Facts.
J.T.
You Can Now Support J.T. The L.A. Storyteller on Patreon
It’s true! After six years with JIMBO TIMES: The L.A. Storyteller as a free and open source for all, yours truly is now prepared to offer exclusive deals and content to subscribers via PATREON. Hop on over to see the first major giveaway!
J.T.
We Raise It: A Poem for Los Youngs During These Times
(Pandemic in Los Angeles: Day 88)
I know. It’s not fair. It’s been more than three months since everything up and changed. And since then, nothing has changed. Everything is still a mess. Home is stressful.
I know. Even if someone says otherwise, still feels like there’s nowhere else to go. Even when we step out, everything is weird. Strangers are stranger. It’s not fun anymore.
I know. The pupuserias are not the same. The panaderias take forever to get into. The burger joints aren’t even there anymore. Pockets don’t have enough to get much anyway.
I know. You didn’t get to say goodbye to your friends. Everyone knew this was the last year you’d get to see each other. Now everyone is fighting. Everyone online is just going at each other.
I know. Summer’s coming up and there’s no pool at the house. No AC. Not enough fans. All the sockets are taken.
I know. Family is stressful. Everyone says the same about how we’ll get through this. Doesn’t feel like we’re getting through.
And I know. It can’t be long before some more riots pop off. Cops killing Black people. Whites got no love. How are you supposed to walk around when they can get you any minute. Racism’s worse than corona.
I know. Everyone online is just stressing. And if there’s just one more argument–
It’s not fair. Everyone is scared. It’s no love. Can’t get any love.
I know it’s like a war that’s coming. It’s dirty. But rules are rules. If they hate us, gotta hate back.
I know it feels this way. And I know it feels like it just stays this way.
I know it’s not a time for promises. But this is not a promise.
This is just to let you know that through it all, you’re still heard, still seen, and still valued.
To let you know that you got every right to be mad, like from the top of your lungs, ready to let it all out. We’re mad with you. We’re tired of the same old story too.
But I also know that you know. That if it’s another day we get, then we gotta take it.
So we raise it.
J.T.
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EPISODE 15 – POST CORONAVIRUS IN L.A.
In our 15th episode, we update listeners on the latest with JIMBO TIMES: The L.A. Storyteller, and provide up to ten (10) predictions about what we can expect in Los Angeles following the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic over the last month under stay-at-home orders. Predictions include thoughts on the future of our community work in East Hollywood, the 2020 elections this November, the push for affordable housing in Los Angeles and California, and more.
J.T.
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All Great Cities are Must-See, for their People
In just one lifetime, cities like Shanghai have transformed from trading hubs for merchants only to internationally renowned metropolises for tens of millions of people finding a way to make a piece of the city their own. In China, Shanghai’s trajectory to stardom over the course of some seventy years is not so different from that of L.A.’s rise to global recognition. For each city, migrants and migrant culture are indisputably what make them so rich in flavor, style and depth. At the same time, in cities so large it’s difficult to keep track of just where everything is going, that is, in terms of who’s staying or who’s going, who’s coming, who we’ve lost, and how we might support those who we find along the way again. In my own life, at one point cities seemed to be the very end of the world themselves, places with no end for good reason: to explore indefinitely. Now, I view cities as another destination through the road, but not the end-goals outright; even after all we might achieve with beautiful skylines, bustling financial centers, and a litany of food and retail choices, so long as our people remain in need, still there must be something better to find, something better to create. Shanghai, you’ve inspired me to create again! To think BIG.
J.T.