By Mathieu Bonin
Saturday morning – 10am - I’m sitting on a balustrade, savoring this wonderful Café de Olla. In front of me, at eye level, I look at a pink helmet and a Spider-Man helmet speeding through the pathway — two kids on their bikes, having fun, pedaling away. Behind them, there’s a massage table, and a group of people dancing to rhythms I could never follow — my French stiffness wouldn’t allow it. There are laughs, conversations, warmth. A gentle breeze makes the morning perfect — That clearly the kind of moment that invites you to pause and reflect. You feel well, your surrounding is alive and welcoming.
I notice the dumbbells scattered on the ground — a fitness session has just ended, I missed that, shame! Around me, stalls of different kind used by local creators and small businesses: beauty products, lemonade, sandwiches etc. A barber booth offers free haircuts — one of the two guys is just finishing up a stylish cut on a 10-year-old boy, he is smiling. I turn my head, and I look at the water at the center of South LA Wetlands Park. I am amused by the ducks and the turtles; I am never bored of them. I look behind and I look at the murals of Maya Angelou High School of which I can also never get bored.
Yes, it’s true — South LA Wetlands Park offers one of the best views in South Central. It’s a pause, a breath of fresh air in the middle of city life. And today, it’s hosting a special event organized by the Skid Row Running Club, Mid City Runners, and the South-Central Residents Association. It’s Saturday, October 4th — the event is called South LA Community Run & Wellness Celebration.
The person who sold me this coffee is from Watts. She told me they don’t just sell coffee — they also host poetry nights and open mics. Honestly, I don’t think I will still bother answering again when people ask me if it’s “dangerous” to live in South Central. Yes, there is culture bellow the 10th. But the point of this text isn’t to talk about stereotypes. No — thanks to this event, coordinated notably by Victor (who came to speak to us last month) and Oscar, and all the other volunteers, I find myself wondering: what is an urban park?
For too long, parks were designed like natural museums, frozen within harsh and hostile urban surroundings. The hygienist thinkers of the past saw them as a moral or social necessity. But the modern park — today’s park — is something else entirely. South LA Wetlands Park is young, yet it had its issues. It’s always the same: neglect. This beautiful building with its doors now sealed used to be a site of looting and safety concerns. Today, it’s the symbol of a community, it could become an anchor to build around. You have understood, today, a positive energy can be felt in the park, it invites us to rethink what an urban park means.
What a fantastic morning.
You can follow on IG: @southlawetlandpark @scresidentassociation
When Mathieu isn’t teaching philosophy at the French School, he volunteers with the Central Group, leading Trash Talk Saturdays and being its Conservation Chair