Ron Finley: A Guerrilla Gardener In South Central LA
Ron Finley began his career by creating his first collection called the DROPDEAD Collexion in his own garage. It ended up being popular with commonly known and high-end stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstroms, and Neiman Marcus. Celebrities soon became attracted to his original ideas and designs. Ron Finley also collects memorabilia of Black Entertainment which has allowed him to own a collection of his own preservation of history. His collection includes movie posters that enable the audience to see the progression of Blacks in the movie industry.
Finley is also known as a proponent of healthy eating and gardening. He is co-founder of LAGREENGROUNDS.ORG, a company that plants gardens at low-income homes in the Los Angeles area as a part of a recovery system to transform neighborhoods. In early 2013, he gave a TED talk on his progress as a “guerrilla gardener,” the dangers of food deserts, and the potential for his program to improve quality of life. He said in the talk, “If kids grow kale, kids eat kale; if they grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes.” The program has had modest success in persuading city officials to cooperate, but remains officially illegal under city code.
He recently chatted with Joe Rogan, the interview is entertaining and enlightening. Enjoy!
