VIDEO BLOG: Starting the dialogue about social justice in education

February 28, 2010 By 1 Comment


By Jose Lara, a teacher at Santee Education Complex

This is the first in a series of videos that I will be producing bi-monthly. I hope to engage people in a dialogue surrounding social justice in education and community organizing. Although I live and work in one of the most oppressed parts of Los Angeles, every day I am inspired by the resiliency of my community. Once we unite and become organized I know that there is nothing that can stop our demand for justice! This is our struggle. I hope this can begin the dialogue.

Videos are produced with a low-cost hand held digital video camera and incorporate the perspective of other LAUSD teachers, as well as South L.A. students, parents and community activists. Using YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to spread the message, these video blogs will bring to the fore ideas and initiate discussions that the South L.A. community needs to have. To view the video blog steam, please visit Jose Lara’s author page.

Become a fan of Jose Lara on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

More from Jose Lara: Teachers gather at candlelight vigil

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Six fitness zones designated in South LA

February 27, 2010 By 3 Comments


imageOn a clear morning, Esthela Jimenez brought her family to the park.

It was a warm day, but despite the glaring sun, they settled in the area of the park that was the most exposed.

Situated in a 1,200 square foot zone, nine pieces of exercise equipment stood on decomposed, golden granite.

Jimenez’s son struggled to maneuver on an aerobic machine meant for those several years older, her husband worked up a sweat on the zone’s elliptical, and Jimenez walked between the nine machines, testing each one briefly.

For Jimenez, trips to the parks have become part of her daily schedule thanks to the “fitness zone.”

“Two weeks ago, I walked around and I saw these machines,” she said. “I think, ‘I’m going to come,’ and I’m here almost every day, twice a day.”

Jimenez is not alone.

On Jan. 16, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry dedicated the first of six fitness zones in South Los Angeles.

The fitness zones include weather-resistant exercise equipment for strength training and aerobic exercise.

The Trust for Public Land received funding from Kaiser Permanente’s Healthy Eating, Active Living grants of $900,000 to be spent over three years for this equipment, as part of a park revitalization project.

The Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles also provided funding.

imageFrom their inception, these zones have made a splash in the community.

“[People are] on them the second the crew is done installing them,” said Pascaline Derrick, a project manager at the Trust for Public Land. “There’s usually people standing around waiting for their completion.”

And their popularity has not waned.

“I have personally come by here twice since we’ve had them up and operating early in the morning, and I’ve seen 20, 30, 40 people at a time,” said Mark Mariscal, the superintendent for the Pacific Region of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

George Zimmerman works out at a fitness zone three to four times a week. The 76-year-old South Los Angeles resident uses the equipment to strengthen his legs.

“With the kind of equipment they have here, I don’t have to go and get a membership at some club,” Zimmerman said. “You catch a lot of people who are overweight, need the exercise and can’t afford to go to a gym, so this is a convenience that we all need really.”

Mariscal estimated that the park usage has increased 300 to 400 percent since the zone’s installation and predicted that it will continue to grow.

Perry credited this overwhelming usage to the zones’ accessibility.

“They are easy to use, and anyone of any ability can get on there,” Perry said. “You don’t have to be in shape to get in shape.

“And they are actually fun.”

This ease of use is due to the isometric weight resistance of the machines. The equipment employs its users’ body weight to engage nine muscle groups.

But the zones’ accessibility extends beyond the equipment.

The Trust for Public Land chose the locations of the fitness zones because of their accessibility to parking and park resources.

In several parks, the zones reside next to playgrounds, encouraging parents to exercise while their children play.

“The parent and the child are both outdoors, exercising, really getting out of the chair, not watching TV… and they’re out doing physical activity which is great,” said Mariscal.

Many zones are placed within sight of the park administrative offices to address safety concerns.

Michael Goran, a professor in preventative medicine at the Keck School of Medicine’s Center for Childhood Obesity, said safety is a key consideration when assessing the success of the fitness zones.

“If they are in areas that are perceived to be safe, this could be a great help [in combating obesity],” Goran said. “You’d have to increase physical activity quite a bit to get any effects … you need to design the resource to make it more accessible to the public.”

imageOne of the effects to which Goran referred is a decrease in the obesity rates in the area.

Goran said the obesity rate is between 50 and 60 percent in communities of color. He estimated that rate is even higher in South Los Angeles.

