Little Gangster (Part 4)

His name was Carlos but his homies called him "Cuate." He loved the gang. He believed in the gang. There were 20 of them between the ages of 14 and 19. They were known. They were tough. One day Cuate and three of his homies were walking to a 7-11 store near Cuate's house. Five dudes from another part of the county were cruising the area to see what they could see. Cuate and his friends were not quite prepared for what was to happen next. The dudes in the car started yelling and flipping off Cuate's group. Cuate flashed his gang sign and yelled for them to stop. Unfortunately for Cuate, they did stop and they got out of their car. The driver of the car stayed in the car. The other four ran toward Cuate and Cuate felt brave because he had the "backup" of his homies. At least that is what he thought. Cuate's homies ran and hid behind a long hedge at a house nearby. Cuate did not look behind him. He faced his attackers and just started throwing blows. There were no weapons involved. The invaders knocked him to the ground. They beat him. They kicked him. Cuate lost two teeth. He suffered a broken eardrum, two swollen eyes, a bloodied mouth and nose. He had a head injury. He had been kicked repeatedly. All of this lasted about 80 seconds. The attackers quickly left. Cuate's "friends" watched the whole thing from behind the safety of the hedge. Cuate was lying on the sidewalk groaning. He couldn't get up. When the attackers were out of sight, Cuate's "friends" ran up to him and exclaimed: "Man, who did this? We're gonna get em."

Little Gangster (Part 3)

"What they did to me really got to me. How can I forget it. We had been cruising around, smoking weed and drinking a few beers. We stopped at the park. There were four of us. I was leaning against a tree, just listening to some tunes. All of a sudden somebody started shooting at us. One bullet hit the tree I was leaning against. We ran toward a dumpster. All four of us had our guns. We all shot back........I thought. I got shot in the eye. I started yelling for my homies. All of them had left me. I was all alone. The other gang had left. When the police came, I didn't answer any of their questions. The paramedics came. I went to the hospital. I didn't tell them who was with me. I was arrested. I went from the hospital to jail, to court, back to jail, back to court and then to prison. I have one eye and no friends. I'm in prison right now. So far nobody has visited me. Nobody has put any money into my account. What they did to me really got to me. Not the other dudes..........my homies.........what they did to me."

Little Gangster (Part 2)

He was 13 years old. He was 4 ft. 10 in. tall and weighed 95 pounds. He was in the 7th. grade. He thought he was bad. He showed contempt. He had a sneer. He was an angry young man who did not know his dad. In school; he enjoyed cussing at teachers. He liked to kick classroom doors and run. He got suspended several times for fighting and for defying teachers. One day he was in the street being defiant. He forgot he was not talking to a teacher; he used the "f " word freely. He was disrespecting a cop. He quickly found himself lying flat on the sidewalk with a police officer's shoe stepping hard on the back of his head. He realized that a cop and a teacher do not share the same functions.

Little Gangster (Pt.1)

He was a handsome 14 year old boy. He called himself "Piloto." He thought he was a man. He was not a man. He was a teen-ager looking for recognition. He was a teen-ager looking for something he thought he deserved. He was a teenager looking for glory. He was a teen-ager looking for girls. Although he had never been in a fight, he thought he was tough. He joined a gang; he got "jumped in." He almost backed out after that experience. He was not a fighter. He wanted the recognition for being tough. He was confronted with his first "test." One friday he was at a neighborhood store with some of his "homies." A rival gang showed up. They wasted no time. Piloto got his nose punched and bloodied. Piloto ran so fast, he nearly knocked one of his homies down. He ran all the way home. He stopped for nothing. When he got home, he locked all of the doors and called the school he attended. He told the secretary in a scared but demanding tone: "Hey, I just got jumped, and I don't want to go to this school anymore." By the following monday he was enrolled in another school. He moved in with a relative in a neighboring community. He got interested in surfing. He changed the way he talked. He refused to be called "Piloto." He enjoyed wearing shorts and flip flops. He forgot about being a gangster.

Diverse, Noisy, and Opinionated

Rick Warren is a Christian pastor. He has been selected to give the invocation at Barak Obama's Presidential Inauguration. This is good news. It is politically wise, and it is good news for the country. Rick Warren is not a perfect human being. Nevertheless, he is not a drunk, drug addict, embezzler, thief, womanizer, nor does he conduct himself in a way reflecting a host of perverted and/or immoral acts. If he ever did; the media would not be denied a field day and celebration. Speaking of celebration; I celebrate the fact that Warren was the man selected. He truly believes it is wrong to hate another human being. He believes in a value system taught by the inspired Word of God. I know some disagree with him. Recently, he told a crowd of 500 that it is unrealistic to expect everyone to agree on everything all the time. I'm sure most of us agree with that statement. "You don't have to see eye to eye to walk hand in hand." Obama defended his choice last week, by saying: "During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America is about. That's part of the magic of this country........We are diverse and noisy and opinionated." I agree.

Congratulations, Angie!

Angie; you have come a long way. You have no idea how proud your mom and I are of you. Or how grateful we are for you. You have worked hard. You have studied hard. You have paid some dues. In late July, you took the California State Bar Exam. During late November you were notified that you passed it. On December 4, 2008 you were sworn in as an attorney in the State of California. What a girl! What an intelligent, beautiful girl! The beauty of all of this is that you realize that you could not have done it without the help of the Lord. I love you Angie!Do you remember Your first grade teacher: Mrs. Long? In first grade you wrote an awesome paper describing a snowball fight. Mrs. Long's comment was: "Oh how fun!" That was some of your best work. A classic. Like I said: you have come a long way. The best is yet to come! You go girl!

Christmas Time

About a year ago I published a blog entry declaring that the Christmas season is my favorite time of the year. This has not changed. I am already enjoying the current Christmas Season in spite of the pressures and the demands. It makes no difference. This year will be the best Christmas ever. I plan to dress up as Santa Claus this year. One of my goals is to experience a White Christmas. I guess I will need to leave town in order for that to happen. I have never been far from home during Christmas. Have I spent Thanksgiving away from family? Yes, several times (years ago). I was even offered one thousand bucks to participate in an experiment at UCLA. I would have done it , but it was during the Christmas holidays. No way. Why all of the joy? Because of Jesus. He is the reason for the season.