Children of the Street

photo by Kimberley Miles
"Children of the Streets. They're there but no one notices them....."



It is amazing how many of our children are living on the streets in this country. You read about this in many poor underdeveloped countries, but you never think about it being in your own backyard. It is sad to think of this happening anywhere, but it is frightening to think of it happening here in America. A place where so many come for opportunities to better their lives and the lives of their families both here and abroad.



There is a story that I read just this morning in the Los Angeles Times about Khadijah Williams who has been homeless her entire childhood and now she is off on a full scholarship to Harvard University. As much as this is a wonderful success story, there are quite a few things that few of us see. Her transition from the streets of California to the Ive League halls of Harvard along side so many privileged young people. There is no doubt that she can stay focused on her studies, because she has proven that in the worst situations, but what does she internalize in order to keep that focus. Then there is the situation with not knowing the whereabouts and well being of the two people that she loves the most, her mother and her younger sister. How much guilt will she feel for leaving them behind, and especially if anything happens to them, or if her sister's life turns out much different than hers. This is a story that I would love to follow and watch her in this transition, her growth and the demons that she has to slay along the way. We can just hope and pray that she will be ok, and when the time comes that she is able to help her mother and her sister that it is not too late.





Update
Oprah has gotten a hold of this story and tells more of what her life has been like since starting Harvard. You can check it out here.

American Bondage

It has been known for sometime that Americans love to own stuff, and the more stuff there is the more stuff we want to own. The weirdest thing about this is that once we acquire the stuff, the thrill is over. This type of bondage has dominated most of my life. It was actually when I went back to school and moved in with my parents that I realized that I could live with a great deal less than I thought possible. I chose to move in with my parents because I didn't want to work full time and attend school part time, knowing how long this process could be. I wanted to make this happen as quickly as possible. So going to school full time was the only thing I could do and that included summers. I also wanted to make the process as painless as possible, not my pain but my daughter's pain. Finding a way that would not disrupt her life anymore than necessary. I knew that if I went back to school full time and worked full time, then parenting would take a backseat. This was not an option for me, not even for a short time. The time that it was going to take for me to earn my degree was going to take a few years. I was not willing to sacrifice her, but I was willing to sacrifice stuff.
When I made this decision, I was up against a great deal of resistance, but I was determined. I had to put all of my stuff in storage. The antique furniture that I had been collecting, the beautiful china, and antique dishes, all of the dolls my daughter had been collecting with her grandmother, and the three closets of designer clothes and shoes that defined me. That was heartbreaking.
After enrolling in school and getting involved in all that was put before me, with the determination an tunnel vision that I equipped myself with, that heartbreak became less and less. I was excelling quite rapidly in school, I was a full time student, a full time mother of a 12 year old girl, and now a member of the honor society that just happened to be featured in the school's campaign for non-traditional students. My face was now plastered all over the newspapers in this campaign, in brochures, and college fairs. All of this happened without the the stuff that use to be so very important to me. So life was lighter and freer, and I was able to soar.
This type of thing also happens when we clean out our houses, our minds, our debts, and our hearts. Sometimes getting rid of the house that sucks our resources, the constant wants that sucks our energy and eventually our money, and then our energy again. It becomes a cycle that we become painfully comfortable with. A cycle that becomes easier to live within than it is to move away from.
Many Americans are being stripped of these tangible possessions in today's economy, and they are discovering that there is a great deal that they are able to live without. Americans are becoming grateful for their loved ones and good health, and with that they are able to attain all that they need and want. The difference now is that their wants are have evolved. Instead of things, they are wanting peace of mind and simple happiness with those that are the most important to them. Through this many will not go back to the way they use to live, because what they value in life is different. They will not go back to the credit card debt, to robbing Peter to pay Paul, the buying more house than they need or can afford, or the keeping up with the Jones. By being stripped by all of these possessions they will discover themselves, who they are , what they want from this life, and what they value the most, and these possessions will no longer be necessary to show the world who they are. However, there are a number of people that is going to jump right back into that frying pan, and there is a part of me that understands why. For some, the pain of change is unbearable and bondage is all that they know.

Los Angeles Parade: Celebrating the Lakers Win

Yesterday while watching the local news the topic at the moment was the Laker's Championship Parade to be held in city of Los Angeles. They were discussing the costs involved in putting on this display of support for this highly esteemed basketball team. The Lakers has contributed 1 million dollars to this effort but there is over a million dollars still needed to make sure that this even is nothing short of what the fans and the team expects.
There has been an effort to cut back on these expenses and shorting the parade route was one way to do that.
Mayor Villaraigosa has been soliciting private donations to cover the city's possible expense for the celebratory event and says that he has raised several hundred thousand dollars. He knows the people would be outraged if he were to spend city's money on this event when there are so many people out of work, so many programs being cut, the threat of teacher layoffs, the insistence of government employees taking furloughs, as well as the enormous deficit that is at the forefront of the minds of those mostly effected.
I became irate at the thought of the city paying any of the taxpayers monies for this celebration. Any type of celebration is a welcome distraction and is actually needed to uplift the spirit of so many that are effected by our present economic situation, both as a city and as a country, but the idea of the city even paying a dine for this was just more than I could wrap my head around. It is a relief to know that this city and its officials are not insensitive.

Update: Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The mayor came through. All of the monies that the city would have paid for the parade today is being taken care of by the business community. Americans come through again for their own.