In South Los Angeles’s 90007 and 90011 zip codes, up to 37 percent of children are overweight. That percentage soars to 54 percent when it comes to children who are not physically fit, according to the Healthy Eating Active Communities project.

Mariscal said these childhood obesity rates have tripled in the past 20 years.

“We see it at our rec centers, where we see a lot of inactivity from kids,” Mariscal said. He noted that some children are not able to complete the walk from school to the recreation centers without “huffing and puffing.”

“We’ve placed [the fitness zones] in places of high need where we have a big population of residents who are obese and who have diabetes and hypertension,” Derrick said.

The Trust for Public Land’s consideration of South Los Angeles proves a great resource for the area, said Perry.

“We are battling disproportionate statistics on obesity,” Perry said. “But this is an opportunity for South L.A. to address these issues in an upbeat and positive way and as a family.”

This story is part of a collaboration between KPCC.org and Intersections: The South Los Angeles Report.

Photo credit: Christine Trang

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Angelenos discuss today’s LA

February 27, 2010 By 1 Comment


Los Angeles is thought to be a city of runaways, immigrants and people chasing down dreams.

“People came to start new histories,” said Hector Tobar, a Los Angeles Times opinion columnist who writes about Latino issues.

But for the first time in the city’s recent history, more and more Angelenos are natives, said Dowell Myers, a professor from the University of Southern California’s School of Policy who studies demographics.

This new population is composed of young hopefuls and children of immigrants, and it’s creating a generational divide. Combine that with a budget crisis, an eroding public school system, lack of public transportation and job losses, and you’ve got a city that has lost its identity.

imageSeven residents of Los Angeles felt the same way and wanted to discuss the city’s new identity. Writers, politicians, professors, historians and lawyers gathered for a panel called “Thinking About Now in Los Angeles” on Thursday evening.

More than 40 people packed the small, niche Leimert Park bookstore, Eso Won Books,for the discussion hosted by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Panelists agreed on one thing: we are witnessing a moment in the history of the Los Angeles narrative. Each speaker shared his or her personal narrative of living or arriving in Los Angeles.

Carol Sobel, a civil rights attorney, passed around a picture of downtown Los Angeles in the early 1970s. The audience was surprised to see open land, smaller freeways, and City Hall as the tallest building. Arriving from New Jersey, she didn’t like the relatively small downtown Los Angeles because it felt like it had no spark.

Arielle Rosen shared a story of growing up in the San Fernando Valley during the 1980s. “I remember at a very young age being afraid,” she said. “I’d lock my doors when I got in the car.” When Rosen moved to Boston for college, friends would ask what she was doing.

“The only thing I was afraid of was the police,” said James Thomas, a pastor in the San Fernando Valley. Thomas arrived in Los Angeles in the 1990s from a small town. He drove around Compton unaware of gang territories and staying out past dark. As a new resident, Compton felt like “culture and progress and it was beautiful, but others felt it was very dark.”

After the panelists shared stories and memories from their own lives, they discussed narratives still being written and affected by the past.

The newest trend for Angelenos, especially the baby boomer generation, is nostalgia. “Just look at California Disney,” says George J. Sanchez, a University of Southern California historian.

Sanchez says baby boomers want to go back to the 1950s, and this causes a generational divide, because the younger generation focuses on the city’s ethnic and cultural differences.

Myers says older Angelenos need to talk about the city’s sometime violent past. “You can’t embrace the new until you mourn the old. We need to go back and talk about it.”

Another issue the generational divide affects is the housing market. Because Angelenos are native and younger, they’re renting apartments, not buying houses. “There’s no magic person with deep pockets that’s going to buy us out,” said Myers.

Myers arrived in the late 1980s and has experienced what he called a housing “rollercoaster.” “I look at the current recession and say oh, I remember this.”

Audience members had a chance to discuss their own opinions. “It’s only a housing crisis when it affects the rich people,” said Gerardo Gomez, a resident of Echo Park.

Sobel agreed. She said the poor have always been pushed out and she predicted further class divide and gentrification in Los Angeles. “When I look at L.A. Live, I think of 5,000 homes gone for poor people. We focus on taller buildings with more glass rather than building homes,” said Sobel.

