2014 Youth Justice Coalition FREE LA High School Graduation

transcript

1. OUT OF L.A. CAME THE BUILDERS OF SCHOOL DE-FUNDING AND MASS INCARCERATION

U.S. POLICIES THAT COME OUT OF L.A.:Nixon’s Law and Order backlash after 60s movements leads to mass incarceration of poor people and people of color. The prison population increases 300% in 20 years. Cali and L.A. lead the world in incarceration and harsh sentencing, including creation of JLWOP, Three Strikes, Prop 21 and Prop 9 - all are written and financed from L.A.. Reaganomics including anti-tax movement and Prop 13., the “war on drugs” and war on welfare, and mental health de-institutionalization without community services, all lead to massive increase in homelessness. L.A. creates “planned Skid Row” to force homeless into downtown isolation. U.S. fuels wars against rebellions in Central America. In the 1980s, LAPD and Sheriffs work with U.S. military to teach counter-guerilla tactics, interrogation and torture against civilians. In the 90s and 00s, they return to teach gang suppression when people are deported - (the greatest number from L.A.) Chief Parker introduces military-style policing and brings National Guard into Watts in ‘65. Gates takes militarization further by creating SWAT and CRASH (first gang units).’92 Uprising once again reflects L.A.’s anger over entrenched police brutality. Gates also created DARE.2007 - Jordan Downs is first community in the U.S. to get GPS surveillance system. L.A. , Riverside first to use GPS monitoring to track people with gang convictions returning home from prison.

2. L.A. CREATED THE US “WAR ON GANGS”

1848 California and the Southwest is annexed into U.S. through illegal war against Mexico. The Thirteenth Amendment to Constitution outlaws slavery except “as a punishment for crime.” So-called “Indian Wars” force remaining sovereign nations onto reservations.

L.A. : Is the only region west of Texas to side with the Confederacy. Gains reputation as nation’s most violent city with one murder per day by 1870. The homicide rate between 1847 and 1870 averaged 158 per 100,000, which was 10 to 20 times the annual murder rates for New York City during the same period. If we had the same homicide rate today, we’d have 600,000 murders a year. French send troops to protect their citizens.By 1871, half of businesses are gambling halls, saloons or houses of prostitution, most with political or law enforcement ownership or involvement. Corruption is the norm in L.A.’s police force until the Parker administration of the 1960s. The Marshall’s Office is funded by enslavement of indigenous population.L.A.’s first jail is established (chain and a log.)

L.A.’S WAR ON GANGS STARTS IN 1848:

L.A. has the highest lynching rate of any region in the country. the victims are largely Californios - now seen since the war as Mexicans struggling to reclaim land and livestock taken through the war. First use of gang profiling – “bandido/bandit” – to criminalize groups. Los Angeles had several active Vigilance Committees during that era. Between 1850 and 1870, mobs carried out approximately 35 lynchings of Mexicans—more than four times the number that occurred in San Francisco. Los Angeles was described as "undoubtedly thetoughest town of the entire nation.

1871 – Chinese Massacre is L.A.’s first of many “riots,” all of which are led by law enforcement or happen in response to police brutality. A shootout between Tong factions leads to the death of a popular white chicken rancher. A mob of 200-500 Whites and Latinos led by local government and law enforcement leads to the lynching of 19 Chinese men and the burning down of Chinatown. Vigilante mobs and state sanctioned murder typifies L.A.’s “justice” system throughout 1800s and early 1900s.

1881 - The L.A. Times is founded by Otis Harrison, and both he and the paper are a leading voice in L.A..’s power structure which establishes L.A. as nearly all-white and union free by 1900.

YOUTH SEEN AS

PREDATORS

1980s - 1990s

Los Angeles County built the nation’s first comprehensive gang suppression policies:

[1] Gang injunctions - first in 1983, the ability to lock down a neighborhood and arrest people if they are on the street with another alleged gang member, out past a curfew, or carrying a cell phone.

[2] Gang databases in 1987 - computerized lists that label people as “gang members” without their knowledge, without any chance to appeal, and without a clear way to get off. (3) The statewide STEP Act in 1988 that provided the nation’s first law targeting street gangs, first gang definition, first language referring to gang members as “terrorists,” first gang enhancements in court, and took database statewide [Cal Gangs Database].

[4] In 1985, L.A. established CLEAR I[Community Law Enforcement and Recovery].

3. CONSTRUCTION OF THE SCHOOL-TO-JAIL TRACK

PRESIDENT REAGAN APPOINTS WILLIAM

BENNET AS U.S. SECRETARY OF

EDUCATION.

