I got a Blogger app on my phone and it's very convenient! You will all definitely be seeing more posts on this blog. Fuck trendy ass Tumblr.
Much love,
Oscar
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Occupy LA (But let's hold on race and other oppressive institutions) RANT
Hey everyone!
It's been months and possibly longer. I excuse my absence with my response to the greater "movement" of occupations within the US. The anger is obviously clear and the occuption which originated in New York with Occupy Wall St has spread rapidly. The first occupation paved the way to many others and I specifically want to focus on Los Angeles considering I live here so it's only reasonable. This occupation is significantly important for broader platforms of organizing. Although it feels that a "revolution" is stirring up; I have a tremendous amount of critique. Although it is understood that the people are doing this for the benefit of a broader movement the issues being addressed are not on the table.
Occupy LA (like every other occupations) is primarily white, I want to say Heterosexual and middle class. The amount of privilege at this type of level is tremendous! And I mean tremendous! The idea of an occupation instantly makes me think of Crimethinc-ing ideals. These ideas of "quit your job! and start a revolution!" or vise versa with school. Now, it's very important to think of this idea of occupying on the long term. Many of the people currently occupying are unemployed and never really had to worry about going to work because everything was handed to them! Living in a working class community the idea of occupying will NOT feed your children, pay your bills nor pay your rent. People who are not occupying will visit every so often which serves as a supporting feel for many organizers or folks interested. However, not once have I seen this Idea "go to work and come here" displayed nor have I seen self accountability of the amount of white folks that have occupied LA. If somebody finds the white folks with signs that read "Wall St:Brought to you by my ancestors" or when the morning starts and they thank the indigenous people who's land they are inhabiting please direct me to them. Race does not seem to matter at these type of events. And I'm just calling this an event because It has simply turned into a mixing bowl of the ideas that end up fucking us up over the most and a hippy hngout spot for hipsters and others alike with one group of people of color every now and then (Hmmm reminds me of other failed attemps to start shit up). The amount of fear at this rate is incredible in LA, wording cannot include anything dealing with race or sexuality because it can "jeapordize" what they are trying to get toward. This is a ridiculous thought, race is the key, the damn seed of this broader problem! Undermining the colonization of our people is like saying "i'll cut the weed from the grass but won't pull out the base" so if there is any problem that MUST be addressed at Occupy LA it must be the privilege that the white folks have, which they will deny because if they recognized it, it would have been mentioned long ago. If there is no historical context within this fight in which not everyone is the same it will b a complete mess! Another thing that is not being addressed is the idea of infultration. I'm all for having tech to serve your movements but having a network such as FOX havin access to film and report on the grounds sounds ridiculous. This is how so much other shit fails and people just don't get it. If anything the nes who are SLIGHTLY and I repeat SLIGHTLY ahead of the game is NY, they have attacked FOX reporters and have taken other measures.Why do you think there is such a commotion over in NY with cops? LA was recently told they could not camp out on the grass, what happened? they got off the grass. Although it was addressed that the "law abiding citizen" was out of the question they want to have everyone on their good side which can only work to some extent, and this is no the platform for this type of attitude. People are getting arrested in other places because they refused to follow those rules. Now on my last (only on this because it's getting late but oh do I have issues with this occupation)the police brutality issues are not being addressed and so I won't have to write about that I have Alejandra to cover this issue. So in a nutshell though I don't beleive Occupy LA is going to change anything until it has raised the REAL issues and roots to the problems. However, Occupy LA is a good base toward starting a movement of low income people of color. Through this we can call out those people and like some organizations I have seen inputting your campaigns or ideas within that. Now I need to sleep because it's almost 2am and addressing issues at the moment is not the business. Let's talk in person though and If you have any questions for me, please message me or just talk to me. I think I have most of my responses aligned. Sorry for the grammar and vocabulary errors, it's late.
