Yesterday I had the pleasure to ride along with Luis J. Rodriguez to visit three Chicago schools to speak with students about Peace. Luis is the author of several books and the one that has made him a bit more famous is “Always Running…la vida loca gang days in L.A.” I met Luis back in 1994 during a founding meeting of Youth Struggling for Survival which he and his son Ramiro were helping to organize. The first school we went to was set up by a wonderful Brother by the name of Hector Gonzalez. Hector and I met in 1997 while he was still in high school and I worked as a youth outreach counselor. We had a large group of students at the school yesterday and the staff and students were great. When we got to the last school that was set up by another wonderful Brother Francisco Lozornio it was a bigger audience than I had expected.
Luis, I, and a brother from Cease Fire (CF) were on stage and it was a discussion about what work we have done in Chicago on anti-violence. The brother from Cease Fire seems like a good brother and I am sure his heart is in the right place the unfortunate part is the vision of the programming. I do not mean to bash anyone but it is vital to have these discussions because it truly unveils what work needs to happen to create the impact of reducing violence in our communities. So as the brother spoke I was waiting to hear how CF was helping people become employed, enrolled into college, enrolled into trade school, educating people on finance management, etc… I was disappointed to hear about how when the weather gets better they will be doing a BBQ and bringing out the basketball hoops. Really? I see the worth of feeding the people and bringing people together to have a good time but is that a long lasting effective model for Peace?
What is missing is the deeper conversation in our communities about why poverty still exists in our society. When we keep our expectations low anyone can be happy with the results. Unless there is a will to raise expectations we can be rest assured that by the time I’m 65 (28 years from now) I will be still talking about how to create Peace in our communities with the same old problems. Our communities need places for our youth to not only enjoy a pickup game of basketball but also a school free from asbestos floor tiles and peeling paint. Each school I went into yesterday had some sort of serious asbestos floor tiles, peeling paint, mold coming out of the vents in a boy’s bathroom, plaster falling from the ceiling, and I am sure there’s Lead paint somewhere. One school a teacher was telling us that on the top floor of the school there’s a charter school functioning in their public school. The teacher was clear that the staff on that top floor was no friends of theirs. I do not blame the teacher for her feelings because she is already challenged with having to provide the best education she can with whatever low funding the school gets. On top of that people from the main office tour schools to make sure you’re asking the right questions to students and all they can do is stand there and smile. There are some really deep injustices in our schools that a basketball hoop and some BBQ are not going to solve.
A few weeks ago I was talking with a family member about this sort of things and she kept on insisting that “hey you gotta want it! Look at the people that have made it out of the hood so if they could so can anyone else…” I do not completely disagree with her but I had to stop her and let her know that if we are OK with ONE person from ONE neighborhood making it every so often then we must really not care. I know communities where you can go door to door and ask what are they biggest accomplishments someone from that house has made? and the list is short. What I told her was that when we live in a city the size of Chicago there are expectations from that city government due to the fact that in some way we are all paying some sort of taxes into this system. It is NOT in the benefit of the city to allow an entire community to fall out of repair and it isn’t fair to then waste the money on tree planters in the center of a street.
This brother from CF, like I said, I am sure he has the best interest for the community unfortunately he is not being given the opportunity to expand into areas that WILL create the Peace in our communities. If a BBQ was really a solution then Israel and Palestine should be two peacefully countries right now with all the trips they made to Camp David…
My brothers and sisters at Cease Fire I truly hope that one day you can challenge Tio and Gary to really become peace makers.
Peace/AMOR
Gerardo
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