Aside from generational divides in Los Angeles, panelists discussed educational gaps in public school funding, ethnic divides, the gay, lesbian, and transgenders’ experience in Los Angeles, police relations with the community and problems still affecting South Los Angeles.

The panel discussion ended late, but conversations among audience members continued throughout the evening, expressing the continued belief that Los Angeles is a city of possibilities.

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BLOG:  California initiative against human trafficking

February 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment


With less than 1 percent of the offenders apprehended and less than 1 percent of the victims freed, the flow of human ‘product’ into America continues practically unchecked.
From “The Slave Next Door” by Kevin Bales and Ron Soodalter

Slavery is a word that most Americans don’t associate with the United States. But slavery or human trafficking is a troubling reality throughout the nation, California and Los Angeles. Kevin Bales, a leading authority on modern-day slavery estimates that between 14,000 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year.

The California Emergency Management Agency estimates that California is among the top three states in the nation for human trafficking. For a thorough definition of the problem, visit the CAST-LA (Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking LA) website.

California is a prime target for traffickers. It has international borders, major harbors and airports, a massive economy and a large immigrant population. Traffickers prey on these immigrant communities, which allows them to operate hidden in plain sight. Many people in these communities do not trust law enforcement and face fear and cultural taboos that prevent them from speaking out.

California has laws against human trafficking, but a new initiative to toughen state laws is underway. California Against Slavery (CAS)image is collecting signatures to put the initiative on the November 2010 ballot.

The proposed law would deter traffickers with stiffer criminal penalties, aid district attorneys in prosecuting human trafficking offenses, increase protection for human trafficking victims and mandate human trafficking training for law enforcement officers.

Anti-trafficking groups need to collect 600,000 signatures by March 31, 2010 to qualify the initiative for the November ballot.

To sign the petition, visit:
California Against Slavery

The following organizations also work on abolishing human trafficking:
CAST LA (Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking LA)
The Human Trafficking Project
humantrafficking.org – a web resource for combating human trafficking.

U.S. Department of Justice statistics on human trafficking:

– 83% of reported human trafficking incidents involved allegations of sex trafficking
– 32% of reported human trafficking incidents involved allegations of sex trafficking of children
– 12% of reported human trafficking incidents involved allegations of labor trafficking
– More than 90% of victims in alleged and confirmed human trafficking incidents were female.
– Almost all (99%) of victims alleged and confirmed sex trafficking incidents were female.
– Hispanics made up the largest share of alleged sex trafficking victims (37%); and 56% of alleged labor trafficking victims
– Asians made up 10% of alleged sex trafficking victims and 36% of alleged labor trafficking victims.

Filed Under: Politics

BLOG: How unemployment will change the attitude of young America

February 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment


We acquire the strength we have overcome. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Being a young person entering the job market in today’s economic climate can be disheartening. With six people competing for every one vacancy, the likeliness of being under-qualified and under-experienced in comparison to your competitors – many of whom have been working for years – is high. But being young and unemployed is better than being middle-aged and unemployed, right? Perhaps not, according to an article in this month’s Atlantic magazine titled, “How a New Jobless Era Will Transform America” by Don Peck. Young adults may never recover from their experiences during the first few years of job hunting.

A study conducted by Lisa Kahn, an economist at Yale, showed that young workers entering the job market during a recession will earn less wages in their lifetime than those who find a job during more prosperous times. And young adults of the Recession will never close that gap in earnings:

Seventeen years after graduation, those who had entered the workforce during inhospitable times were still earning 10 percent less on average than those who had emerged into a more bountiful climate.

The “unlucky” graduates were also less likely to be in professional careers, and much less likely to change jobs. “This behavior may have resulted from a lingering risk aversion, born of a tough start,” explains Peck. In other words, young adults today may be fearful for the rest of their lives – too afraid to pursue other career opportunities or take risks. But this new attitude might also be beneficial – at least for a portion of today’s youth.

Sociologists have highlighted a worrying trend in young, middle-class Americans, which many attribute simply to a upsurge in “optimism.” They have “much higher material expectations than previous generations,” writes Peck, after being told by their parents that they are “special,” can do anything they want and be anyone they want to be. This also makes it harder for “Generation Y” (as they have been termed) to cope with the qualities required by today’s job market, including “perseverance, adaptability, humility and entrepreneurialsm.” These young people, apparently, are likely to turn down jobs that they don’t feel are good enough, even if they have no other options.

