Cars as Weapons and Worrying About Bike Safety

Maybe it's my age, or maybe it's because I've been getting rear-ended more than I like, but I am increasingly hating driving.

It was only yesterday about say 15 or 16 years ago that I could not wait to get behind the wheel.  Now, it's just draining.

Yesterday, I ran into an old high school classmate in Marina Del Rey who also expressed his hatred for driving LA's freeways.  Though he was wearing a plain LA shirt, he expressed his own desire to move to Colorado or elsewhere.

Traffic can get that bad, and THAT draining.

Yesterday, there were two separate car incidents in two different parts of LA County that strike close to places that I travel through fairly often on bike:  1)  a car crash in Wilmington three blocks from Banning High School on Pacific Coast Highway, and 2) a Suge Knight hit and run in Compton on Central and Rosecrans Avenue at the South LA-ubiquitous burger chain Tam's Burgers.

These incidents underscore a basic fact:  the car can be a very dangerous weapon.  Each of these incidents killed people.

In the first incident, the driver of the car lost control of a car and ended up driving on the wrong side of the road.  They smashed into a rideshare van, which unharmed the van, but instead killed two people driving that car.  According to one of my friends who knew them, that car was souped up and the driver couldn't quite handle it.

In the second 'incident', after arguing on set for the biopic "Straight Outta Compton", Suge Knight followed some guys to the burger joint, ran them over and backed up.  One of the men suffered injuries and the other died.  Suge has been charged with murder.

This is why I'm always looking over my shoulder when I bike --- I just never know when someone is going to lose control of their car, or if someone in their rage is going to use his car to do something harmful.

* * *

Getting Worried about Bike Safety Here

Though Suge Knight's use of the car was probably intentionally directed at pedestrians, I was wondering about bike safety in the neighborhood in general.

Incidentally, I was headed towards Rosecrans and Central on 1/28 and managed to get some video.
 
I titled the video:  would you let your kids bike this? Or something to that effect.

Why would I title it that?

In less than a month, I'm going to be a dad.  Yep.  Crazy, crazy, crazy ish. 

However, I'm probably not the first ever to come up with an idea or with the sentiment to inspire more bike safety for the sake of their kids.  Apologies to whoever is on the front line and doing the dang deeds.

In the same way that I wondered how I could ensure bicycle safety for my little sister, and my mother, I've been wondering how I'm going to carry the baby while biking.

While Central Avenue in Compton has a bike lane, and I as a lone bicyclist feel somewhat safe, I really wouldn't like the idea of biking with a trailer.

But maybe that's just me being chicken.

* * *

Measuring Bike Safety:  Indicator "Species" Counts

I think part of the reason I would not feel safe is because there's really no protection for my baby and me if something were to happen.  I simply would not want to take any chances.

That in mind, I keep thinking about how our spaces cater to the most vulnerable people.  Most often I don't think they do.  "Vulnerable people" being the elderly, the handicapped, the very young, and women of all ages.

Another confession:  part of my job includes counting pedestrians and bicycles at intersections for engineering companies.  The way we count bikes is pretty basic;  we just count them the way we would count cars with our specific handheld machines. 

While I know that the bike advocacy organizations have been on top of counting every demographic on a bicycle during their own volunteer-run counts, in my field, the work with traffic engineering firms, we often we don't take note of whether they are on the sidewalk, and/or gender.

Why would noting gender be important?

Women simply don't want to be anywhere where they'll be catcalled, harassed, or simply taken advantage of.  It's something as an able-bodied man that I have the privilege of not knowing.

Just as has been posted that the presence of women in a public space indicates a place's safety, I think that line of thinking can be extended to bike infrastructure.  In a closed structure where biking is somewhat more protected, like a bike path, you will see a lot more women.  On any given street, however, if you see anyone, you'll likely see guys.  I think it's important to note just because it can help explain why some use a space, and why some don't.

On occasion, a client will ask us to make a differentiation of pedestrians and bicyclists, and a person counting will note whether they are adults or children, but that's the extent of our classification counts when it comes to bicyclists.

I think some helpful things to start counting:  women on bikes, women pedestrians, bikes with child trailers, bikes on sidewalks vs. bikes on streets, people on wheelchairs (motorized and manual), people on skateboards

In short, I'd hope that engineers in particular start calling for new ways to measure bike safety, and call my company on it so I can keep having a job. 

How Dangerous Is Compton - Can a Brotha (and a Motha) Get a Little Peace While Jogging?

Ignorance is bliss.

A hackneyed phrase that probably describes my way of getting by here. I really don't know anything,

I don't know who the gang members are, I don't know who the families are --- I feel reasonably OK.

But again, maybe that's all because I really don't know anyone here. I was even about to take and post videos of Christmas lights adorning the houses here. Some people really take pride in it, and you would think that we were in Torranc---well maybe Azusa. My wife and I have been getting by just fine, except yesterday, Christmas, when the action cut close.

The getting fine had been going on for a while now, probably about a good few weeks or months. It was even extending on the walk we took around the neighborhood where we were able to strike up a conversation with a guy and saw a few houses put up for sale during yesterday's Christmas morning.

