Let The City Know.
In this special broadcast rich with sounds from LACC’s Resource Fair, Kevin Lopez joins us for a brief reflection on the day’s turnout, our takeaways, and what our organization may just be on the precipice of with our continued ‘stand’ as community advocates in the neighborhood.
J.T.
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I always knew I came from ‘the hood’, but I didn’t exactly view ‘the hood’ as anything more than a fact of life. Or, I didn’t view my upbringing as anything which was truly unfair, but as something which was just unique in its own regard, like anyone else’s upbringing.
I still view things this way, but I’m more interested than ever in how the different backgrounds in L.A. got to be this way. I’m interested, for example, in just how LAUSD’s 2008 class graduated only 48% of its students on time.
I’m similarly interested in how over 58,000 people ended up on L.A.’s streets and parks. I wonder during which mayoral administration homelessness took off so much, and just how shelters and civic groups have failed to catch up throughout the years.
I’m also interested in the link between L.A.’s role as the largest jail system in the country, which books over 171,000 people annually, and the 450 hoods claimed by over 45,000 gang members throughout the county.
Critics and sociologists have long recognized a ‘school to prison pipeline’, but with J.T., I’d like to create space for discussions that consider the individuals referenced by such phrases as actual people, not as statistics. I’d like to do this for the simple reason that I’ve been one of the statistics described above who’s also met a number of other people with stories that have been ignored, neglected, or flat out denied.
I can also see that just as it has been for me personally, it’s also true that while many of the youngsters at L.A.’s schools today may not exactly know how they’re being marginalized, they do understand that something is tragically unfair about their environments.
And so, as I was fortunate enough to meet people from so many different walks of life through the course of my education, so many of whom would encourage me to see a different side of the world, I want to serve as a motivating source for the next generation of individuals who will make L.A.’s schools, governing offices, and much more.
I now see this “working class L.A.” then, not as a hopeless world, but as a sleeping giant, filled with the potential to create a world in the 21st century which the people of the 21st century deserve.
After all, it was just in 2013 that LAUSD increased its graduation rates to 66%! By the same token, in 2014 voters in California passed Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for petty drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, lowering the potential number of people sent to California’s overcrowded prisons instead of treatment centers or clinics.
And while L.A. hasn’t yet committed itself to ending homelessness on its streets, I’ve got a feeling that we’re getting there.
One step in commitment at a time,
The job hunt is on. Earlier this week I officially joined the influx of recent college graduates looking for work in an effort to reach the next chapter of my legacy. After sending out my resume to at least thirty different organizations, it’s become clear that the hype about joblessness isn’t just hyperbole after all, but it’s for real! It’s harsh. It’s cold out there. And it reminds me of chess.
In chess, when my game starts heading into a direction that I dislike, a wave of regret washes over me. I look back, and I want to think about what I could have done better. Similarly, as the job hunt bares its fangs, I consider my days as an undergraduate student and think about how I could have done more; I think to myself: maybe rather than spending so much of my time chasing great conversations, girls and poetry, I could have spent that time looking for certain work to fall back on after graduating, like at a diner or some office. Or, if not that, I think I could have focused more on my assignments in order to have greater accolades to walk into the game with, and thus a safer, smarter position. Then I think that maybe I could have just chosen another major, or gone to a technical school instead of a community college.
A tough chess game inspires the same kind of regret, where after I find myself in a rut of anger over the mistakes I made which placed me in the tough spot to begin with, I not only just want to quit the game right then and there, but I consider the very act of taking the moment to play as the biggest mistake of them all.
For a moment I want to believe that I never should have played the game to begin with, and that considering my terrible track record, which could only worsen with another terrible game, I should just avoid approaching a chessboard ever again.
Of course, a moment later, I can only smile at this line of thought, as giving into the idea that I simply had too much fun during college could only be as crazy as believing that I’d be better off in my life if I’d never learned how to play chess. Both of these things aren’t just bad ideas, but they also forget about the bigger picture.
The truth is –my favorite truth, at least– is that even as I spent so many of my days and nights throughout college as an avid socialite looking for a good time, I was also simultaneously growing my network, writing, and taking advantage of ever more opportunities to further my potential; since the moment I joined the Model UN club during my first year at Pasadena, in addition to being a student, I was also a writer, an activist, a leader, and a world’s worth of other things that made the college experience ten times more memorable. More than anything, though, I was adventurous!
Not only did I trust that going after great ideas, great conversations, and other kinds of pleasure would simply make me happier than the students who focused solely on their work, but I also trusted that my happiness was the most crucial part of being a great student, writer and all that other stuff in the first place! In hindsight, I think it’s fair to say that those decisions paid off, as I’m still as filled with a love for adventure today as I was six years ago when I first stepped into the unfamiliar territory that was a college education.
With this in mind, not only does it hit me that I was right on track during college, but I also realize that even if there was a better way to do things, it’s all over now anyhow! And that just like a bad relationship, bad spaghetti, or a poorly calculated chess move, what’s done is done, but it’s also done for good reason. So that I can learn from it.
In turn, being hard on myself for the way I’ve chosen to lead my life isn’t just akin to a blunder of a chess move, it’s also counter-productive! After all, I’m looking for work, aren’t I?! In order to deliver the best on my resumes and cover letters, I have to feel my best.
Once again, then, the job hunt is just like chess; if I’m going to play, not only do I want to play with deep focus and resolve, but I want to play with the confidence that I CAN WIN.
And how do I do that? Well, I can consider how over the span of thousands of games that I’ve played, it’s true that I’ve lost many, many times. However, it is equally true that I’ve also won many times.
The same is true with my track record during school, along with my track record applying for a job: whether it was a lazy cover letter, a grade I felt I didn’t deserve, an interview that could have gone better, a poetry slam I could have done more preparation for, or any other test of my character which didn’t turn out the way I wanted, the simple truth is that I’ve won some, and I’ve lost some. But the thing is, I am ultimately determined to win more than I lose.
Which leads to the last point. In the time after college, until further notice, the job hunt itself is my job at the moment! Or the ultimate chess game. While this might seem obvious at first, what might not be so clear is how I’ve got to approach the job like I treat the game; with chess, each game is a little different, and possibly even harder than the last. But in keeping my head up and working through the losses with the same resolve that leads to the victories, I am confident that I will see a better day. A day in which I’ve got more wins than losses, and then some.
As such, I’ve got to get back to work! As always, the game awaits me yet again, and I live to play. It’s just what I do.