Perhaps, then, a cold hard dose of reality will be enough to bring these kids back down to Earth. Unless their parents continue to bail them out. “According to a recent Pew survey,” writes Peck, “10 percent of adults younger than 35 have moved back in with their parents as a result of the recession.”

Nice for some. But what if your parents can’t afford to keep you?

Those with a lower socio-economic status no doubt have a different story to tell. And what about race? Well, Peck hardly touches this subject, except to say that more areas in the country may come to look like the “inner cities of the 1970s and ’80s.” In other words, he’s talking about middle-class white families beginning to suffer the same ailments that poor, Black and Latino communities have been suffering for decades.

African-American and Latino men have been the hardest hit by a trim job market, and their children are no exception. In addition to the financial burden of unemployment, teenagers growing up in homes with unemployed fathers are more likely to be victims of abuse. And much less likely, no doubt, to suffer from the unfailing “optimism” that Peck talks about. Hopelessness still pervades these communities, and young people coming up against a brick wall when they turn to look for a job will only make that feeling worse. At least, however, hardship doesn’t come as a shock to these children, who might even be better prepared for a tough job market than more affluent peers.

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Left behind by the LAUSD, parents get organized

February 25, 2010 By 2 Comments


By Martha Sanchez, a parent and community organizer at 28th St. Elementary School

imageTwenty-Eighth Street Elementary School is one of the most overcrowded schools in the LAUSD. The school was built in 1800s to accommodate a maximum of 800 students. In 2003, it housed over 2,300 students turning the school calendar in to a multi-track system with four tracks. In 2007, the LAUSD facilities department invited me to participate in the process of selecting two sites for the construction of two new elementary schools to relieve overpopulation. Since then, I have participated in all phases of the construction, including site selection, cleaning of soil, and architectural design.

Historically our community has been victim to stereotyping and lack of support. Since 2004, I have been organizing at the grass-root level parents, teachers and community members to improve education, bring economic resources to the area and sustain the environment. After years and years of struggle I was relieved to know that we would finally have new schools and could return to a traditional calendar.

However, it appears that once again we have been left behind.

Since the approval of the School Choice Resolution, our community has requested that the LAUSD allow us to participate in the process by giving us access to accurate information in a timely manner. The LAUSD called on us to choose a plan for the new building at site #18 that would take our overflow. But apparently, as was soon revealed, the LAUSD has not yet finished the design of the new school boundaries. “We cannot tell you who will be attending the new school until the process is completed,” LAUSD officials said.

But we were missing vital information. Who can vote? Who are the affected families? What alternatives do parents have if the new school turns into charter and they don’t want that option? What if parents want their children to stay in a regular school system instead? A community meeting was held at John Adams Middle School but no answers were given by the LAUSD. The translation services were so poor that many of our Spanish-speaking parents no idea what was being said. Everyone left disappointed.

imageTherefore we decided to organize a grass-roots effort to involve most of parents at 28th St. School. On January 22, 2010, I began a campaign to organize and obtain the authentic opinion and desires from parents about who they want to control school site #18.

For that reason, we organized a survey to ask parents to choose among the options that they felt could best improve their children’s education. Out of 900 surveys, 739 parents voted for the Local District 5 Plan. Just 9 voted for the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools to take over.

So, on Monday, a group of parents headed for the LAUSD head quarters to deliver the surveys, and try to encourage the board members to support the community voice. As a result, the board not only ignored the advisory vote (566 votes) but the surveys as well (788 votes) that favored the Local District 5 Plan. Parents and teachers are astonished at the LAUSD decision to support the Partnership for L.A. Schools instead.

But we won’t give up.

We will re-organize to make clear what we expect from the partnership in the following days. We will not let our schools fail again in hands of people that haven’t showed results in our community.

image

The South Los Angeles Report will be publishing regular updates from Martha Sanchez as her organizing effort continues.

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Racist “Compton Cookout” frat party angers residents, USC students

February 25, 2010 By 5 Comments


An off-campus fraternity party at the Univeristy of California San Diego that mocked Compton residents has sparked protests around California. On Thursday, February 25, 2010, students at USC gathered to speak out against the party. Guests invited to the “Compton Cookout” were encouraged to eat watermelon, wear gold teeth, among many other negative stereotypes.