The part where I stopped being fine was after our morning walk.

Me having developed an ear distinguishing between fireworks and gunshots and being a vigilant follower of the news, I heard about 5 gun shots. Then a car speeding off. It sounded a bit far away from me.

It's not the first time I've heard shots, maybe about the third.

Then I find out that the shooting and killing is in an area that covers my running route. It's really a heartening time given my co-worker's recent death, my school classmate's violent death in South LA near a Ralph's, and now the latest story near where I live. Not unexpected because hardy har har har, Compton, but it hits a little bit to know that tensions are still active at the same time that me, a person from a middle-class immigrant family completely unexposed to violence, is around as well.

I'm not scared because I think I would be an intended target but more so, because I would not want myself nor my wife nor anyone around me to be the victim of a stray bullet. It makes me think of how my next door neighbors, who speak no differently than other college-educated friends, have endured their entire 30+ years of life living here.

Previously, I know that I've blogged about being able to develop a jogging routine. I have been able to do roughly 2-3 times a week, though I've allowed work and schoolwork to interrupt any regularity in it. My jogging/running habits are nowhere near the level I would like because of not only my work but the limited amount of daylight in a day, especially during Winter. My wife generally does not want me running at night. I've seen people jogging around Greenleaf and other streets at night so jogging isn't a completely alien activity here. I occasionally see people at nearby Tragniew Park getting their jog on at twilight, but I honestly haven't been paying too much attention the past 6 months since Summer ended.

In my younger days living with my folks, I could run miles and miles. I had a routine of getting at least a mile or two in the morning. This was in Silver Lake and Panorama City. I've been wanting to re-hash that routine, which included lots of early morning and late night runs.

The most I've run in Compton at the 7 PM twilight is about 2 miles --- for reference, I used to run along Sunset Blvd from Silver Lake to West Hollywood for a distance of around 10 miles total.

Most importantly I really want my wife to be able to be active. But her biggest concern is safety. Safety. Safety. It sucks enough to be a woman in public space, but being in a city which is still considered a symbol of urban violence isn't helpful either. It's one thing for me to not care as much, but it's an entirely different thing. I want her to be able to go out by herself, but she would never do that here.

Hoping for that day when she could unconsciously start being active outside not because her personality changes but because the environment does. I'm not calling for gentrification or something to rip at demographics, but you do wonder why famous people from here and got famous out of talking about survival here probably don't want to actually live here whether it's Dr. Dre, the Williams Sisters, or even the "non-materialistic" Kendrick Lamar.

How Dangerous Is Compton? October 2014 Edition

Considering that what little my wife and I knew of Compton before moving here, it hasn't been the worst.  Our section at least has been fairly quiet, and everything other than the stealing of parts from my sister-in-law's car is more or less what we expected.

I have been here a year in Southwest Compton near Central and Alondra, which is mostly Latino, either immigrants or 2nd generation, and haven't experienced many (relatively) serious problems on my street.

On the surface level, if you were simply to drive around the neighborhood, I think outsiders or perhaps those adjusted to more comfortable living would be scared. The gang around here likes to tag up the blank walls here, but I don't see any rivals or any crosses on it which would indicate some kind of battle or struggle.  I wonder if the gang is just generational and more about tradition at this point.

No gangsters have gotten angry and threatened me, nor would I have known.  Unless they have tats, I can't really tell who is or isn't a gangster --- no one's really dressing up in super baggy clothes or walking around and intimidating people.  Not that I'm actively looking for those people.  I think I would approach these people the way a Phil Dunphy would.

It really is not the 1980s or 1990s anymore or at least my idea of what 1980s and the 1990s looked like with gangs in them, and I guess approaches change.

On occasion, I come home late at night.  The street, largely a residential single family house area, is pretty quiet.  This is something of a classist statement, but I can imagine that if it were apartments or a trailer park in the area where I'm forced to come face-to-face with residents in close quarters, my opinion might shift a bit.  One of my sister-in-laws and her husband and their small child live on the Eastern side of Compton near a Church's Chicken in an apartment complex.  They've survived and are on the brink of thriving.  However, the apartment complex they live in looks like a fortified maximum state prison with a white picket fence on steroids and definitely requiring a key to get inside.  Inside the complex however, it feels like as comfortable as any other apartment complex.

When on my street, you can usually extend common courtesy with adults passing by, usually, unless I bump into someone really intent on looking hard.  Even when I sprained my ankle on a run towards Gardena, one kid even went up to me and asked, "are you OK" to which I just quickly waved him off, even though I was now reduced to a painful hobble on a journey back to my house.

Most of the time during weekends, it's just parties with neighborhood kids and visitors, sometimes even multi-racial coalitions of kids just running around doing their kid things, which is a contrast to the last time NBC LA came around here.



If I could sum it up in a sentence, people pretty much just leave us the hell alone here, least in this part of Compton.

My wife and I are still relative outsiders.  I guess it is much easier when you don't know much of anyone that actually grew up here, other an occasional interaction with a neighbor.  Aside from my running or trips to Cal State Dominguez Hills we pretty much just shut ourselves in.

