Letters – Page 4 – J.T. the L.A. Storyteller

Summer has arrived in Los Angeles, and J.T. is going to Publishing School with LARB

June 22, 2020June 23, 2020 J.T.Leave a comment

(Pandemic in Los Angeles: Day 96)

Our blog is officially kicking the season off with a fundraiser for yet another special program with yours truly this summer 2020. The Los Angeles Review of Books Fellowship (LARB) for entrepreneurial projects is a special opportunity rightfully fitting for Los Cuentos. Starting in July, along with a group of fellow burgeoning writers and storytellers, I’ll be work-shopping for five weeks under the guidance of the editor-in-chief at LARB to grow J.T. The L.A. Storyteller into a premier platform for working class voices in our communities as I know it needs to be.

Because if you think up to 100 blogs in a row for Pandemic in Los Angeles makes for a lot of reading, you haven’t seen anything yet, Los Angeles.

I believe in the power of words because they were once only a few words that endangered my life. Just as they were once only a few words that saved it.

Today, there are septuagenarians–or readers in their seventies–who follow Jimbo Times, and who I’m proud to count among the ranks. But there are also 13 and 14 year olds who follow the blog, who I’m inspired to think gain some perspective from its words. Most of all, there’s an array of readers in between these ranges who’ve come to count on Jimbo Times for thoughts and analysis of the always interesting times we find ourselves in.

One such friend and supporter told me to “tell those stories” from my eyes at the LARB workshops. I thought then of all the young people whose eyes have seen the depths of hardship in Los Angeles in ways that no one would wish for others. I am fortunate to be here, and fortunate to be able to make this call to the community in honor of our collective ‘eyes’, once again towards a brighter future for all in this sacred pueblo we call Los Angeles.

J.T.

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In Pictures: Marching for Justice Along Compton boulevard for Andrés Guardado

June 21, 2020June 22, 2020 J.T.Leave a comment

(Pandemic in Los Angeles: Day 95)

A row of motorcyclists led the way and cleared the path for the march along Compton boulevard in honor of Andrés Guardado, who was shot and killed by L.A. Sheriffs department — A row of motorcyclists led the way and cleared the path for the march along Compton boulevard in honor of Andrés Guardado, who was shot and killed by L.A. Sheriff’s department

A woman stands with her first in solidarity with marches in Compton, California for Andrés Guardado

A woman and her daughter raise their firsts in solidarity with marches in Compton, California for Andrés Guardado

Marchers atop a pick-up truck make their way past a Compton boulevard sign en route to the Compton sheriff department station — Marchers atop a pick-up truck make their way past a Compton boulevard sign en route to the Compton sheriff’s department station

Marchers hold signs up, as well as the Salvadoran flag, along Compton boulevard en route to the Compton sheriff department — Marchers hold signs up, as well as the Salvadoran flag, along Compton boulevard en route to the Compton sheriff’s department station

A pair of hot dog vendors pursue crows at Compton City Hall, where marchers descended at the end of the march for Andrés Guardado. — A pair of hot dog vendors pursue crows at Compton City Hall, where marchers descended at the end of the march for Andrés Guardado

J.T.

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A reflection on Father’s Day for every working-class father, and all the working-class mothers who also play the role in Los Angeles

June 20, 2020June 16, 2024 J.T.Leave a comment

(Pandemic in Los Angeles: Day 94)

On this day–during this most critical year for our nation–I hope it’s only becoming clearer that if our nation has respect for the concept of the family, then it should show that respect in its treatment of families everywhere by uplifting them, as Kobe “Bean” Bryant was celebrated for uplifting his daughter Gianna Bryant.

In the days and months following the untimely passing of this first-class pair, the city of Los Angeles, along with people all over America, mourned their sudden loss with many words, moments of silence, and testimonials. Though it may seem just a faint memory now, one can still recall that in the short time before the coronavirus, almost every other day in L.A. was marked by some kind of space for mourning the unthinkable loss of the Bryants and other families above the hills in Calabasas.