(And i'll have a part 2 because this does not even cover half of my thoughts)
It's been months and possibly longer. I excuse my absence with my response to the greater "movement" of occupations within the US. The anger is obviously clear and the occuption which originated in New York with Occupy Wall St has spread rapidly. The first occupation paved the way to many others and I specifically want to focus on Los Angeles considering I live here so it's only reasonable. This occupation is significantly important for broader platforms of organizing. Although it feels that a "revolution" is stirring up; I have a tremendous amount of critique. Although it is understood that the people are doing this for the benefit of a broader movement the issues being addressed are not on the table.
Occupy LA (like every other occupations) is primarily white, I want to say Heterosexual and middle class. The amount of privilege at this type of level is tremendous! And I mean tremendous! The idea of an occupation instantly makes me think of Crimethinc-ing ideals. These ideas of "quit your job! and start a revolution!" or vise versa with school. Now, it's very important to think of this idea of occupying on the long term. Many of the people currently occupying are unemployed and never really had to worry about going to work because everything was handed to them! Living in a working class community the idea of occupying will NOT feed your children, pay your bills nor pay your rent. People who are not occupying will visit every so often which serves as a supporting feel for many organizers or folks interested. However, not once have I seen this Idea "go to work and come here" displayed nor have I seen self accountability of the amount of white folks that have occupied LA. If somebody finds the white folks with signs that read "Wall St:Brought to you by my ancestors" or when the morning starts and they thank the indigenous people who's land they are inhabiting please direct me to them. Race does not seem to matter at these type of events. And I'm just calling this an event because It has simply turned into a mixing bowl of the ideas that end up fucking us up over the most and a hippy hngout spot for hipsters and others alike with one group of people of color every now and then (Hmmm reminds me of other failed attemps to start shit up). The amount of fear at this rate is incredible in LA, wording cannot include anything dealing with race or sexuality because it can "jeapordize" what they are trying to get toward. This is a ridiculous thought, race is the key, the damn seed of this broader problem! Undermining the colonization of our people is like saying "i'll cut the weed from the grass but won't pull out the base" so if there is any problem that MUST be addressed at Occupy LA it must be the privilege that the white folks have, which they will deny because if they recognized it, it would have been mentioned long ago. If there is no historical context within this fight in which not everyone is the same it will b a complete mess! Another thing that is not being addressed is the idea of infultration. I'm all for having tech to serve your movements but having a network such as FOX havin access to film and report on the grounds sounds ridiculous. This is how so much other shit fails and people just don't get it. If anything the nes who are SLIGHTLY and I repeat SLIGHTLY ahead of the game is NY, they have attacked FOX reporters and have taken other measures.Why do you think there is such a commotion over in NY with cops? LA was recently told they could not camp out on the grass, what happened? they got off the grass. Although it was addressed that the "law abiding citizen" was out of the question they want to have everyone on their good side which can only work to some extent, and this is no the platform for this type of attitude. People are getting arrested in other places because they refused to follow those rules. Now on my last (only on this because it's getting late but oh do I have issues with this occupation)the police brutality issues are not being addressed and so I won't have to write about that I have Alejandra to cover this issue. So in a nutshell though I don't beleive Occupy LA is going to change anything until it has raised the REAL issues and roots to the problems. However, Occupy LA is a good base toward starting a movement of low income people of color. Through this we can call out those people and like some organizations I have seen inputting your campaigns or ideas within that. Now I need to sleep because it's almost 2am and addressing issues at the moment is not the business. Let's talk in person though and If you have any questions for me, please message me or just talk to me. I think I have most of my responses aligned. Sorry for the grammar and vocabulary errors, it's late.
(And i'll have a part 2 because this does not even cover half of my thoughts)
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
I had this idea...
I can say i have the privilege of finding some good ass deals and free shit. So im working on a workshop on living a cheapass free life. Hopefully im done with it in time for summer training. I really want this info out soon. Aprovecha.
I think im kind of getting the hold of school and my anger/frustration. Im not back to normal but im slowly progressing. I fell like ive been in a coma but i wouldn't know how that feels of course.