My car, a nondescript, largely unwashed 11-year old Toyota, hasn't been touched, though on one occasion, I did see one kid sitting on it like he owned it, which annoyed the living fuck out of me.  I wonder how things would change if I got a new car.  I do see new regular cars on the street on occasion and they appear to do fine.

However, my sister-in-law, who lived here for a few months with us, her 10-year old Honda that was as nondescript as my Toyota wasn't as lucky --- she had some parts stolen.  I felt terrible for her because it was an expensive part for her.  But she appears to be over it, has given up her car to her brother, and is now 400 miles away up North.

Tragniew Park near us isn't the worst park in the world.  A least it gets used.  We've been able to walk the dog on occasion during the PM hours when there are kids playing soccer and some kind of band practicing.

I will tell you that the only times I haven't felt as comfortable or secure in Compton have been when I was walking around Civic Center area. Even though the Sherriff's station is headquartered there, all I smell is desperation.

The desperation where you feel eyeballs on you.  Where some people might approach you, see an opportunity, and ask for change.  Sorry, homey, I ain't Barack.  I don't want to just bring it to you, work with me, and maybe we could do something.

Most things considered, least from our vantage point, there is some negative to see if you're looking for it, but if you just want to do your thing, then, ain't nothing stopping us from doing that.

Though, once I do commit to a project involving Compton, this might change.

Thoughts on Ethnography, Anthropology, and Living in Compton, September 2014

Bring up the city of Compton in any conversation here in America with people 40 years old and younger, and people will probably conjure up images of gangsters, drive-bys, basically ground level zero of "ghetto-ness," which is basically associated with somehow living a life that is seen to be "in deficit." 

I told an economically-more-successful childhood friend that I was living in Compton with my wife.   She probably thought it was a joke and said, "straight-up?"

Yup, I'm here.  

Been here, actually.

And I'm fine.  Mostly.

I did suffer a violent fall...on my ankle.  That was my own bad.

Though on the real, I haven't been really connected or connecting to many of the people actually in Compton. I've found that my wife and I tend to prefer doing business in Gardena, Carson, and every other city outside.  I've gotten too bourgeois, maybe?  I think it does save some mental energy sometimes honestly because the Food4Less on Rosecrans and Central and the Smart and Final on El Segundo and Central are always so damn busy.

But anyhow, I mentioned some Anthropology words:  Ethnography and Anthropology.  Let me define Anthropology and Ethnography in laymen's terms, and how they can be relevant to my situation now.

I've been somewhat out of touch with the latest literatures in Anthropology and Ethnography;  all I have is what informs my conception of it now.

Anthropology is the study of humankind which spans 4 major sub-fields:  socio-cultural (studying different cultures), linguistic (people studying the ways we use language), archaeology (digging for bones), and physical Anthropology (people studying primates, human evolution, forensics).  I am most interested in the first two sub-fields, which is roughly studying different "cultures" and different ways people use language.  

One of the defining research methods of Anthropology in my view is based heavily on the research method of Ethnography, which has largely defined socio-cultural Anthropology.  It's a tradition that spans roughly over 100 years with two distinct traditions in America and Europe, and typically involved people going far off to document the ways of strange, foreign peoples.  Nowadays, socio-cultural Anthropologists still do go out to document the ways of people that they or the milieus around them consider "strange" or "foreign."  

In keeping with that basic theme of studying what some people consider "strange" or foreign", I'm starting to feel an inner push to begin studying the city in which I live.  I think that the city of Compton, while a part of American culture, is viewed as a part of an American sub-culture and not really the dominant American "mainstream" culture.  It is the spatial symbol of not only black (and Latino) American life, but the worst of.  I'd like to shed more insight on the complexities of life here --- from the schools, the workings of city council.

There are some difficulties for sure in doing this kind of ethnography of the city.  I think of ethnographies of the past where I largely "imagine" the one person in a geographic region and simply finding some people and actually living with them.  I can't quite do that.  

I am thinking of how much harder it is to actually live here full-time with a growing family, not knowing anyone, but also wanting to make some kind of positive change here.  Sure, I live within the spatial boundaries of this place, deal with the physical infrastructures, see the same people on the street, but my network of relationships doesn't extend beyond my neighbors on each side of our tiny house.   I don't think I would be able to live at someone else's house given my commitments to my family and a lack of connection to another family, though UCLA's CELF center does give me ideas.  Additionally, there isn't an immediate escape from this place as most of what I value is here with me.  If I decide that I wanted to be proactive about something, people know where my family is.

At any rate, I don't think the obstacles are impossible, and think that there is a lot of Anthropological insight as well as potentially different framings (and therefore perceptions and understandings) of the city in which I live.

Compton vs. Malibu - Chronicling Compton - Friday, March 21, 2014

Continuing my quest to understand the "opportunityscape" in Compton.

