Camp David Gonzalez 4.5.11
Camp David Gonzalez is a juvenile detention facility in Malibu, CA. The majority of the young men are incarcerated for 3-9 months and attend "high school" with little to no instruction (according to the young men) and no follow up with them to see if they actually re-enter or continue education once they are released from this detention facility. The young men are predominately African American and Latino between the ages 16-18; mainly coming from the areas of East LA, South Central, and Watts.
I went in not knowing exactly what to expect because even though i have done this many times, i know that there is no telling how people are feeling, what has happened in their lives recently, or what has recently taken place at the detention center. All i know is that I have an opportunity to engage with a group of young men and hopefully i will say something meaningful to at least one of them.
I went in with a workshop prepared to start up a discussion, as i had been told before by my good friend Jasmine, this is a class the young men take to write and record poetry and music. their energy level was fairly high so i opened up with a favorite piece of mine to get the session started, then they answered back with 3 pieces, each from different young men, that made the workshop i was going to do more so irrelevant.
Seeing myself and in many of them and hearing the same questions i was asking the world 6 and 7 years ago sent me into a fast paced nostalgic moment while never loosing footing as they seemed to be shooting questions and problem posing to me to test my character and measure my humility and hopefully get their questions answered as easily as they can when you ask questions growin up round the neighborhood - short simply easy answers to complex perplexing questions that satisfy you because the answers align more with what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear.
From the Bay back to LA and i just always hear the voices echoing from discussions i have led, watched and participated. If you close your eyes you can always see the protective barrier that is placed up by words, by silence, by stares, by questions, by anger, by etc; to say, no one will ever understand me and no one can get through to me which really translates to - do you have the answers for me? No - the correct translation is to see if you have the heart to see past and get past all the obstacles i place in between me and freedom because the journey that lies ahead sounds to difficult and different for me to without knowing someone will be there if i need. - i remember that feeling. I remember that fear...i remember that doubt...
the words i heard and the way in which they were articulated and spewed out throughout the room as if the air was a canvas for them to paint vivid depictions of their reality on left me disappointed that i couldn't share their words with the world (yet) and that this is what our system has done with these geniuses, shame on us. I had to hold back every emotion as i shared their frustration in looking for answers in how to break the cycles in which many of us are trapped, and holding it all back so at the very least if they dont believe that there is a way that they may believe that Sikander believes there is a way, when ironically that belief in me comes from their existence and their thirst for knowledge and freedom, they may not say it but i know its their because they were their and they were listening.
Its not as complicated as we many it
If you do not believe then you do not achieve
If we want their long term commitment we must give them ours
its difficult and it sucks
