Housemates

Finally--the peeps I live with. I was gonna put in the group picture we took on Thanksgiving...but it's kinda crappy...so here is another.

Memory-making

After this year I will have a lot of memories at Kenneth Hahn State park. It is right next to the oil fields (it used to be part of the oil fields), and is one of the largest parks in LA and (in my view) has the best views of LA. Among the memories thus far: exploring it for the first time with my roommate Bryce, attending a controversial press conference there, evening hike with a man who was campaigning for county supervisor (and who ended up winning the position in Nov election), taking pictures with dad and linda, and the latest hike with Sierra Club:

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I went on a hike with Sierra club through the park near the oil fields that I've been working with (I promise--Pictures coming soon). They had about forty people on the hike. Besides almost totally forgetting about it and arriving a little late--it was a really great time of talking with people.

I spoke a lot with a lawyer who had been really involved with our Alliance. I hadn't seen him lately and was surprised to see him and his wife on the hike. I had been really intimidated by the husband when I first started at CHC because he was a lawyer and was kind of powerful in the group. But--whaddya know--it turns out they are such lovely people!! :)

I met a man who lives in more central LA, but biked all the way to this southwestern part of LA for the hike. And, he informed me, he bikes and takes public transportation EVERYWHERE (very hard to do in LA).

I met a docent at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens. Made a note to self to go visit.

I had an extended conversation with a woman and resident near the oil fields that I had only had brief conversations with up to that point. I noticed her accent, but finally found out she was originally from Turkey. I also found out she has a son who did his Ph.D. in something like Environmental Science. He studied deforestation in Oaxaca Mexico. So cooL!

I think hiking with Sierra Club is my new favorite thing.

Tribute

Just one week ago the other Interns and I retreated at Mt. Calvary Monastary with the Benedictines in Santa Barbara. Every year of interns traditionally retreat there twice a year. It was started in 1947 by The Order of the Holy Cross.

A place of stunning beauty. Stunning silence. And peace. It had libraries with floor to ceiling books and big plush chairs to read the books in. They had a front room with tea, coffee, and calligraphy cards made by the monks on site.

There was a simple chapel where they met four times a day for Eucharist, vespers, etc. The little nook where their white cape thingies hung whenever they weren't in the chapel. A grand hallway with wooden floors led to the eating area where three times a day they gathered with their guests for food and fellowship. All rooms had huge windows overlooking breathtaking mountain and ocean views.

A courtyard garden in the middle of the building, in which I saw one of the monks working during the day. A stone labrynth in the back. Trees and stones aged with blue-green moss. Lush cacti garden in the front--if cacti can even be considered "lush"....and the above tree that I couldn't take my eyes off of...

I found out today that yesterday it burned to the ground in a wildfire. All the monks were safe, but the destruction is still disarming...send positive thoughts and prayers their way.

Election Fever

Due to an unfortunate absentee ballot mistake in 2000, last Tuesday was my first time voting.

I was determined to register here so that I could go to the polls instead of sending off my pen marks hoping they'll be counted by somebody. Thus, last Tuesday was my first time at the polls and first time voting. Thought I'd give a little rundown for anyone interested....

I walked to my polling place--Inglewood 1st United Methodist Church, got there about 6:40 am--already a long line. Polls opened at 7 am and I finally voted by 8:30. I was the only white person in line. Everyone was very friendly, making conversation, etc. The lady in front of my was telling me how she has never seen so many in people in line to vote before.

After work, my roommates and I went to our director's house in a different part of LA for a watch party. But I kind of wish I was closer to our hood to hear it all because some workers

at the YMCA told me that election night in Inglewood sounded like WW III because of all the celebratory firecrackers and noisemakers going off.

I also saw lots of random people hugging and celebrating on the street and in parking lots throughout wednesday...as well as the above sign, a few blocks from my house.

LA Times article

LA Times Article: LA County moves to regulate drilling in oil field straddling La Cienega Boulevard

Above story in today's LA Times. See me (upper left)???

