About Us: News Articles: Gazette 3
By Carla M. Collado
Staff Writer
For the past year, punk rock activists Ben Lawson and Emily Merrick have worked hard to create a place where disaffected youth can come together to express their artistic talents and learn about the environment and sustainable ecosystems.
The Gaian Mind center in Long Beach has hosted many Friday night vegan potlucks, free classes in herbal medicine, women’s empowerment and conflict resolution, and Saturday afternoon gardening sessions. Youth have sold their handmade crafts there and completed community service hours for school.
Lawson, 25, calls it a “punk-mixed-with-hippy phenomenon Š edgy, kind of in-your-face, where there’s peace and love and respect for nature.”
But as of this past weekend, the Gaian Mind’s headquarters in Long Beach are permanently closed.
Lawson and Merrick had been renting an empty storefront and an adjacent duplex on Pacific Avenue downtown to set up the Gaian Mind. Cornered by Sixth Street to the north, Pine Avenue to the east and Seventh Street to the south, the location was close to the Metro Blue Line and the East Village Arts District.
In February, they received a seven-page letter from the city’s Redevelopment Agency asking them for proposals for possible development on the block. As part of the owner participation process, Lawson and surrounding business owners and neighbors were given the first chance (before outside developers) to submit proposals, with a deadline of June 6.
Lawson and his Gaian Mind partners put together a team to craft plans, considering everything from architecture to educational programs to eco-friendly projects. They even obtained nonprofit status in April, hoping to receive more funding.
But as the deadline approached, so did city officials, increasing their rent and saying they were in violation of various city codes.
Struggling to come up with the higher monthly rent, and dealing with added pressure from the city, Lawson decided not to submit the proposal and instead, leave by July 1.
“We’re a couple of young people that are deeply involved with the youth movement,” Lawson said.
“People were just really PO’d. At a certain point it’s just not worth the fight.”
Barbi Clark, the city’s development project manager, agreed that the Gaian Mind was violating city codes by having desks and tents on the roof. She added that she didn’t find out the Gaian Mind was closing until just a week ago.
It hadn’t been the RDA’s idea to redevelop the block, Clark went on to say. In fact, two neighboring property owners were the ones who approached the RDA with proposals. She said that as of the June 6 deadline, those two owners were the only ones that had submitted plans.
Clark said that the RDA is in negotiations with those owners to redevelop the northern part of the block. As of now, there are no plans to change anything on the southern side, including the Gaian Mind center’s building and the adjacent community organic garden. Lawson said that, while they have lost a place to meet, the Gaian Mind team has kept up its spirits and still has the youth’s support.
“It was heartbreaking, but we’re not playing victims here at all,” he said. “A lot of us feel that it was amazing that we made it as far as we did. We’re all feeling like there’s a groove carved out in the future for us.”
The Gaian Mind is now trying to relocate to Culver City, where it’s eyeing a four-acre parcel of land. More importantly, the group has joined forces with Wo+Men’s International Network Networking Educational, Economic, Ecological, Esthetic, and Reconciliatory Resources and Services (WINNERS).
It’s a group that connects seniors (anyone over 55) with youth, allowing them to develop relationships, learn from each other and help transform society. Both organizations have been meeting in Culver City on Saturdays, attracting up to 40 youth from all over Southern California to learn more about ideas such as the Earth Charter. The charter is a set of principles and attitudes for building a sustainable and peaceful global society.
“We’ve got some really exciting things we’re moving on to,” Lawson said.
While they physically have left Long Beach, Lawson said the Gaian Mind would continue to be involved with the city’s youth.
The group also plans to continue selling used boxes — a venture Lawson started with usedcardboardboxes.com to raise money for the center — through its Web site, www.gaian-mind.org.
“We want to get to work to prove that the youth has something to say,” Lawson said. “It’s amazing to see that young people 13 years old are articulating such passionate visions of a sustainable future. It will be hard to ignore the poignancy and timeliness of what these kids are saying.”