But first, the bits and pieces of Compton:

• Workers at St. John's Hospital to be paid $15 living wage (CBS-LA)
• DNA Test helps solver 1991 murder of Compton teen Melissa Alcantar (CBS-LA)
• Compton given a "D" by LA Conservancy for efforts in Historic Preservations (KPCC)
• 24-year old man fatally killed after multiple gunshots on Graham Ave (CBS-LA)
• UCLA Student begins program at Carver, Willowbrook Middle, and King-Drew Magnet (UCLA)
• Rappers YG and Kendrick Lamar collaborate (Pretty Much Amazing)
• Rapper Fosta collaborates with 2Chainz (Allhiphop.com)
  

Compton vs. Malibu

Incidentally, both have been given 'D' grades for their respective efforts at historical preservation, as mentioned in the bits above.

I don't know the ins and outs of either of these cities like I do central LA.  A lot of what I do know about each is visual, but I'm learning rapidly.   Compton, because I live here.  Malibu, because I am currently working there and scoping out the entirety of its streets.

I find the juxtaposition somewhat interesting;  going from one of the worst-perceived towns in America to the town perceived as the idyllic and reserved for the ultra-successful.

Things that jump out at me:


In Malibu:

• The Roads:  Ample Hills.  Ample Winding roads.  Every street is a cul-de-sac.
• Biking:  It is still very dangerous to actually bike PCH;  rarely have I seen anyone but the recreational bicyclist on PCH and on sidestreets.  Getting up the many hills though seem like a professional rider's dream.
• Public Parks:  No real parks.  Ample Tennis courts, but probably if you're a resident;  I don't see the taco truck guys going up there.
• Starbucks:  I have been to two.  Always lively, steady stream of people, at least during the daytimes that I have been there.
• The Schools:  There is a marine school with lush fields for soccer, running, and anything
• The flow of the work day:  More people working on houses than actual residents
• In its public displays:  The environmentalism. 
• The homeless people are:  Usually around Civic Center Dr.  Wherever the 534 drops em.

It's also political office season there.  Lots of city council signs.

In Compton:

• The Roads:  Flat, flat, flat.  Streets are generally on a grid, except when they're not, like for instance trying to take a biking route to the Metro station on anything except Compton Blvd.  The roads are pretty damn bumpy, least in the Westside.  Distractingly bumpy as in, you're trying to ride smoothly, but you just end up having to deal with a rash of potholes, no matter what mode of transport you take.
• Biking:  There's an OK amount of bicycling;  not the greatest biking accomodations however
• Public Parks:  No one really at the parks unless there's some kind of party.  Tennis courts that require a permit.
• Starbucks:  The one on Artesia has been empty each time I've gone.  Closes very early.
  
• The Schools:  Who knows how the schools are?  But the schools have a a reputation probably just by virtue of being here.
• The flow of the day:  Generally quiet.  But occasionally someone will have a midday merienda with friends occupying the block.
• In its public displays:  The isolated strings of civil rights awareness in the black community
• The homeless people are:  Anywhere, usually.  But mostly at the Metro station...

When it was political office season here, there were also lots of signs.  That was for school board. 

Dissertations and Theses of Compton - Chronicling Compton - February 20, 2014

First, the Bits and Pieces of Compton

• Assemblyman Isadore Hall III says that our water reserves are low (CBS LA)
• County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announces program to help victims of sex trafficking debuting in Compton
• County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas posts a video about Willowbrook (Supervisor Website)
• Compton-raised muralist Richard Wyatt has murals mapped, none in Compton (Curbed LA)
• Suge Knight explains a fight he had at a pot shop, calls Kendrick Lamar, The Game, slaves (Allhiphiop.com) (Allhiphop.com)

Daily Life Review

It's been 6 months here in Compton.

No news is the best news.

I've continued running my route;  I can't believe how slow I still am.  I haven't biked so much in the last two weeks, so nothing to report about biking. 

As of late, my fiance and I have been focused on wedding planning.  When we've had free time, we've spent it with friends or with each other from outside the boundaries. 

Were in Gardena taking in the Asian bakeries, the boba, the pho, the Asian dollar store.  At least I have.  For groceries, we still alternate between the 99 Cents store, Food4Less, and Trader Joes.  As far as eating goes, I'm tempted to try a Tam's burgers one time though. 

We've gone to the church that is technically in West Rancho Dominguez Hills in the middle of black history month, which means FREE breakfast.

We've played tennis one time, though we went all the way to Gardena for a court.  Yes in the home of Venus and Serena Williams, we have to go out of the city bounds for a damn tennis court.  We could've gone to Tragniew Park for tennis, but plastered in front of the entrances is a sign saying "PERMIT REQUIRED."  I suddenly understand the comment made in Spanish from Google, "We want the tennis courts open!"

All in all, everything's been swimming along.

The Dissertations and Theses of Compton

As a budding researcher with many interests, many a time I've utilized the ProQuest Search Engine in search of dissertations/theses related to anything about Long Beach, Cambodians, gangs, etc. etc.   

This time I was in search of academic dissertations/theses in "compton, california."

Dissertations and theses?  Dissertations and theses because this is people's culminating work.  Unproven people's culminating work.  Unproven academic people's culminating work trying to make themselves "proven."

From that search I've received two types of dissertations/theses as far as I can tell:  1) Dissertations/theses about Compton or parts of Compton itself  2)  Dissertations/theses that take place in Compton.