Im going to take shit slowly. My priority is school. Im really tired.
I think im kind of getting the hold of school and my anger/frustration. Im not back to normal but im slowly progressing. I fell like ive been in a coma but i wouldn't know how that feels of course.
Im going to take shit slowly. My priority is school. Im really tired.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Apperantly we fucked up our school?
So i think i mentioned that we got a block schedule in HP High. This block schedule would do 2 things, produce diplomas like crazy and save some money. Teachers voted (teachers voted, im just saying) and decided to pass it. Now if you trace the history of this block scheduling it's been bad. Mr.Correa who is our principal has been pushing this for a really long time. I guess teachers just gave in and gave the man what he wanted. The block scheduling passed and Mr.Correa totally knew he got what he wanted. He held a meeting in where he explained to parents. Many parents were skeptical about the idea but of course, he did not give a fuck because it was already in. All he had to worry about was making sure the school did not go charter. SO CREATE THOSE DIPLOMAS!
Here is how it works.
Many, many schools have this schedule. Ours is slightly different.
*One thing you should know, we are in a track system. I am B track. I go into school for 2 months and go on vacation for 2 months and so on through out the year.
Before we had 6 periods.
a semester was done in 4 months.
We have 2 semesters. making that 8 months for our classes to be over.
Now.
We have 4 periods.
In that time period in which we had 6 classes (4 months)
we now have 8 classes!
Meaning we only have 2 months to finish 2 semesters of work.
After the semester is over, we get new classes.
I have personally always been in honor classes. All of our grades from A-B's have now turned from C's-D's. The work has to go so fast that we have no capacity to understand. I'm greatfull im barely making it.
Currently my grades are...
B
C
C
A
Every grade except the A which is only an elective have not been earned.
I have cheated as much as possible on everything.
Now, since this is so fucked up that not even teachers can handle they decided to blame us. And i quote Mr.Wilkinson "You got yourself into this mess, if you wouldn't have screwed up so much in your CST's we wouldn't have been here in the first place, so stop complaining" This is where i should have received a record player and scratched the record.
So our school has been putting extreme pressure on us because we need to score atleast 601 on our CST's.
Thing is we can't, if we do it again we will be taken over and be converted charter.
Now i have a really BIG problem with this. It's not that i under estimate the student's, it's just the school system got everyone into this mess.
This is where my never ending fight against social promotion comes in.
Social promotion is when a student is moved up a grade (even if the curriculum is not understood)just because they must be with their age group.
I personally think this is unacceptable because i totally recognize i should not be in this level of math. Just to let you know how behind i am, i still don't know my multiplication tables, how to divide and especially how to borrow from a number! Many of the students in many schools are in these same situations. My teacher told me about meetings that he wants me to go to in where they make proposals for the school and other stuff so it made me glad to hear. He really wants Youth Action to voice opinions and be involved in the meetings.I got alot of people wanting to join the group because they want to talk about how they can get out of this mess. Im glad they are looking to Youth Action to stop shit like this, they found their outlet! Tuesday will bring new students to the club and we will decide what we want to do!
Next step for HPHS:Split the school into small schools. One which is being developed as we speak. How will this benefit/affect us? Youth Action will be present.
Now i need to get my mind off of this and listen to some jamzzz...
My sister has been playing this constantly.
SHE FIXED THE COMPUTER!
Here is how it works.
Many, many schools have this schedule. Ours is slightly different.
*One thing you should know, we are in a track system. I am B track. I go into school for 2 months and go on vacation for 2 months and so on through out the year.
Before we had 6 periods.
a semester was done in 4 months.
We have 2 semesters. making that 8 months for our classes to be over.
Now.
We have 4 periods.
In that time period in which we had 6 classes (4 months)
we now have 8 classes!
Meaning we only have 2 months to finish 2 semesters of work.
After the semester is over, we get new classes.
I have personally always been in honor classes. All of our grades from A-B's have now turned from C's-D's. The work has to go so fast that we have no capacity to understand. I'm greatfull im barely making it.
