Janice Banks
Raised and Rooted
Jackie Robinson Park has been an important place for Janice Banks’s family for generations. “I can remember from probably five, six years old we used to come here to this park…Where the gym is now, there used to be a big swing set. My mom, Geraldine Robinson, used to bring us here to play on that swing set.”
Set within a community that can feel isolated from the hustle and bustle of greater Los Angeles county, the park helps local residents connect, play, and thrive under the desert sun. Growing up, “there wasn’t a whole lot out here,” Banks notes. “I just remember that anytime they had any functions here at the park, there were always large gatherings of people from the community that came here to the park. We would socialize. I just remember activities for us as children, you know, going to the Little Rock Dam, coming to the park to ride our bikes. We lived about a mile from here. All of us kids, we would always ride our bikes and just come play around at the park.”
The park, too, provides services, opportunities, and even employment for local residents. “I remember way back when they used to provide lunches for all the kids in the community. They used to take trips. I remember we met here, and they would take us on trips to Venice beach, to the Los Angeles County Zoo. There’s just so many memories from this park, even as an adult,” Banks recounts, pointing out significant locations around the park as she narrates. “I worked here as the Youth Activities League Deputy for the park, and, with that program, I would take kids out, and we would go on camping trips…a lot of different activities.”
When asked which community members have a special place in her heart, Banks immediately names former colleague Peg Lee, the park’s retired recreation services supervisor. “Peg Lee is important because I worked side-by-side with her for a lot of different activities for the kids here during the time that I was a deputy here.” Next, she acknowledges the contributions of Mother Jessie Carroll—a community pillar and President of the Sun Village Women’s Club that helped raise funds to create the park. Carroll and her husband also donated property to the county so that Jackie Robinson Park could come into existence.
Although she was born two years after Jackie Robinson came to Sun Village, Banks feels that the park deserves a statue honoring its namesake. “I would love to see a statue of Jackie Robinson placed somewhere in the park in the front, just so it’s visible to anybody that’s coming. I think that would pay a large tribute to Jackie Robinson and the park being named after him…I would like to see it right here in the front end [by the parking lot]. Anytime anybody drives by or comes near the park, it’s right there visible.”
“I know nowadays a lot of the kids are just stuck inside on video games and watching TV,” she laments. “That just wasn’t us. Back then, it was always this park.”