I'm far more interested in the first category, however, I think the second category can catalyze interesting discussion as well.

Here's a sampling of the Dissertations/theses that take place in Compton, the second category:

• Canett-Bailes, Loretta M. A Quantitative/Qualitative Analysis of Student Achievement among Latino Immigrant Students with a General Education Diploma and United States-born Hispanic Students with a High School Diploma at Compton Community College in Los Angeles County, CA.  2004.
• Vega, William.  The educational problems of American-Samoan migrant students at Compton Community College.  1989.
• Cheanphun, Annie.  Autism's family: What it takes to raise and educate an autistic child.  2008.
• Alvarez, Enelinda.  Dropout prevention program for African American and Latino youth in Compton: A grant proposal project.  2010.
• Phillips, Marjerita.  Dancing in the spirit: A choreographic project for the students from Compton Community College and the Kollege for Kids Outreach Dance Program.  1997.
• Sammons, Laura Gordon.  Building shared vision: Lifelong learning in dance education.  1997.
• Arevalo, Edith.  A career development program for pregnant and parenting teenagers: A grant proposal.  2013.
• Castaneda, Mirella.  A school-based prevention and intervention program for pregnant and parenting teens: A grant proposal.  2011.
• Kiester, Jack A.  A resource field trip guidebook for the Robert F. Kennedy School, Compton, California.  1972.
• Lockhart, Shawnta.  Teenage pregnancy prevention through peer education: A grant proposal project.  2007.
• Ojinna, Leah N.  An after school program for students with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder: A grant proposal.  2008.
• Asobiereonwu, Chineye Staffod Shadrach.  Why is there so much absenteeism among elementary school Latino students?.  2003.
• Widener, Daniel.  Something else: Creative community and black liberation in postwar Los Angeles.  2003.
• Houston, Sharnee Deshawn.  Kinship care vs. traditional foster care: Perceptions of chemically dependent African American mothers.  1998.
• Davis, Bettye Ann.  Orff-Schulwerk: A new sociological approach in classrooms of the Compton City Schools Compton, California, 1966--1970.  1971.
• De Alba, Irene Torres.  Visitation enhancement program for parents seeking to reunify with their children: A grant writing project. 2011.  
• Flores, Glenda Marisol.  Latina teachers in Los Angeles: Navigating race/ethnic and class boundaries in multiracial schools.  2011.
• Baslee, Michael Melvin.  Perceptions of Black male teachers toward employee assistance program utilization.  2007. 
• Boykin, Marlene T.  Social services and case management for homeless women 50 plus: A grant proposal project.  2006. 
• Bermeo, Melissa Jeane.  Definitions and perceptions of child sexual abuse among African American and immigrant and non-immigrant Latina women. 2001.
• Williams, Erin Ricard.  Money Talk. 2008.
• Stahly, Darci.  Funding community-based foster youth substance abuse program (Project Safe): A grant proposal project. 2008. 
• Gutierrez, Griselda.  Enhancing family outcomes: The use of post-item decision-making reviews.  2011.
• Comminey, Monique K.  What is the African American communities' experience in the public Child Welfare System in the United States? A secondary data analysis of the NSCAW study.  2007. 
• Mendez-Aviles.  Awareness about bullying among foster children and learning how to respond to it: A grant proposal.  2013.
•       

A sampling of the Dissertations/theses about Compton or parts of Compton, the first category:

• Straus, Emily.   The Making of the American School Crisis:  Compton, CA, and the Death of the Suburban Dream.  2006. The most comprehensive history of Compton's home ownership and school district history.  Argues that residents of Compton should have kept an industrial tax base to prop up town revenues.  Uncovers how white folks in power worked to keep blacks out of schools and neighborhoods, the rapid flight of whites.  Notes West Compton as the area where blacks could initially buy houses.  
• Widaatalla, Ahmed Moahmmed.  Effect of Racial Change on the Tax Base of the City of Compton.  1970.  Ignore the use of "Negro" and in this dissertation you find an interesting history of Compton's demographic shift from the 1950s to the 1960s.  This study highlights a lot of the problems that existed back then still are present today.  Finds that with white flight came declining revenues in businesses and suggests that black small businesses can't compete with big chain retail stores.  Given that we are more connected today via internet infrastructures coughYelp.comcough, it makes me wonder if instead of the big chain stores that are sort of the center of town, we can make small business joints ala Bludsoe's, the new destination points. 
• Lozier, Francis Vladimir.  Black Male Students' Perceptions of Effective Teachers:  A Qualitative Study of Compton Middle Schools.  2013. Finds that students see effective teachers in the same way as principals.  Students note name explaining, humor, high expectations, fairness as traits of good teachers.  Author notes that teachers need to have cultural understanding of students. 
• Oceguda, Rosa M.  Community development project for the City of Compton.  2013.  Did not get a chance to read, but according to the abstract, it identifies resources for the homeless in Compton. 
• Dowell, Ron L.  Key Performance Indicators for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department in the City of Compton.  2005.   Discusses
• Curry, Keith Charles.  The DeAccreditation of Compton Community College:  an Interpretation through the Kubler-Ross Construct.  2011.  Great summary of history on Compton Community College.  Found that employees of the old Compton Community College experienced all of
  denial, anger, bargaining depression, and acceptance when the college closed. 
  