Joanne Hartfield has lived in Compton all her life and says she wouldn’t change anything about it. She and others, like Alonzo Tyler and Dave, who didn’t want to give his last name, believe that the Compton Cookout party is based on misconceptions about Compton as a community.

“A lot of people like to have fun and just put Compton in it but don’t know anything about Compton,” she said. “But if you want to talk about black people you have to really know about black people before you talk about them.”

Jenna Zwang of Annenberg Radio News spoke with Hartfield and other Compton residents about how they feel about negative perceptions of their community. She filed this report:

At USC, student protestors stood together in front of Tommy Trojan. They were all dressed in black and most of them had duct tape covering their mouths.

The event was sponsored by Save Ourselves – a student group within The Center for Black, Cultural and Student Affairs. Chris Foy was there and filed this story for Annenberg Radio News:

Acts of overt racism by college students are not just found on the grounds of one particular school. Avia Wilkerson, a member of the protest, says she’s heard of similar parties at USC targeting the Latino community.

“People were dressed up in gardening outfits and had leaf-blowers,” she said. “The fact that people are throwing these parties means that this is how they actually view these people they are portraying.”

After Barack Obama was elected president, Avia said she and a group of her friends were celebrating in their dormitory.
“While we were coming down, the elevator opened up on a particular floor with students who were apparently unhappy with the results of the election and we got trash thrown at us.”

She said they were harassed by these same students verbally as well.

“They said ‘you don’t even f-ing care about politics. This is the first time you’ve ever paid attention to an election.’ Another girl who happens to be very small had a group of larger males throw water on her – this is all on the same night.”

A popular anonymous college website called Campus ACB has discriminatory language. USC students there made derogatory comments directed at African-American women. The posting dated January 22 – which is too offensive to post – was updated just last week with more usage of racial slurs. It’s a sign that racial tensions are still common at many universities.

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Safe Route to Schools program launched

February 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment


The Safe Routes to School program was started to help community leaders, schools and parents across the United States improve safety and encourage more children, including children with disabilities, to safely walk and bicycle to school. In the process, programs are working to reduce traffic congestion and improve health and the environment, making communities more livable for everyone. Trevor Thompson of Annenberg Radio News reports on the start of a program at elementary schools in Los Angeles.
Click here to listen

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Council votes to turn over discretionary funds

February 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment


Click here to listen

In a brief special city council meeting, members voted unanimously to find money in their district’s discretionary accounts to help lower the city’s debt.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa had called on the council to turn over $40 million, but it voted to raise only $12 million, or $800,000 per district.

Repurposing the funds is tricky because some have federal sources.

City officials had originally called for the council to give up all the money from so-called AB 1290 funds. These come from property taxes paid by residents in areas slated for redevelopment; typically the poorest neighborhoods in the city.
Instead, the council decided that each member will have until March 11 to figure out how to come up with the money in their own districts.

Council member Herb Wesson says today’s action will make the process more fair, and council member Jan Perry said each member needed to take a realistic look at the projects in their districts. In her case, Perry knows that will mean tough choices.

The council will consider more budget proposals on Friday.

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Fresh and Easy market opens in South L.A.

February 24, 2010 By 5 Comments



South Los Angeles has far fewer grocery stores than other areas of Los Angeles, making it tough for some residents to find healthy food in their neighborhoods.

That’s one of the reasons why lines stretched around the block Wednesday morning for the grand opening of a Fresh & Easy market at the intersection of Adams Boulevard and Central Avenue (appearances by Councilmember Jan Perry and the Jefferson High School Marching Band probably didn’t hurt, either).

And while the store was full of shoppers, the parking garage was nearly empty, giving a clue to why neighborhood groceries are so needed. Many residents seemed relieved to have an option closer to home.

The location is one of four stores being opened in California today by Fresh & Easy, the West Coast supermarket chain owned by Tesco. At about 10,000 square feet, it’s smaller than many supermarkets, and also has 80 affordable housing units built above it.

“This was actually one of the first sites we identified in Los Angeles, well over two years ago, so it’s been moving along,” said Roberto Munoz, the store’s director for neighborhood affairs.

The market is also employing some residents. It held a hiring event at a local YMCA in January where hundreds of people showed up, Munoz said, and is now employing about 20 of them.

Watch a video story about the Fresh & Easy opening from ATVN

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