Letters to the Editor

By Sergio Diaz

I am Ms. Del Pino’s cousin, and I am honored and humbled to speak to you today as you graduate from the Animo Leadership High School.

How could I not be honored to speak to a group of young adults who are associated with the concepts of “animo” and leadership, two of my favorite ideas?

Animo, as all of you know, means soul in Spanish. It also means courage.

I have learned a few things about this graduating class and the classes that have come before you. I know that each and every one of you has shown your courage and your soul. Your teachers and I have every confidence that in the years to come you will have many opportunities to display the leadership that you have been taught here.

I am lucky to be able to see courage and leadership in action every day. I see them in the actions of police officers who risk their safety every day so that other people can be safe. I also see the courage of many parents who work in tough, thankless, and underpaid jobs so that their children may enjoy better lives.

I’ll bet that many of you have seen that, too.

This class will graduate 95% of those who started four years ago. Almost 95% of the class is headed to college. Many of you will be going to Cal State colleges, some will go on to the UC system, some to private universities, and even to Ivy League schools. You haven’t reached these achievements by accident—your accomplishments are the result of your courage, your soul, your animo.

I know that many of you, or your parents, are immigrants to this, the greatest country on our planet. I, too, am an immigrant. When I was much younger than you are now, I was sent to the U.S., arriving here alone because my parents wanted me to escape the tyranny of the communist regime that had taken power in Cuba. My family eventually joined me here in the U.S., and my parents always stressed that we must resist tyranny.

Today, and for the rest of your lives, each of you will have the opportunity and the challenge of fighting a different kind of tyranny.

You are fortunate to live in a place and time where—unlike in Cuba and many other places in the world—you are free to think your own thoughts, read what you want, write your own feelings, associate with whomever you like, and to address injustice when you see it.

Yet, even with all the freedoms you enjoy, there is another kind of tyranny that you must always fight: The tyranny of low expectations.

Because of who you are—or the color of your skin, the money you don’t have, the neighborhoods you have been raised in—there will be some who expect that you will not be able to achieve what others take for granted. Now and for the rest of your lives you will have the opportunity and the obligation to prove these people wrong.

Don’t make the mistake, though, of thinking that these low expectations come only from evil people, or from individuals who don’t look like you or know you, or who are more privileged than you. Such people certainly exist. But understand that sometimes the people who hold low expectations for you also think of themselves as kind-hearted. They don’t expect much because they don’t want you to be disappointed or hurt. They might be your neighbors, your friends—maybe even some members of your families. They may think that it wouldn’t be fair to expect too much of you.

Wherever the low expectations come from, and whatever the motivations behind them, you will prove them wrong.

You must prove them wrong because the tyranny of low expectations can hurt you as much as a rifle-toting soldier who would throw you in jail for thinking thoughts that some government doesn’t approve.

Always remember, however, that low expectations are most dangerous when they come from within you. To doubt yourself, to be tempted to quit when things get tough, to be defeated by fear and frustration—those are the most harmful kinds of low expectations.

Tell yourself now—and truly believe—that you can overcome all setbacks.

We all feel fatigue, doubt, and frustration at times. You will not be the only person in your college class with doubts. The difference between success and failure will depend on animo. You don’t have to be brave all the time; just be brave a little longer. When you are tempted to quit, tell yourself that you can quit tomorrow. And tomorrow, give yourself another tomorrow, until you have again triumphed.

What you have achieved already here at Animo Leadership High School serves to prove wrong those people who don’t expect much from you, whatever their reasons.

I have no doubt that you have been able to reach these initial goals because the staff at Animo Leadership has believed in you and has given you the tools to succeed. You will always have these gifts with you.

But remember that you also got yourself to this point.

Now, as you enter the adult worlds of work and higher education, your mentors won’t be so near at hand. But their words of love and encouragement, the pride you feel today, should continue to play in your mind and your soul like a tune that you can’t get out of your head. It will be up to you, every day, in ways big and small, to remember what you have been taught here, and to continue to strive to achieve your dreams. Believe in yourself. What you have already achieved is great; know that there is no limit to what else you can do.

I hope each of you has taken to heart what you have heard many, many times from your teachers, and hopefully, your parents: Education is the key to a successful life, however you define success.

Education will allow you raise your own families more comfortably than you were raised. If your goal is to make a lot of money, education will increase your earning power. If you want to create beautiful things, education will enhance your artistic opportunities. If you, like myself and your teachers, believe that a successful person is one who leads by serving others, then you will find that such service requires skills that come with education.