  
• Taylor, Eugene.   A Study of the Diversity of Home Ownership in Compton, CA. 2010.  Discusses the home ownership gap.
• An Exploratory Study: A Social Services Need Assessment: Black Elderly in Compton, California.
• Martin, Kathleen Luke.  State takeover of the Compton Unified School District (impact on curriculum, professionalism, and leadership styles)
• Porter, Aldabert Daloss.  The Image of Compton College as Perceived by the High School Seniors of the Local High Schools in Compton College District.  1971.
• Aumack, Gordon.  A Twenty Year Study of the Success after Transfer of Compton Junior College Students.  1953.

Ya Scared? Go to Church - Chronicling Compton - Thursday, Feb 5, 2014

 Yes, I'm supposed to update on Wednesday, yesterday but I was busy so today will have to do.

I didn't really do or find much "reportable" news, other than go to church and watch the Super Bowl.

Welcome to Black History Month.

Said the priest saying mass at St. Albert's on Sunday at 9 AM.

Having been to my share of Catholic churches with diverse demographics, I can't say I've ever quite seen anything like what I've been seeing in Compton.

But first, the Bits and Pieces: 

• In case you rocked yourself in your cave, Richard Sherman and his Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl, but he injured his ankle en route.  He still got criticized.  He responded.
• In honor of aforesaid Black History Month, Kaiser Permanente posted about its first black physician, who went to Compton College.
• Kokane calls out Ice Cube about the new NWA biopic.
• The AeroCop was tried out in Compton

An Outsider's Description of the Catholic Church in Compton

I haven't been much of a church person in my adult life. 

However, that all changed with my fiance, and I go regularly with her.  My beliefs are still my beliefs however, if you know me well enough.

We went/still go to her church in the South Bay, which is the antithesis to the Catholic church that I grew up in Los Feliz, a decidedly "modern" church. 

At her church in the South Bay, they speak Latin in some masses, highly formal, marble everything, highly ornate fixtures.  The people are dressed up as if everyone is getting ready for a job interview, though I do see a few people "straying" from the herd.

When we can't make it to her church, we opt for Compton's Catholic Church, and have been doing so for a few months either at 7:30 AM in the morning or 9:00 AM.  She has likened the experience of going there as similar to the experience of going to church in New Orleans 7th Ward district --- tons of black folk --- these people are usually NOT the face of Catholicism.

Ever since I was a kid, the face of Catholicism was either, usually white, Filipino, or Latino be it at my church/school or other churches around Glendale/Eagle Rock/Los Feliz.  Sure I saw black folk every once in a while, but there was never really a community of them.

Welp, that has officially changed.  Now I'm in a community of mostly black and Latino folk.

A few observations:

1)  SINGING.  All in caps.  SINGING.  This time with an exclamation point.  SINGING!

I hate to be writing the same damn script and stereotypes that has played out in our movies, TV shows, but the singing even in the dead of morning at 7:30AM is something else, even though it's usually just one little old lady is really really good.

9:00AM even better.  Like I feel I should be paying to see them in concert or something. This past week they brought in a choir, where almost each and every hymn had the congregation clapping.

It appears that whatever choir they bring in is rotating.  One week a parents' choir.  The next week some people that look like the choirs from black churches whenever they are shown in a movie.

One time they brought in a choir that sang "How Great Is Our God" --- a song I didn't really care a lot for, but they made that into a song that I actually stayed the entire mass for till they finished their last crescendo.

2)  The Sign of Peace is a time for A LOT of handshaking. 

The ushers will shake everyone's hand in the 7:30AM mass, and attempt their darndest in the fuller congregation at 9:00AM. 

With the fuller congregation at 9:00AM, all you hear for a good 3-5 minutes is exchanges of peace, and people throwing up peace signs to anyone who will look in their direction. 

Yeah, take that, gangsta ass image of Compton.

3)  The layfolk at the mics, control the flow of the mass, not the Priest.

They make announcements about anything, and dictate the etiquette during certain rituals by spelling out what it is they need to do.

One time, the leader of the parents' choir had his 3 or 4-year old son sing "Hosanna in the Highest", which is usually a "chant"

4)  A focus on racial and social justice? 

A handful of people for black History month were wearing traditional African garb.  A few were wearing t-shirts about knowing their roots.

For last Sunday's mass, the church's altar had been adorned with large banners of figures in African clothing with the words Umoja (unity) and Imani (faith) laid out vertically on the banners.

At my fiance's church, before the current Pope Francis, I felt there was a lot of political-speak that I'd never remember hearing at any church I'd attended.  Maybe I wasn't "awake" to notice, but that church made no effort to hide its conservative politics;  it's specialty was combating and protesting abortion clinics (if you must know where I stand, I stand where my AP US History Teacher stands, "I don't know because I'll never have to get one").

However, hearing the priest this Sunday speak, it sounded downright revolutionary.  He brought up a list of saints that are actually black.  He'd also brought up the history of segregation within the church, something that I feel would be ignored by the priests in that South Bay church.  All of this was justification for why they needed to celebrate and acknowledge black history at the church.