Currently my grades are...
B
C
C
A
Every grade except the A which is only an elective have not been earned.
I have cheated as much as possible on everything.
Now, since this is so fucked up that not even teachers can handle they decided to blame us. And i quote Mr.Wilkinson "You got yourself into this mess, if you wouldn't have screwed up so much in your CST's we wouldn't have been here in the first place, so stop complaining" This is where i should have received a record player and scratched the record.
So our school has been putting extreme pressure on us because we need to score atleast 601 on our CST's.
Thing is we can't, if we do it again we will be taken over and be converted charter.
Now i have a really BIG problem with this. It's not that i under estimate the student's, it's just the school system got everyone into this mess.
This is where my never ending fight against social promotion comes in.
Social promotion is when a student is moved up a grade (even if the curriculum is not understood)just because they must be with their age group.
I personally think this is unacceptable because i totally recognize i should not be in this level of math. Just to let you know how behind i am, i still don't know my multiplication tables, how to divide and especially how to borrow from a number! Many of the students in many schools are in these same situations. My teacher told me about meetings that he wants me to go to in where they make proposals for the school and other stuff so it made me glad to hear. He really wants Youth Action to voice opinions and be involved in the meetings.I got alot of people wanting to join the group because they want to talk about how they can get out of this mess. Im glad they are looking to Youth Action to stop shit like this, they found their outlet! Tuesday will bring new students to the club and we will decide what we want to do!
Next step for HPHS:Split the school into small schools. One which is being developed as we speak. How will this benefit/affect us? Youth Action will be present.
Now i need to get my mind off of this and listen to some jamzzz...
My sister has been playing this constantly.
SHE FIXED THE COMPUTER!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Home is where ever im with you.
Hey everyone!
Is everyone still there?
Im not sure if you still read this blog because of my constant absence, but i can say i had a small following at first. That felt good. I started Junior year and it sucks really bad. It's an amazing amount of work, my social life was taken away in a matter of days. It's all homework now, morning to night. I can't even organize with the YEJ homies anymore, it sucks. I need to breath sometimes. I went to my first CBE board meeting! Im a board member yall! The meeting was 7 hours long but it was pretty cool to be able to make decisions. The trip, im sorry, but it sucked. It was pretty boring. I liked the way back. Oakland, i hate you and i will always hate you. Iv'e been getting into wanting to review things and posting my mixtapes but im left with no time. Im really suprised i stayed home this saturday, but i just need rest. I also stretched my septum to a 10g if you care. I also saw Defiance, Ohio play! they fucking sucked, and their new album sucks too. I'm so happy i did not get a D,O inspired tattoo, thanks steph but i will totally pass. I wonder if anyone is reading this. I guess it's okay if you don't, it will be my therapy.
GUILTY FUCKING PLEASURE, I LOVE THIS SONG!!!
Is everyone still there?
Im not sure if you still read this blog because of my constant absence, but i can say i had a small following at first. That felt good. I started Junior year and it sucks really bad. It's an amazing amount of work, my social life was taken away in a matter of days. It's all homework now, morning to night. I can't even organize with the YEJ homies anymore, it sucks. I need to breath sometimes. I went to my first CBE board meeting! Im a board member yall! The meeting was 7 hours long but it was pretty cool to be able to make decisions. The trip, im sorry, but it sucked. It was pretty boring. I liked the way back. Oakland, i hate you and i will always hate you. Iv'e been getting into wanting to review things and posting my mixtapes but im left with no time. Im really suprised i stayed home this saturday, but i just need rest. I also stretched my septum to a 10g if you care. I also saw Defiance, Ohio play! they fucking sucked, and their new album sucks too. I'm so happy i did not get a D,O inspired tattoo, thanks steph but i will totally pass. I wonder if anyone is reading this. I guess it's okay if you don't, it will be my therapy.
GUILTY FUCKING PLEASURE, I LOVE THIS SONG!!!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
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