The Mayor attend the Day of Peace.

The face of LA County, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, attended Jane
Goodall's Roots&Shoots Day of Peace Festival.

The Roots&Shoots Day of Peace, which took place at the Santa Monica
Pier, was an outstanding festival of promoting peace all over LA County,
the country, and the world.

My highschool Roots&Shoots group--Urban Empowerment--took part of this
great year while both our Roots&Shoots Rep and UE Members volunteered to
make this a great day.

KTLA5, the only media I saw there,was really into it. One of my favorite
reporters, Makeyla, was there and seemed to enjoy it!

It wasn't until Mayor Villaraigosa that catched the County residents'
eyes when he adopted a new dog! [Look at the photo].

Having Media and our Mayor attend this extraordinary event shows how
much people really are interested in promoting peace.

In times like these, seems like Peace deserves a chance.

A Role Model for Womyn...and Men.

Today was the 8th anniversary when our nation faced a tragedy;
witnessing the fall of the Twin Towers--which symbolized our nation's
power.

But, today was also Lisa Leslie's Farewell Game, in Los Angeles Sparks
vs. Minnesota Lynx.

Lisa Leslie, #9, stands at 6-5 feet,and played 12 seasons as the leader
of the LA Sparks. Sadly, tonight it was Lisa's last season game, and is
set to retire of the WNBA at age 37.
Lisa entered the WNBA in 1997. She was the first to hi 3,ooo, 4,ooo,
5,ooo points. She is the only player to ever get 6,ooo career points.

Lisa Leslie is 3-time MVP, 8-time All Star, and 3-Time All Star MVP,
2-time WNBA Champions, 2-time Finals MVP, 2-time Defensive Player of the
Year, and is a member of the WNBA All-Decade Team.
She is also a 4-Olmypic gold medalist.

While Leslie being in the 12 seasons, the Sparks have had 9 playoffs and
have brought 2 championship trophies.

Lisa has become a role model for both womyn,and men.

Witnessing her Farewell Ceremony at the beginning of the game was
amazing! She got an album of photographs of her best WNBA Moments, and
Golden BBall Shoes given by Nike. Along with other gifts.

Also,the one of the best moments of her ceremony was having Magic
Johnson tell her some words. I enjoyed when he told her that he had told
some people at the airport that he wasn't in Springfield celebrating his
friends be in the Hall of Fame, because he decided to be in Los Angeles
and celebrating "someone who WILL BE in the HALL OF FAME."

At the end, Leslie led his teammates--like Candice Michelle, Tina
Thompson, Shannon Bobbitt, and the rest--to victory by beating the
Lynzx, 90-61.

(*Source: The "Off the Bench", Special Commemorative Issue of Lisa
Leslie's Farewell Game*)

My City...

Here are recent photographs that ive taken.
Some of them interpret things that are recently going on, others just interpret things i like.

Empowering Young Lives

The month of August 2oo9, will be remembered both by teens and children
who participated in the first MacArthur Park Teen Club.

Today, was the end of the "first chapter of the book [we the volunteers]
are writing",as my awesome trainer Faye Estrada said. This project,which
was led entirely by youth in the community, gave young elementary and a
few high school students the opportunity to learn new subjects as well
as a space to meet other people and have fun.
The workshops in which the students participated on were: Theatre &
Music, Arts & Crafts, Arts & Comedy, Environmental Awareness,and Spoken
Word/Poetry.

Many volunteers saw this experience as a learning tool, a "quarter of
their" goals and dreams for the future, an opportunity to meet others
who seek change in the community too, a accomplishment in their lives,
and also an "opportunity to help the community."

This enrichment program was very successful at the end. We were all glad
& appreciated that volunteers took some of their summer to help make a
difference in the children's lives. It takes only one day to change a
person's life. This program could have changed a students or a
volunteers life.

This program not only allowed us to empower young lives,but also mentor
and be there for young students. "[A few volunteers could] tell
something about each student", their connection with this students gave
the volunteers the opportunity to get to know them better.

Some of the students touched the hearts of few volunteers. There was a
specific student whom really touched lives of both the volunteers and
the trainers. Their trust to the volunteers showed us the struggles both
their and their family faced.

When we heard such things, we automatically knew that this enrichment
program did make a change in the students life, it gave them a space to
forget what was out there: gangs, violence,domestic violence, sexual
harrasment, vandalism, and any struggles one can think the people of
McArthur Park face.

We just hope that this students will reach for their goals and dreams,
without having to fall into the misfortunes many other yout fall into.
It is programs like this that give youngsters that hope.

The end of the Summer program of the Teen Club is not the complete end.
We hope that we will be able to continue this program in order to have
contact with the students and parents, as well as continuing empowering
young lives.

How Dare He?!?!

So...I was reading the article in MSNBC, of the registered sex-offender,
Phillip Garrido, who is the suspect of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard 18 years
ago.

So according to the article, Garrido told the judge that he was ashamed
of what he had done to Dugard,and he also admitted that he kidnapped and
raped her.

Garrido also said that he even exposed to 7 year old girls!!!! WHAT!?!
How Dare He?!?! Eww...a big Eww.

Garrido stated that his sex fantasies drove him to do such things.

Gosh. I cannot believe there is people like these out there...but this
is reality. Not everyone in the world is good.

I just find it disgusting exposing yourself to really young girls,all
because your sex fantasies drive you to do them. Like..control
yourself..get a girl of your own age!!!! Ah.

Of what I know,he was in jail for a while in Nevada, but then got free.
I just hope they don't let him out again,and he stays in there for
good!!

People like these should be behind bars,but it just seems that nowadays
it is really hard to capture this..BASTARDS [yes.think that's the proper
name for such people].

(Leave a comment,if you want to :] )