More on "the job"

So some further explanation of "the job":

Community Health Councils, Inc. (CHC) does policy and advocacy for public health in South LA. I am the "Community Liaison" for their "Environmental Health and Land Use Coalition" which deals with policy that will create more open space/ parks in South LA.

Right now I'm helping out with what they call a "side project" that has to do with environmental health and land use, but is not officially a part of the coalition: trying to get a zoning document calling for the oil fields near here to call for strict health studies, regulations, and eventual conversion to parkland.

My day to day consists of administrative stuff--take notes, schedule/attend meetings with community members, send e-mails, phone calls, draft documents for others to usually completely rewrite. Maybe it will change slightly when we move out of the Oil Fields project...but will probably be most of the same, just around a different topic.

LA is extrememly park poor, especially in areas with minorities. This disparity in parkland/open space is something I learned about towards the end of college and so it's pretty great to be in this position--and to see the whole process of going about creating policy.

The View From BH

http://www.laweekly.com/bestof/2008/award/l-a-from-the-top-and-bottom-best-gazing-from-the-golden-hood-348206/

I love the above blurb about the view from Baldwin Hills I found in the "LA Weekly." I live just south of the Baldwin Hills, although my office building for work is in Baldwin Hills and the oil fields with which I work are called "Baldwin Hills Oil Fields."

The following are my thoughts on the view from BH:

I see an amazing view of downtown every day when I walk around the block during lunch hour. Really magnificant views are available in all the neighborhoods of Baldwin Hills. The best I've seen, though, is from Kenneth Hahn State Park, a few miles away from my work place. From there you can see downtown, the skyscrapers along the Wilshire corrider reaching towards the ocean, the Hollywood Hills/Beverly Hills, Griffith Observatory, and of course you can see the Pacific Ocean.

Well, the article wonders if people in those places, particularly Beverly Hills (also "BH") are looking at those in Baldwin Hills the same time Baldwin Hills folk are looking at the Beverly Hills.
My opinion is probably not.

From my travels up and around the LA area, the Baldwin Hills are pretty invisible unless you are looking for them. When looking out from somewhere like the Getty Museum--high up in the Beverly Hills--there is nothing really to direct your eye to the Baldwin Hills. The Baldwin Hills aren't quite as high as the Beverly Hills; they are tucked in between flat lands all around it. There are no really tall buildings either.

I'm reminded of stand-point theory--an illustration of how minorities and marginalized experience society. If you picture a class-room, those at the front have a pretty good view of maybe the first row of students and the teacher. But those at the back of the class room see the teacher, the front row, AND all the rows between the back and front. The view is fuller, richer, more complete. Like they know something those at the front don't.

That's what the view from Baldwin Hills is like. You can see everything in LA, but people in all those places, really can't see you or know that you are there...

Displaced

At the LA Central Library today: while taking a tour with four elderly folks from Orange County, one of the gentlemen asked me where I lived. I told him I just moved into Inglewood. His next question he asked with a puzzled look on his face was: "And are you going to stay there?" He wanted to know if I knew anything about the town before I moved in.

Yes I did, I told him. (I'm pretty sure he was so perplexed because Inglewood is in "South LA," which is predominately African American). And then I explained I was part of an internship program living with five other interns at an Episcopal church. I don't think that really satisfied him. I guess I wasn't really surprised by his reaction, but it threw me off.

There have been times I have felt self conscious here--usually everyday waiting for the bus ride home from work when I look around at the intersection of Crenshaw and Stocker and see no other white folks around.

Sitting at that bus stop and this interaction today make me wonder why I go to communities that aren't my own and where I don't really fit in to do things that a lot of people wouldn't consider a "real job." Something to think about....

My friend nancy shares this feeling of displacement with me; she is the only woman in her fire fighting classes right now.

And this is kind of unrelated, but I am so proud of her: Nancy is totally kicking some manly butt in the physical training!! She came in third out of like forty guys on a hilly run the other day.

So Very Proud Am I.

