the community. Everything from soil & compost to plant starts & seeds to materials for building greenhouses & irrigation systems, was brought to the garden by volunteers, local business and community organizations. The garden at CHOP quickly became a place within the occupied protest where people felt they could participate constructively, where they could connect with others, engage in conversation and find refuge from the intensity of the protests. Soon, the garden was overwhelmed with people coming through to participate and be engaged.
A core group of organizers, including Henderson, began to emerge. In the midst of the garden’s evolution, these organizers began thinking about how to harness the momentum of the moment and expand their impact. Out of these conversations came Black Star Farmers (BSF), a community organization focused on,
“creat[ing] a safe, joyful and supportive space for communities to have difficult conversations about race and inequality, while also nurturing food sovereignty through the radical reclamation of public land for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) food production and education”
BSF now runs several urban farming programs for BIPOC communities throughout Seattle and has launched a food share program aimed at providing BIPOC families with high quality monthly boxes of food at little or no cost. BSF is highly focused on creating intentional community spaces which center education, conversation, volunteerism, safety and joy.
The intention of the garden at CHOP was multifaceted during the protests and since CHOP was disbanded. However, for Black Star Farmers, the mission of the garden is to “create a safe, joyful and supportive space for communities to have difficult conversations about race and inequality, while also nurturing food sovereignty through the radical reclamation of public land for BIPOC food production and education.”
On July 11th, Black Star Farmers and the garden’s community held a dedication ceremony at the garden, officially naming it the Black Lives Memorial Garden. This name memorializes the Black and Brown lives lost to police brutality, and, in Henderson’s words, “Implore[s] this community to accept this message into this space”.
Conversations about the future of the garden are ongoing between BSF, the Department of Parks & Recreation and the Capitol Hill Community. We hope this site provides context to the community and a place for people to add their input and share their thoughts .
Plan view of Cal Anderson Park
Location of the Black Lives Memorial Garden within the park
Zoomed Views of BLM Garden Placement
