i’ve had an emotional roller coaster of a weekend to say the least.
friday night, i had fun just hanging out with some of my favorite mechistas till 3 am at the SDA club party, my first time to a club. so i was on this great high of just dancing all night with my friends.
then i woke up at 5 am. let me just say, i do not work well on 2 hours of sleep which was a major problem. MECHA statewide conference was this saturday and despite our confused/muddled start (which could have made for another precious hour of sleep…), it was amazing. during our first mini lesson on ab 540, i was disappointedly falling asleep all over the place but it was still really interesing. the day went on, and it just continued to challenge me to think about where we place priority in spending, our actions, education, racism, police brutality, human goodness. i was emotionally spent by the time we came back at 7:30.
one of the things that stuck out most to me was the story of oscar grant. i had the chance to meet the father of the boys with him when he died, and to see the videotape of the murder. it absolutely incenses me that our justice system wants to let these killer cops get away with it. IF IN HANDCUFFS, WITH A BODY FULL OF WEIGHT ON YOUR NECK, YOU CAN’T RESIST ERGO YOU SHOULDN’T BE SHOT.
the story makes me have to little faith in our police and in our criminal justice system. and it breaks my heart.
as i later rapped to tupac that night, “It’s time for us as a people to start makin’ some changes.
Let’s change the way we eat, let’s change the way we live
and let’s change the way we treat each other.”
and so i arrived back to campus to go on what eventually became a cc based trip to karoake and yogurtland. it was hilarious and funny, and a great way to get me thinking less. because yes, sometime thinking too much can be bad and you need to remember to smile. and sing your heart out.
but even going to karaoke wasn’t without a challenge. as we went to pick up someone, we were right by the school where i work. and one of my fifth graders, who’s at that point where he could pick a path that will define his life, was standing on the street corner at 8:30 at night. with a kid i’d probably say was in 7th grade, and they were unchaperoned and looking quite sketchy. first, i want to know what his parent are thinking and then i want to force him to go home and not do whatever it was. he could’ve been standing innocently, but my gut and my knowledge of south central la tells me otherwise. and he’s a genuinely smart, funny kid but he’s got to know there is something out there living for and there’s something more than running across the street to miss cars (something the friend who lives there tells me the kids do all the time) and whatever else he might do. i just get so frustrated that society, education, and politics can’t work together to make everyone’s lives just a little better so fifth graders aren’t standing out on street corners.
and today was the international reading festival for kids in the area, put on by USC Readers Plus. It was fun (once I got there after waking up late from exhaustion) and a delight to see kids really getting into the activities and the incessant bob marley. seeing kids be creative with hands on arts and crafts warms the cockles on my little heart.
it’s been a long weekend. and now i have 200 pages of reading and a 12 page paper due wednesday. woooo.