More News

Associated Press Article:

http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/1226824.html

This one was written just last week, after a public hearing we had on September 10. I was there for this press conference that happened right before the hearing.

some info

A youtube news report:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev0EHNbI5X0

An NPR report

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93866227

the job

"I've never seen anything like this before." I heard a lot of this phrase this morning at a meeting of key members of our alliance this morning. The meeting was the steering committee of the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance (GBHA) consisting of professionals from the community with seasoned experience in government and policy: a few lawyers, policy makers, an urban planner, a UCLA researcher, and the executive director of my office.

This past week has been a whirlwind of learning and introducing myself to the office and the project at hand which, apparently, is quite appalling and unusual. The greater nonprofit that I work for is Community Health Councils http://www.chc-inc.org/ whose general mission is to increase access to quality healthcare for the underserved.

The specific project I am working on is the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance (http://www.chc-inc.org/chcRegionalLB.cfm), for which I am the "Community Laiason." This Alliance was formed by a number of community groups in the area to ensure input in the process of creating standards by which to hold the oil company in their region accountable.

First of all: YES there are oil fields in the middle of South LA. Urban oil drilling. It exists. The Baldwin Hills/Inglewood Oil Fields have been running since the 1920s but have never really been regulated or the health effects evaluated. The Alliance formed two years ago when an extremely powerful odorous gas leak occurred, causing the evacuation of several neighborhoods. A moratorium was placed on the drilling until an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Community Standards District (CSD) could be created by the county...which two years later, they are still working on.

I guess what has been so amazing to the community leaders I met with today was how blatently the county supervisors have ignored the Alliance/community input, how they have not been following the appropriate processes for such documents, and how easy their proposed documents are on the oil company not requiring any real accountability or calling for appropriate health studies.

While some members of the Alliance want drilling to stop completely, most members are just asking for these environmental impact studies, closer monitoring of the oil company's activities and use of hazardous substances, and limiting the expansion of the drilling so as to protect the unique open space in an area that is "park poor."

Wow there is much more to be said about this...and my role in all of it. But whew! I'm tired.

The Drop-off

I arrived at my new place of residence like a nervous mother duckling after a harrowing flight home. My last minute decision to spend my last free day at the beach with three of my Azusan neighbors--Lily, Christina, and Dora-- and and their 13 children seemed very logical to me because their beach destination was quite close to my new residence and I figured it would be no big deal to drop me off after the proposed day at the beach. Well, the "drop-off" didn't end up exactly as I had pictured it, but it was a very memorable day and great way to start this year.

The first twist in the plot was when I was asked to drive one of the two vans being taken. I had never driven such a vehicle of its kind. A '97 Chevrolet van I believe. I don't know why I said I would drive it. I was a little nervous when Oswaldo, the man who owns the car and who is a mechanic advised me that this car needed love and that there is not only a special trick to getting the car started, but that I should tell the steering wheel I loved it before turning the key.

But wow--Oswaldo really encouraged me that morning. Before I drove off he just told me, "No te preocupes." Don't worry, relax. How did he know I was nervous? I think he just said that so I would drive better. But the soothing echo of his words calmed my nerves throughout that day-- not only when I started to worry about the driving, but also when about starting the next year of my life in the new home I was going to that night.

The second twist in the plot was when we left the beach and I was leading our caravan of two vans to my new house. It started out ok, but then it just took one missed street and I got us completely lost and turned around. In Inglewood. In the dark. But some re-fills on gas, five phone calls to my director, and 13 candy-bars later---we made it.

The third twist in the plot happened when all the kids decided to jump out of the vans, grab a suitcase or two and follow me to the door. I was thinking that just one of the adults would come in with me so as not to overwhelm my director or my roommates who had already moved in. But it ended up about 8 or 9 of the kids followed me into the house and up to my room. Hence the feeling of being mother duck.

My gracious director, Jason, kindly welcomed every single one of them and found out their names as they shouted up to me "You live in a church!?!?" "This is your new home?" "When will you visit us?" and two of the older boys in high school, who just realized I would be living with women AND men, suddenly became very concerned about my virginity.

Thus began my year of service for Americorps. I met three roommates that night: Jay, PJ, and Caitlin. And later would meet Bryce and Sara. But I will write about them another day. :)