Today, when mothers and fathers march for the deaths of their sons and daughters–or those who could be their family members–especially following their deaths at the hands of law enforcement–which, don’t forget: are preventable deaths–they’re only participating in the same collective grieving that arose for these far more famous figures not long ago.

But every human life, no matter how rich or how poor, is absolutely worth the world, worth fighting for, and worth demanding a better world for, as so much of the working-class is now calling for, once again, in America. When state and public officials thus choose to meet such demands with indifference, force, or disdain, they are openly betraying–once again–one of the ideals they claim to want to uphold. Hence why we mourn, Los Angeles, and why we must continue to rise again.

The battle is long. But it is still our duty to win. Kobe Bryant knew this. And that’s why we loved him. Or at least, why we claimed to do so. The time has now come to extend that love to people just as human as Bryant and his 13 year old daughter. We march for justice.

J.T.

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Please sign your name to the petition calling for justice for Andrés Guardado, an 18 year old fatally shot by the L.A. County Sheriff’s department in Gardena

June 19, 2020December 14, 2023 J.T.Leave a comment

(Pandemic in Los Angeles: Day 93)

This past Thursday, June 19th, an 18 year old youth named Andrés Guardado was shot seven times by the L.A. County Sheriff’s department in the city of West Rancho Dominguez, becoming the 17th civilian killed by law enforcement in Los Angeles this year after another shooting earlier this week by the L.A. Sheriff’s department killed an African-American man in Palmdale.

Immediately after Andrés’ shooting, sheriff officers were seen taking down cameras outside a body shop adjacent to where Andrés ran for his final moments of life. The body shop’s owner also reports seeing officers entering into the body shop to confiscate the digital video recording device on which the footage was recorded, despite having no warrant to enter the building. Over 48 hours later, the department has still not heeded calls from Andrés’ family to release footage of the murder. In an online petition organized by friends and family of Andres, his childhood best friend shares with the community:

He was 18 years old and left behind a loving family, a full time student and an employee of two jobs with no criminal background. He was always helpful around the neighborhood and always cared for his family first. Please sign the petition and share it, we need this publicized. We hope to achieve the video shared to the public of both surveillance and the Sheriffs’ body cameras, a public service announcement by the Mayor Of Gardena and Los Angeles, and also a thorough investigation of the situation and hold accountable and file charges against every single sheriff involved in the murder.”

Please sign your name to the petition calling for the Sheriff’s department to be held accountable HERE.

Additionally, the Youth Justice Coalition and Union del Barrio are organizing a march for Andrés at 2:00 PM this Sunday, June 21st, at 414 W. Redondo Beach Blvd, Gardena, CA.

J.T.

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This Juneteenth: Emancipate History to Make Way for A New Future in Los Angeles

June 18, 2020June 17, 2023 J.T.Leave a comment

(Pandemic in Los Angeles: Day 92)

On June 19th, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, General Gordon Granger for President Lincoln’s Union army issued an order to the people of Texas from Galveston, Texas:

The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.”

Why does this matter in Los Angeles, California, which wasn’t even a part of the U.S. northern states until 1848? Because chattel slavery in the United States was critically an economic condition, in which masses of laborers toiled daily for next to nothing as a small handful of masters profited immensely in a system enforced by laws, armed forces, and lies.

155 years later, today the relation between labor and profit is still a shining model of masses toiling daily for little return while CEOs like Jeff Bezos stand to make over a trillion dollars. Closer to home, one can find a myriad of bodies at countless L.A. kitchens, delivery, transportation and sanitation services, and at warehouses and factories, where sometimes workers produce for as little as $4.66 an hour, and where sometimes they’re not even properly paid that.

It’s clear then that we’re much closer to the past than it might seem, Los Angeles. But once we learn it, it’s also true that we’re that much closer to the better future we can aspire to.

J.T.

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