Meeting Auntie and her Neighborhood

Don't shit where you eat.

Nearing the end of mass, one of the parishioners mentioned that they were serving breakfast...FREE.

FREE is almost always the best price, specially for those of us who are non-monetarily endowed.

We go to the breakfast at the parish hall that doubles as a basketball court. A handful of tables, about 15-20, seating about 8. 

The food is covered in metal trays, but there is coffee and juice.  Coffee helpful on this gloomy Southern California chilly February Sunday.  There is also bake sale that we didn't have any cash for.

We do not know anyone in particular and don't know where to sit, so we happen across a table that is initially empty.  We claim it.  I notice that she's cold however, and offer to walk and get her some coffee.

The line for coffee takes about 5 minutes to get through, but I make it, and make my way back, to see that the table where she was sitting was now shared with an elder black woman, a middle aged black man, and some other middle aged-elder black woman.

The elder black woman calls out everyone she sees and knows.  Her name, I'd like to think of her as auntie-like, so I will refer to her as Auntie.

My fiance makes small talk with her in between her call-outs.  She talks about her good time at the casino in "Mission Vieja."  I hear her call someone out and asks him about his wife.  His wife has been sick.

Eventually after all Auntie's made her call-outs and a long line begins to form for breakfast, we get on to talking about our lives.  How were new to the parish.  How we came from that church in the South Bay. How I came from the valley.  How I'm still a student.

We learned about their lives as well.  How Auntie raised children in this neighborhood.  How they made it despite being so poor.  How they moved away except for one.  How when the middle-aged elder woman tried to moved to South LA, she had a string of bad luck --- Compton was really the place for her.  How Compton was really nice.  How all the problems were not because of the people within Compton, but from people who lived outside.  They didn't want to make a mess where they lived, so they would do their dirty in Compton.

A rousing 3 hours of conversation that I'm barely capturing the essence of.

My fiance and I would later bike back home, our food satiating.  A few hours later we would make our way out to Long Beach via the 91 freeway. 

On the way there on Central Ave., my fiance sees Auntie, out and about.

Richard Sherman Is Probably Smarter Than You - Chronicling Compton - January 22, 2014

Richard Sherman Is Probably Smarter Than You:  The Export Report

Well, by now, a lot of commentary has been laid upon Richard Sherman for an interview he gave immediately after having made the key play that took his team to the Super Bowl.

I'll be honest.  As a casual NFL fan whose loyalties are with Da Bears, and non-native of Compton, I didn't even know who he was during the game.

I'd vaguely recalled some guy with dreadlocks getting burned a few times by Kaepernick.  I'd thought that was Richard Sherman.   However I was informed by said best man, that he'd only been thrown to twice.

Turns out that Richard Sherman is actually one of the top cornerbacks/defensive players in the entire NFL.

And he hails from...


 
Dominguez High. 

He graduated #2 in his class with a 1400 (out of 1600) on his SATs, went to Stanford, yeah, that's more than a lot of people already.

Not that these accomplishments and stats are an end-all be-all for intelligence, but it doesn't seem like it'd be smart for anyone to box him in with one label, particularly a negative one.

Before the game started, it was all about the Quarterbacks, Colin Kaepernick vs. Russell Wilson.  Kaepernick looked great until that final interception. It seems like this will be the next big rivalry.

But after the game trolling the internet for rapid reaction to the game, expecting to see boo hooing 49er fans, I didn't find much except the video of Sherman.
 
The titles linking to the video were suggesting that this video was outrageous, hilarious, etc. etc.

I ignored these links initially, but then started seeing other people share it.

In the two question interview,  Sherman didn't appear to answer the question posed to him, but instead made a super-enthusiastic, bold statement to the wide receiver that he had been covering all game, Michael Crabtree.



He basically said that he was the best and that the wide receiver Michael Crabtree was "mediocre."

Reaction ensued, with some predictably making comments with racial overtones.  For instance, labelling him a "thug"  or "cuckoo", the same predictable labels assigned to black athletes.  I already knew what was coming in these posts.

The best piece of media re-buffing these labels?  Richard Sherman himself.

 "There was a hockey game where they didn't even play hockey, they just threw the puck aside and started fighting. I saw that, and said, 'Oh man, I'm the thug? What's going on here?'"

 I know some 'thugs,' and they know I'm the furthest thing from a thug. I've fought that my whole life, just coming from where I'm coming from. Just because you hear Compton, you hear Watts, you hear cities like that, you just think 'thug, he's a gangster, he's this, that, and the other,' and then you hear Stanford, and they're like, 'oh man, that doesn't even make sense, that's an oxymoron.'
"You fight it for so long, and to have it come back up and people start to use it again, it's frustrating."

I checked in with a conservative source, Michelle Malkin's Facebook page. She had over 5000 comments.

While there was a fair amount of labelling and prejudice-throwing based on that short interview, which (sadly) I've come to expect, I was sort of impressed at how there was some semblance of nuance in some peoples' answers, with some people actually defending him.

