Daniel A. Anderson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\nAt a time when many people are working from home \u2014 including Heredia, who is the director of a community arts venue in San Bernardino \u2014 the garden is also one of the few spaces where residents can safely talk at a distance in an outdoor space. Last summer, they dug trenches to create the garden\u2019s irrigation system, and as they\u2019ve planted their crops residents have shared gardening and composting tips. When they harvest, they exchange the fruits and vegetables they grow: everything from eggplants to tomatoes to peas.<\/p>\n
Heredia hopes that this kinship will strengthen the community\u2019s resolve to continue to advocate for their neighbors, and that it will pressure companies like Amazon to be more environmentally responsible by adopting zero-emissions trucks, for example, and supporting more green spaces in the community. It\u2019s a fight that Heredia considers crucial to ensure future developments take the health of the community into consideration. Without these protections in place from the outset, the community will continue to suffer the consequences, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community is well aware that it\u2019s impossible really to stop all these warehouse developments,\u201d said Heredia. \u201cIt\u2019s really an uphill battle to prevent these warehouses from popping up. What the community is asking for is something to benefit us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Community garden volunteer Samuel Armando Castro Marron, 28, of San Bernardino, Calif., helps create a new plot for a future garden.<\/span> Daniel A. Anderson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\nOne Saturday in early December, Heredia joined a handful of young volunteers clearing a patch of weeds in a space where the group hopes to plant berry bushes and cactus plants. As cumbia songs played in the background, they diligently rolled wheelbarrows full of the weeds to a nearby dumpster. Heredia pushed his rake into the earth and yanked out mound after mound of dry weeds, shook the dirt off, and dumped the tangle of weeds into a growing pile. It was sweaty work in the glaring morning sun, but Heredia carefully separated the valuable earth from the yellowed, dry weeds as a parade of trucks and trailers whizzed by on nearby Tippecanoe Avenue.<\/p>\n
Heredia took a break and explained how the work, while tough, has always given him a sense of community. \u201cI feel so let down by elected officials all the time, but then I always get reinvigorated by people in the community who are so willing to help out, lend a hand. Even here within the garden, you have an amazing community of people who are just so open to share \u2014 share their knowledge and share their harvest with other gardeners.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year after the airport authority commission decided to move forward with the airport expansion, Heredia still feels the sting of a decision that he describes as an outright dismissal of the community. \u201cThat moment was really the key moment where I was like: They don\u2019t care. They don\u2019t care what the community has to say whatsoever,\u201d said Heredia. It\u2019s why, week after week, he returns to the garden for that nourishment.<\/p>\n
After the fall harvest, a marigold flower remains between drip watering lines. The marigold is a popular flower to decorate Day of the Dead memorials. <\/span>Daniel A. Anderson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\nHe wants that sense of community for all San Bernardino residents, so Heredia is working across spaces and generations to make that happen. As a member of San Bernardino\u2019s Generation Now, a group of volunteers that promote initiatives like voter registration drives, mural creations, and community festivals, he\u2019s helping others participate in events that can nourish their mental and physical health, while also giving them a voice on community issues. \u201cThis area needs to improve on its quality of life,\u201d he said. \u201cFor our mental health, for our physical health, definitely this environment is not ideal. That\u2019s why a lot of people leave this area too.\u201d<\/p>\n
He points to the motto of California State University, San Bernardino: \u201cCome Here, Go Anywhere.\u201d It\u2019s a message that he interprets as subtly encouraging people to leave the area. \u201cIf you escape, it\u2019s like you made it,\u201d said Heredia. He understands why some might leave; there aren\u2019t many job options. His first job at the age of 17 was at a warehouse. He also briefly worked at Amazon about five years ago, pulling warehouse items from the shelves, but the work was isolating and stressful. Ultimately, he left the job to pursue a teaching credential. Heredia plans to stay put in San Bernardino, because he believes it\u2019s important that he do what he can to help his ideas for change take root in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I\u2019m a fighter in that sense,\u201d said Heredia. \u201cI always have hope that change can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This story was originally published by Grist<\/a> with the headline In the shadow of Amazon, resistance takes root in San Bernardino<\/a> on Jan 13, 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nThis post was originally published on Radio Free<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jorge Osvaldo Heredia moved to the Southern California city of San Bernardino in 2005, the logistics and warehouse industry was already encroaching on the neighborhood where he\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1628,118,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7543"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7544,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543\/revisions\/7544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}