Con Corazon: South Central Los Angeles
My name is Anisa Maleny Anorve, I am a 22 year old LA native and this is my story.
I grew up low-income and witnessed first-hand the difficulties my family and others within my community had to face in light of their socio-economic status. Life for my family was not easy. There were times where my mother had to scrape for change around the house in order to buy $11 pampers from Food For Less for my 6-month old little brother. Times where she had to yell, “Cúbranse! Cúbranse! (Cover yourselves, Cover yourselves) using herself as a human shield reciting a prayer asking God to keep us safe as two gunshots were being spewed at the liquor store across the street. We had just come back from a Sunday church service.
The LA I know doesn’t have yoga studios, fancy coffee shops, or even kombucha.
The LA I know has a junk food restaurant at the end of almost every street along with run down apartments, empty lots, and check cashing/speedy cash stores.
The environment I grew up in was set for me to be destined to fail. To be stuck forever, but I, along with the loving people who have supported me to this day, decided to take hold of the narrative to my story.
To commemorate my achievement of graduating a 4-year institution I decided with the help of my friend @celestuhl to take pictures of places around LA that mean the most to me. The places that helped to mold me into the person I am today. Below you will find the story to each one of the places my beautiful city of Los Angeles holds and I hope you will be inspired by my story enough to want to share your own.
Macarthar Park
I wake up to the smell of fresh tortillas being flipped on the comal. My mother shouts, “Anisita, Aminadi es hora de comer.” My sister and I both brush out teeth and head over to the kitchen table. My mother hands both my sister and I a plate filled with a side of frijoles (beans), huevos (eggs), salsa roja (red salsa), and queso fresco (fresh cheese) aka heaven. During this time, my parents were separated and I was just shy of 7 years old. Our apartment was right next to Macarthar Park. After breakfast, my mother would take my sister and I for a stroll through the park and I would always see the soccer players and hear them yelling, “Apurate, compa, pasame la pelota! Te lo van a agarar!”
This park means a lot to me because it reminds me of my mother’s pure love and even though she was going through a tough time she always made sure her children experienced joy. The players at the park taught me the importance of team camaraderie, an important trait that I have carried on with me to this day.
Los Angeles Mesa Elementary School
A few months later when I had just turned 8 my mother decided to move our family over to the Crenshaw District, which was south of our old apartment. Our new house was right at the end of a busy street facing a liquor store to front and to the side. Why are there two liquor stores in one street you ask? That’s the type of stuff you can get away with in the hood.
If you’re wondering, yes, this is house where my family and I experienced the traumatic moment of the shooting at the liquor store across the street. During these times, gang violence was high and police presence was too.
In spite of all this, I attribute the fond memories I have of Los Angeles Mesa to my first grade teacher (whose name I’ve forgotten), but to personify her I’ll call her Ms. E. Ms. E always made it a point to expand upon the talents of her students. She taught me how to use a computer, how to better articulate my words on and off paper, and how to make eating celery enjoyable by adding a slab of peanut butter in the middle.
Ms. E taught me the importance of education. That once its taught it allows us to build a viewpoint and obtain our own perspectives in life.
Los Angeles Mesa Public Library
The nearest public library was just a block away from my elementary school. I would head to the library after school sometimes waiting for my mother to pick me up after her long day at work.
Public libraries in the United States play an important part in providing free educational resources to every member in the community. Junie B Jones, The Harry Potter Series, and The Babysitters Club were some of my favorite reads. I could always count on my local library to provide me with the information I needed to succeed and answer any important questions I couldn’t otherwise find.
Before, I would’ve been embarrassed to share my story and say I grew up low-income. But now, I am proud of who I am and I’m excited for who I will be in the future.
What our low-income communities needs is attention and constant care. I challenge you this year, to come out of your comfort zone and help those around you. Whether it’s taking a day to clean up the trash around the street or working with your city to teach classes on the fundamentals of financial freedom. Our communities need to be educated - or else we’ll never see change. Let that change start with you.
My name is anisa anorve y yo Soy una latina con una voz dedicada a cambiar su comunidad para lo mejor.
Con Corazon,
Anisa Anorve