Zero Tolerance

policies include requirements for suspension, expulsion and

arrests; the takeover of school discipline by police

departments; and relationships in schools replaced by metal

detectors, locker searches, drug-sniffing dogs, and security

gates.

1. Police Departments take over school security

2. More Probation Officers than Counselors

3. Schools look and run like prisons; some have the same architects

4. Searches, metal detectors, gang profiling

5. Leads to massive push-out and arrest

The largest numbers of youth contacts with the police and Probation are for: (1) Tickets that can turn into arrest warrants or holds on Drivers’ licenses when families can’t afford to pay them. The #1 “crime” fare evasion - riding train or bus without paying.(2) Curfew Violations(3) Routine stop and frisks, gang database adds on the street.(4) Graffiti related tickets and arrests including minor acts such as posting slap tags, tiny throw ups, carrying a marker, or having a graffiti-covered back pack,(5) Small possession of weed or alcohol for individual use.(6) Minor Probation violations - such as missing school or arguing with family - can get youth lock-down placement or camp time.

4. L.A. FED CALIFORNIA’S AND THE NATION’S ADDICTION TO INCARCERATION

IN THE EARLY 80s, CALIFORNIA STARTS TO RAPIDLY EXPAND THE BUILDING OF PRISONS AND CUT THE BUDGET TO EVERYTHING ELSE. AT THE TIME, WE ALREADY HAD 12 PRISONS.

DURING THE SAME TIME, CALIFORNIA BUILDS ONE UC AND TWO CAL STATE UNIVERSITIES.

Intervention Savings: Each Murder Costs $1 Million to Investigate and 17 Million More in Jail, Court and Incarceration costs. With drastic decreases in homicide, shouldn’t the saved money be reinvestment in our schools and communities?

of L.A.’s Courts, Police, Sheriffs’ District Attorney’s, Probation’s and City Attorney’s Budgets would pay for: 500 full-time gang intervention workers; 50 youth centers open from 3pm - midnight, 365 days a year; and 25,000 youth jobs!

We were here...

47 young people connected to the YJC were killed (between August 2009 and June 2014) - victims of street or police violence. Five youth were killed in the spring of 2014 alone.

SOME OF THE PEOPLE KILLED FROM AUGUST 2009 AND JUNE 2014

Ivon Bryant, killed by a hit and run driver as he crossed the street on Centinela a few blocks from Chuco’s.

Brandy Brown’s brother, Fenton Brown Jr. -- known to his friends as “Man” -- was shot and killed. He was 19.

Michael Moore, 20, was shot several times while talking to a friend outside his home on Chester Avenue in Inglewood.

Edwin Joseph Cobbin, 17, was killed in Hawthorne on Cordary and 134th on June 8, 2009. He was shot three times. His friends, including Damien Parker, heard the shots and saw their friend die. Edwin was Damien’s “homeboy and a best friend” since elementary school.

Jeremy Burrell was shot and killed on Victoria a few blocks north of Chuco’s. He was on track to graduate from FREE L.A. High School. His son was born a few months later.

Joshua Jackson killed himself after being bullied at his school and online.

Christopher Moreland, shot and killed a few blocks from his mother’s house in Inglewood.

Dante Willis, shot and killed in front of his uncle’s house just a few blocks west of Chuco’s on May 8, 2010.

Veronica Martinez’ cousin Alex “Dopey” Guzman was shot and killed in front of his house on 118th and Main in South Central on April 1, 2010. Had the ambulance not taken so long to arrive, he might have survived.

On April 15, 2010, Tina Sanchez was found shot in the face and wrapped in a sleeping bag on Crenshaw Blvd. and 73rd Street a few blocks from Chuco’s. She was known as a kind neighbor to the youth.

On July 18th, 2010, Javier Sanchez, 15 was shot and killed walking home from a party just a few blocks from his home directly behind Chuco’s. Hearing the shots, his friends ran and found him bleeding to death on the sidewalk. He was a childhood friend to several youth at the YJC.

Luis De Paz, 20 was shot and killed in front of his home on 71st Street and Victoria on July 20th, 2010. He was a friend and brother to many youth at the YJC.

D-Money, Semaj, Digums and Lil’ Kidd2 were all killed in the blocks across the street from Chuco’s.

“From all those who have fallen and gotten our wings, it’s so great that all of you are graduating, because so many of us didn’t make it. You are facing a lot of obstacles. Take this accomplishment as the gateway to the rest of your life. Don’t ever take life for granted.”

