Surviving In a Collapsing Society
Dear J-,
I want to thank you again for taking A- to the family workshop. It may not have seemed like she discharged, but I am not kidding when I say she had been distant, obnoxious, rude, etc., since before Christmas, and since returning from the workshop she openly says, "I love you Mom," gives me hugs, comes home from school on the regular bus, thinks her "boyfriend" is "annoying," does not run up and down the alley or stay out past dark, is working on bringing all her grades up to A's, and brings friends home from school to keep her company instead of "running the 'hood." Will this last? I don't know. But it sure is a welcome relief from the past behaviors. I have said repeatedly that RCers should never underestimate how useful their contact can be for young people.
We are needing to move out of this house; S- is letting the bank foreclose. The danger in the neighborhood is escalating. C-'s dad is home from the hospital. The young people who stabbed him are still riding around on bikes through our area. The gang, the police, and the American Indian Movement patrol have all tried to get information out of A- about the stabbing and what she has said to who. So far she has kept her cool.
My two older daughters and their babies move out next week. At least they will be safer (I hope-you hear horror stories about someone getting out only to get hit by a car or something as stupid).
While A- was at the workshop, a thirteen-year-old Native boy was killed a few blocks from here. We are in this "containment area," which basically means the police and the city have given up, and the plan is to raze the projects northside. The people who live there will be warehoused in this neighborhood. The police came only after the boy was stabbed, following the unspoken policy of entering only to clean up. The welfare cuts all happen in July, and among the first to be cut will be anyone with a drug conviction. Guess what job skills they have?
I am going to check around for piano lessons and aikido lessons for A-. She was definitely impressed by Diane Shisk's strength at the workshop, and she's eager to catch up (not that she needed much encouragement). I think Diane gave her a picture of someone who has achieved the goal of a woman being stronger than anybody else.
M-
USA