You have achieved much already, but you still have an obligation to yourself, to your families, and to our country to accomplish even more.

Education is the key to fulfilling that obligation.

Always remember the soul, the courage, and the leadership that you have been taught here.

Dare to prove wrong the people who have low expectations of you. Be fearless, and always speak the truth. Because much has been given to you, you have the obligation to give back, and the best way to do so is to be a role model to your brothers and sisters, cousins and neighbors, and others who will look to you as leaders.

Don’t ever be the one with low expectations of others. You have the rare privilege right now to be an inspiration to them. Take up that challenge, and keep the Animo tradition alive.

I can guarantee you that you will never regret the decision.

Editor:

Regarding the recent column by Anthony Gregory [“Libertarian Perspective: Why We Fight,” issue of August 8]:

I love my libertarian brethren, but I always get a chuckle out of what they propose.

In a libertarian world:

• Airports would have brothels, with glass windows exhibiting wares.

• Your neighbor buys and stores nerve gas for that day the Russians attack. You can do nothing.

• A new restaurant opens up, but has a sign that says “No (pick one: blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, women, etc) allowed.” You can do nothing.

• Armor-piercing bullets? Plastic bullets and guns that don't show up on x-ray machines? All legal.

• Child labor makes a big comeback.

I could go on, but the point is made. Libertarianism just does not hold water. Everybody in large societies believes in regulating human behavior to some degree. The debate over how much regulation is needed or tolerable is not enlightened by pipe dreams.

Benjamin Mark Cole

Elysian Valley

Editor:

Regarding your recent Commentary on the Skid Row district of Downtown [“Wondering About Skid Row: Whatever Happened to Work,” issue of August 8]:

Thanks for thinking enough about Skid Row to address the situation and spark a dialogue that’s necessary if real answers are ever to be found.

You mentioned jobs and the rehabilitation and training that would be necessary for the potential employees from Skid Row. My question to you is this: Isn’t that what the missions and other so-called social service providers are already supposed to be doing?

It is time that we start to hold the missions and the so-called social service providers accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. A lack of accountability is the very reason that Corporate America doesn’t want to get caught up in the tangled web of Skid Row. Corporations would have to spend much of their profits on additional services for employees who would carry the “high-risk” label even before they were hired.

These days, with a slow economy, companies won’t be easily swayed into helping the underprivileged without some type of additional offsets, tax breaks or other incentives.

At this point, I don’t hear anybody—not the politicians, the developers, the social- service providers, the media, or anybody else—even attempting to address these challenges and come up with legitimate and viable solutions to the negative conditions in Skid Row as we know them to exist today.

General Jeff

Resident Director-Central City East

Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council

Nathan McCall raises an interesting question in his provocative novel entitled “Them,” which examines the traumatic impact of demographic inversion in Atlanta, where upscale suburbanites have embarked on an impulsive and quixotic experiment with slumming.

Gentrifiers such as McCall’s character Sandy Gilmore—a “silly white girl looking for something interesting to do”—are considered “pioneers.”

So what are the downscale residents who have been in the area for years?

Perhaps the presumption of “pioneers” will carry the day in our Downtown.

After all, we’re all taught that Columbus “discovered” America.

Cleotis Thigpen

Historic Core

Editor:

Regarding your recent story about the fatal incident that occurred at the 7th Street/Metro Center Red Line Station at 7th and Figueroa streets on August 6 [“Man Killed by Train at Downtown Station,” issue of August 22]: I witnessed incident, and the man appeared to have jumped in front of the train in what looked to me to be a case of suicide. In any case, I want to say that the incident was by no means the fault of the driver of the train.

Lord Van Buren

Beverly Hills

Editor:

Thank you for your ongoing efforts to bring the people all of the news. The Garment & Citizen was the only media organization that reported on the August 6 incident at the 7th Street/Metro Center Red Line station.

I was there, and I believe it was a case of suicide.

Phil

Downtown

Editor:

I was thinking about John McCain and how he could possibly have the energy at his age to want to be president and commander-in-chief of our armed forces. Then I read a book about the painter Claude Monet, a great friend of Georges Clemenceau, who served as the prime minister of France during World War I.

I came upon this quote: “At the age of 76, Clemenceau entered upon control of France in her struggle for life and victory. By the consent of all, it was only after the age of 76 that Clemenceau had given the full measure of his powers. He had shown that where will and brain retain their vigor, the weight of accumulated experience and long-gathered thought may be worth more to the man who can handle it than the faculties of [his younger years].

Gary Brownstein

Fashion District