It's anecdotal, but I do follow that page every so often on key issues.  There is very very little room for anyone to defend Obama.  Anyone who defends on Obama policy on that page is hastily shouted down.  However, there was considerably more positive, even nuanced reaction for Richard Sherman.  People even seemed rational!

Reminds me of a quote by some French philosopher about how there is an intelligence people have reserved for sports that doesn't show a lot in other domains.

Here's a few of the better pieces about Mr. Sherman:

• Richard Sherman to High Schoolers (Business Insider)
• What Richard Sherman Taught Us About America (Huffington Post)
• Richard Sherman and the Thug Athlete Narrative (Grantland)

I look forward to a Super Bowl where he hopefully overcomes NFL marketing golden boy Peyton Manning, incidentally of New Orleans.

Compton in Pop Culture 

Thinking about the Richard Sherman narrative, and how Compton is used as a synonym for hardship and struggle, it's always interesting how Compton is portrayed in various mediums in pop culture.

Unless they're talking about our new mayor, there isn't much positive yet.


There's a somewhat funny article about moving out of Southern California from a former Southern Californian:  20 Things Nobody Tells You About Moving Out of Southern California.

Check out slide #6.
Our beloved town is commented on:

To you, Compton is just a place off the 105 freeway that used to have a high murder rate but is actually pretty chill now.

To the rest of the country, Compton is like Somalia. Even the word "Compton" is used as a synonym for Murdertown USA. Tell someone you grew up in Southern California, they immediately want to know if you've been to Compton. When you tell them you have, they immediately think you're a Special Forces level badass.

In the News

• Family getting sick by carbon monoxide on Tamarind St (CBS)
• No one injured in Deputy-involved shooting on Magnolia and Acacia (CBS)
• Serena Williams actually lost, and a fellow player apparently cheered it on (LA Times)
• Former UCLAer, current Orlando Magic guard, Arron Afflalo and Richland Farms (Orlando Sentinel)   

Real-Life Dwightmare - Dwight Ave and Compton Blvd:  The Bike Report

There was a death on this very intersection about a week ago, as reported by Bikinginla.

A white man in his 50s who is identified as "Don Pete" was riding his bike very early before 5AM on a Wednesday morning.

The details as to what exactly happened are unclear.

A white bike has gone up on the Northwest corner of Compton Blvd and Dwight Ave in memoriam of Pete.

On the Southeast corner of Compton Blvd and Dwight Ave, another white bike has been a fixture for almost 4 years.

On February 15, 2010, in the broad daylight of a Monday morning at 8AM, a Ford utility van took out 40-year old Ovidio Morales, a father of five.

According to Bikinginla, the driver blew through a red light on a right turn from Dwight to Compton, and hit Morales, dragging him beneath the car.

The driver checked on him briefly, then fled the scene.

Eyewitnesses say that the driver was on a cell phone.

Despite the surveillance video footage, the case has remained unsolved.



So what's up with Dwight and Compton Blvd?


View Larger Map

As someone who regularly uses Compton Blvd. and crosses this very intersection quite regularly, usually to get to the Blue Line (and one time, the Compton Creek), I hate this fucking street.

There are two lanes, the right lane is narrow.  The speed limit is 35.







I definitely didn't feel safe on Compton Blvd in general at current conditions even before knowing of these two deaths.  I definitely would not allow my non-bike-commuting fiance to bike on anything other than the sidewalk.  I feel even worse knowing about these tragedies.

Drivers appear to have caused their respective tragedies due to neglect while at this particular intersection.

There doesn't seem to be anything especially dangerous in the environment other than scant lighting in the 5AM darkness that took away Don Pete.  I'm not sure what the excuse was for the Ovidio's killer.

It's these deaths and the fecklessness with which they seem to be treated that make me believe that when it comes to biking, physical environmental change is much more important and critical than simply "education" or an attitudinal shift and bike awareness for drivers --- the only way they get that is by riding a bike themselves on the street.

Neighbors Who Care

I didn't want to end on a negative note, well mostly not negative, unless you're part of Government public works or whoever the hell picks up our trash.

We took down our Christmas tree right on the morning of Wednesday, January 8th.  I de-ornamentized the tree, swept up everything, and plopped the Christmas tree right next to our garbage cans so that the garbageman could pick them up, the next day, Thursday, the trash day.

I'd been planning to cut it up and dump in in the green trash can, the plant refuse can, but then I read on an LA County website that I would be able to leave a Christmas tree there.  See Below.





I didn't see anywhere where Compton had any special instructions.

Of course when Thursday came, nobody actually picked it up.  It remained sitting in the sidewalk for a few days.

By the next Tuesday it had been kicked aside and was lying down, as if some kids had just fooled around with it.  I mean, yes it was trash, but still that was our tree.

It looked so hopeless.

I was working and too lazy to retrieve it till the time came, which in retrospect is no excuse at all.  However, I wouldn't have been given the chance to write this bit.

Before I left for work on Thursday morning during the next trash day, I had to roll out the trash cans.  I rolled our cans out and looked for our tree, only to find it stuffed in our neighbors' green trash can.

I wasn't sure how, why, and/or when but they took care of it.