As a child I remembered the stories. How my father worked so hard for our people during the Chicano Movment. The strikes, the rallies, the boycotts.
It's also how my parents met and one of the stories I remember above all others was when they met Robert F. Kennedy. My mother with tears in her eyes remembering what an honorable man he was, what hope he held for Latinos and their struggle and how in the prime of his life he was shot down and assasinated at the Ambassador Hotel.
It was with those memories, with those thoughts I read this article and again found familiarity. The waiter who held Robert F Kennedy's hand as he lay dying was from my hometown, San Jose, CA. The man who accompanied him on this fateful trip was none other than Rigo Chacon who was a friend of my father's.
In memory of not just one honorable man, but many.
"What we need in the United States is not division...not hatred...not violence or unlawfulness, but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country...Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to take the savageness of man and make it gentle the life of this world..."
Things are in constant motion, constantly changing, morphing to something new. With all the things we have known and come to know interwoven into the present, this is what brings us to the now, to today. everything we have ever done, experienced or lived through has made us what we are right now at this moment.
So why state the obvious? Maybe because the majority of people can't grasp this simple concept. Most people will drag parts of their past with them and carry that baggage everywhere they go forever. Now don't misunderstand, I am not a cold compassionless person. I myself have been through some major ish...but you gotta know it, recognize it and make a promise to yourself you won't let it weigh you down and take you down like a sinking ship while you work through that. We all go through that and even right now I know someone I care for very deeply going through that right now. (I got you babe, I got you).
No no no, the folks I am talkin' about wear this around their neck like a 50 lb lead weight and they do mean to drag you down with them. You know who they are, you see them every day. When you talk to them all they do is complain, they have nothing positive to say and when you hang up or leave their company you actually feel the negativity oozing off of you. ICK!! Instead of just shaking my head at these folks I can't help but feel sorry for them somehow. Some don't even carry baggage, they carry freight, no lie. I seen it, true story.
I choose not to live my life that way. Something my Dad told me a long time ago has stayed with me since I was a kid. "No matter how bad you think you have it, there is someone out there who has it worse than you do." It took me a long time to embrace that concept and not just embrace it but live it! Yes, there is a difference.
I think I have found my life to be in constant transition. Someone is always moving my cheese lol. Now the first time it happened I didn't know what to do or how to handle it. Yet when I look back I now realize it wasn't the first major change. I had been through other things, major life changes if you will, and I survived them all.
I guess it's why I feel like I can say what I say, feel what I feel enjoy who I am and say, you know what? I TRULY don't give a damn who likes it or not. When you start living your life to please everyone else, THAT is the moment you stop living. Period. Live for YOU and watch how much you happier you can be.
I can say this because I have been through some serious shit...pardon my language but there truly is no better way to say that. I have and I survived and if that is what I had to go through to be who I am now, I regret none of it. I could easily sit her and say poor me....but really come on me? Seriousy? No. I detest when people do that. Have some ganas, some drive, some ambition to be better, to have better to get up keep going and do it like you neva done it before.
Simple truth is I know that my life is far from over, far from settled so I know other things will get thrown my way. And like always I will handle it head and come out shinin' and smilin'.
It all started rather innocently. Drop the offspring at school had to make a stop and get some gas. That was until I saw this -
Now granted I knew full well I had perpetrated a total Hollywood stop versus a complete stop. (What did I say about being honest?) So of course when the Alameda County Sherriff officer (who I will not name because he was so very kind to me) walked up todriver side window not only did I say "Why yes officer I know why you pulled me over" I knew it was gonna cost me.
Or was it?
He took my expired license (yes I said it, expired, but wait there's more) and came back (completely ignoring the fact that my back light was out) and ran my name and essentials. (All came back clean of course. Don't believe the hype! I have neva robbed a bank in my life! lol)
As he proceeded to write a ticket not only did I think "Great I'm toast, there goes a point on my DL and my insurance...." he explained he was not giving me a ticket for failing to stop at a sign. Now before you fellas get all "Oh it's because she's a female" on me keep reading.
He was giving me an Administrative Citation. Turns out that a new law went into effect 6 months ago, this allows an officer to issue an Administrative Citation versus a good old regular traffic ticket. (If you want the legal verbiage go here and scroll about 2/3 down>> http://tinyurl.com/ybwe34s) Basically what happens you get to pay $100 bucks to keep the five-o off your back. Smells like a dressed up bribe to me but I digress.
Great idea right? Sure....but wait it gets worse. This Alameda County Sheriff basically let me know the following (and quite willingly I might add) -
There is pressure for officers to issue tickets as local, county and state agencies face major budget cuts. THEY ARE LOOKING AT TICKETS AS A SOURCE OF REVENUE!!
He blatantly told me that he had no desire to write a costly ticket to "a soccer mom in the suburbs" and would much rather STOP AND WRITE UP A THUG IN THE HOOD!!
Does any of this sound familiar? If you are from the Bay Area, especially the EastBay it should! Recently Oakland Police Department has been under fire for doing THE EXACT SAME THING!!
Don't believe me? Where you been under a rock? It's been all over the news for the last two weeks but you can read about it here >>http://tinyurl.com/yhyoczk
Basically residents in the Oakland Hills got off with a warning for a parking violation while residents in the lower lying residential areas GOT JACKED!
So why write about it? I'm ANGRY that's why. Aren't you?! And if Oakland PD is doing it, if Alameda County Sherriff’s Dept is doing it....what makes you think YOUR local police department ISN'T doing? How about that CHP officer coastin' down the highway?
Now of course it makes NO SENSE that you will issue tickets with high fines in neighborhoods seen as THE HOOD who are not in the income brackets as the folks in the ‘burbs getting a break. Now don't get me wrong...I may live in the ‘burbs and I appreciate the break for the obvious financial reasons...I'm a single mom in a single income household. BUT I moved from the hood to give my kids a better chance so I been there. Now I understand that many cannot do what I did...hence my anger and disappointment.
Yo Oakland PD, Alameda County Sherriff Dept...you are here to protect and serve. Not pick and chose who you protect and serve. Its inexcusable the blatant discrimination that you are participating in and shame on our crooked politicians who didn't think we would find out.
So to all my friends and all of you reading this....all I can say is mind your P's & Q's when driving. Make every stop, use your blinkers ESPECIALLY if you’re driving through the hood. The police are out to get you....so they can close that budget gap! Above all, be safe! Unless of course you look like a soccer mom and live in the 'burbs.