The Promise

I am just so exhausted by my inherent impulse to look for the good in people. Some people don't have enough good within to be seen by the human eye or the human heart. Maybe only God can see their worth, or maybe it is just not meant for one to see.

Forget people. But I love people. At times I believe my consistent and subconscious quest for the good in people is a curse, but maybe it is not a curse, maybe it is a blessing. It could be a blessing for the other person although quite painful to me, but it could possibly be a blessing for me.

Maybe this is why I find a real passion in photojournalism. I want to believe that regardless of the many heinous acts committed by some, that there is more to them than their actions. There are those that kill people but love animals; they have no respect for life, but they recycle. I don't know. Many will think that I am reaching here, and maybe I am, but what makes me want to reach, what makes me want to believe in people, "by any means necessary".
If this was a curse I would surely be bitter by now, but I am not bitter. My heart wont let me become bitter or God wont let me. So maybe it is a gift and God is waiting for the time when I am prepared, when I am ready, when I am not so emotional but purely passionate. I feel like I am on the path but I have not yet reached the promise. So hopefully God will ease some of the pain, some of the frustration, some of the uneasiness, and some of the ambiguity of this pilgrimage. I definitely want to embrace this mission and every step taken, because I want to reach The Promise, that now only flashes before me.

What is this promise?

The promise of peace and happiness that is there once one finds their true passion in life. Once one finds their purpose on this earth. Once one finds their way to serve others.
A settling of the soul.

March 29th - My Birthday

Well I am another year older, March 29th was my birthday. I had already planned a road trip for my birthday, but couldn't go until the weekend of April 10th. I am going to have four days to drive up Pacific Coast Hwy from Los Angeles to San Francisco, which I hear is an absolutely beautiful drive. I am really looking forward to it all. Fortunate enough I was off on my birthday and so I decided to drive out to Santa Monica. I fell in love with Santa Monica the moment I came to live in California. There are a few areas there together, Venice is just a little further down Ocean Ave. and then there is also Marina Del Rey.
I had read some time ago that about this gentleman named Abbot Kinney who is considered the father of Venice, California. He had a dream of making the area "Venice of America", patterned after Venice, Italy along with canals, gondolas, a pier and ferris wheel.
I am not that happy with the photos that was taken that day and intend to go back at different times of day and night until I get the shots that I am happy with.

When do you fight, how do you fight?

There are so many injustices in this world until it is hard to know where to start. One would think that you would start in your own backyard, and I have a few issues there that I could definitely address and they would benefit many others as well. Then there are those injustices, like cut back in education that are taking place in California, that are just unthinkable. So where do you start? Yes you can take on a couple of things at a time, but then there is the time required and the research necessary to start to address these issues. Yes I could probably figure out where to start but where do I find the time to start.
Collectively, the average working person was able to override the political machine and elect a man to the highest office in this country, who was not the forerunner. This makes me believe that we can do anything together. We need to continue this fight because President Obama is not going to make this all happen alone, and he is not going to be able to do all through the Executive Office. As he has said many times, we need to get together and continue to fight, continue to make our voices and desires heard.
Today I was able to watch the town hall meeting that President Obama held in Costa Mesa, California, and behold, there was a teacher in the audience to ask the necessary questions in reference to the cutbacks in education. She has been teaching for over 20 years and received a pink slip last week. She also told of another teacher in the same district, an Urban district, who had received the Teacher of the Year Award and was also given a pink slip. Can anyone see the problem here. I was under the impression from watching the news last week when there were a number of teachers gathering with picket signs in various parts of Los Angeles that it was mostly the newer teachers that were receiving these pink slips, not that this is acceptable, but veteran teachers. This is something that just tells me that our education system is just business as usual. The business of getting rid of the teachers that are making the higher salaries and hiring newer teachers at a much lower rate. I do believe that our education systems need fresh ideas and change, but the the teacher of the year. She is obviously doing something right. President Obama stated that most of the money in the stimulus package was for retaining teachers, as well as upgrading the infrastructure, but most was for retention. This particular teacher that addressed President Obama also expressed that the average number of students in a classroom was 36 to 44 students. It is impossible for one teacher to teach that many students when the students have various skill levels. There needs to be a major overhaul of the education system because it is obviously not working and has not worked for at least 25 or more years. This needs immediate attention just like the economy and the health care system in this country.

Now where and when do we start to make enough noise about our education system, how it is effecting our future and our present. How we are presenting another generation of people that are not going to be equipped to run this country, keeps it's promises, and propel it into the next century.

The Not Perfect but Wonderful Barack Obama and Family

President Obama is to me more than an extraordinary man, I am still sittiing around with my mouth open in awe of what I see in him, in his wife Michelle, and even their two beautiful daughters. They are what an American Family should be. This couple have genuine love, admiration, adoration, and mutual respect for each other. They are just a pleasure to watch together and equally as inspiring when they are going about their individual tasks. They are determined to make the White House the peoples house and in only 6 weeks in, they are doing just that. They are inviting the ordinary man into their home, especially children, to see what their lives are like, as oppose to just reading about it. President Obama is also doing everything he can to keep the American public aware of what he is doing in his administration.
Of course there are many critics and many that will pick apart the President and his administration. That is to be expected because the more he reveal of himself the more these critics are going to attack him. I know that I will not agree with everything that he does or attempts to do as President, but watching this man at work and his comfort level in this position makes me believe that he was born to fill these shoes.
I am obviously a supporter and a fan, and hoping the day will come when I can return to the ground from my elevated state and close my mouth from being awe struck by what is taking place in my lifetime. The excitement continues.