On August 14th, 2010, Rene Guardado, 21 was leaving a party with two of today’s graduates - Luis Falcon and Sergio Hill on 66th Street near Crenshaw. A car rolled up, banged on them and shot. Rene died on the sidewalk a few steps away from his cousin’s house.

Montae “M-Bone” Talbert, 22, was shot and killed on May 15, 2011 in Inglewood. He was known by many in the YJC. Cali Swag District shot his tribute video at Chuco’s.

Corey Wiley, 23, was shot Sunday, July 31, on Doty Avenue in Hawthorne.

Sylvester Tellez, 28, was a founder of the YJC. He was in the morgue for two weeks before his family found him. He used hard drugs for more than 18 years in CYA - the state’s youth prison system, inside state prisons and jails, and the

streets of L.A. before overdosing.

YJC student Lynnard Baker, 17 was shot and killed in Baldwin Hills. His organs saved four people.

Jeshai Jones, a student at the YJC, and two of her sisters were killed in a car accident in

South Central L.A. All together, they left behind five children.

YJC student Cris Carter, 17, was shot and killed on Century and Van Ness. His organs saved five people.

Former YJC student, Jackie Castillo, 20, was hit and killed by the Metro Blue Line in Watts -

the nation’s most deadly train line.

Luis Reynoso - a YJC student - lost his brother, Jesse Reynoso, who shot and killed himself

in South Central L.A. in front of his girlfriend on March 21, 2014 at the age of 18.

Ivan Santos was a childhood friend to two YJC students. On March 25, 2014 at the age of 20, he was shot and killed near Hyde Park and La Brea in Inglewood.

Joey Camargo - a 2014 graduate of the YJC’s FREE LA High School - lost his brother, Samuel Guzman, 20, who was shot and killed on April 8, 2014, on 107th Street and San

Pedro in South Central LA.

Ana Ortiz, 19 - a student at the YJC’s FREE LA High School - was shot and killed on the street outside her aunt’s and uncle’s home on Brynhurst near 63rd Street in

South Central L.A. on April 30, 2014

Ronnie Dunmore - a student at the YJC’s FREE LA High School - lost his cousin, Ti’Juan Folks, who was shot and killed on June 2, 2014, on 98th Street near Broadway in South

Central LA.

Several young people were killed by the police. More than 300 people have been killed by the police in L.A. County since 2007. Several police departments

inL.A. lead the nation in police shootings.

A Sheriff killed Woodrow Player on Imperial Highway. He was shot in the back while running away. He was unarmed.

An Inglewood Policeman killed Marcus Smith as he walked down the stairs from a party. He was unarmed. The federal government is investigating Inglewood P.D.,

because they lead the nation in the killing of civilians.

Marcus Smith’s Nephew

The Sheriffs killed Darrick Collins at his home. They claimed that they saw Darrick go for a gun in his waistband. But the investigation revealed that the officer shot him through a

wooden gate over 6’ high, that the officer had no ability to see Darrick, and that Darrick was unarmed.

Oscar Grant was shot in the back by Bay Area Transit Police while laying face down, handcuffed on a train platform. The BART police officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and spent 4 months in jail + Probation. The officer claimed he was reaching for his taser when he “accidentally” shot Oscar. Oscar’s family and the Coalition in Support of Oscar Grant both made Chuco’s their base of operation for the trial.

On October 7, 2010, James Davis III, 18, was was shot in the back and killed by LAPD officers

in Imperial Courts housing development in Watts. He was a childhood friend of many at the YJC.

On October 10, 2010, Johnathan Cuevas was shot and killed by the L.A. County Sheriffs. He was also a childhood friend of many at the YJC. He was unarmed.

On Thursday, June 27, 2013 De’Angelo Lopez, 22, was shot and killed by Los Angeles County

Deputy Sheriffs in Compton. He was the father of a four-year-old son.

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Andrea Barrios

Marlene Canales

Joey Camargo

Stephanie Campos

Maria Cortes

Jonathan Estala

Aldo Gomez

Gloria Gonzalez

Teodora Granados

Shawana Hannah

Dulce Hernandez

Shelicia Hill

Josue Juarez

Kevin Lazcano

Marquiesha Lofton

Marco Lupian

Emilia Martinez

Michael Martinez

Ana Ortiz

Heidy Pimentel

Gisgle Romo

Larie Russ

Caleb Salazar

Oscar Salinas

Andrea Velasco

2014 Youth Justice Coalition FREE LA High School Graduation

Education