I Come From: Our Opening Lines

By POPS the Club members from across the country

I come from:

…a place where justice is its own antonym
…being an athlete by day, and a gang member by night
…earbuds and the sweet vibrations of rap music
…parents who taught me to work hard and be grateful for what I have
…where people spend their Sundays in church praying for a better tomorrow
…where people live paycheck to paycheck trying to survive
…where people pray on Sunday and will shoot you on Monday
…a coyote leading my father into the U.S. and red ants crawling on my mother’s back as border patrol agents hover over her
…alcoholics always starting problems but never-ending them
…three bums fighting on the Venice boardwalk while tourists shoot videos and take pictures
…Cuban political refugees and stories about my descendants from Mexico, China, Ireland, Germany, Holland, and America
…where the whites have all the power
…people who didn’t finish their education, but want a better education for their kids
…short tempers
…love them like no other will
…my mother, the meaning to my life
…El Salvador, where I had to be careful to avoid getting involved in maras, the gangs
…where I see graffiti on freeways and think it is the art from lost souls expressing their feelings
…men who work hard and women who stay home caring for their children
…swimming in public pools and in mountain rivers
…screaming as reality sets in
…a family with no education, all they memorized were gang signs
…a generation with better opportunities thanks to my parents’ decisions
…keeping everything inside until it’s too much to handle and all at once—panic attacks
…a family that believes baseball is more than a game, it is life
…bad times when I feel my world collapsing and good times when my cheeks hurt from smiling so much
…a place where you can get hit up by anyone asking, “where you from?”
…internment camps, from those who fled, those who enlisted, those who wore “I am not Japanese” t-shirts, and nightwalkers who helped keep the lights off around Pearl Harbor to avoid another attack
…a family that never gives up
…a family where nothing is given to you

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This 1-minute video lets you share and explain to your friends and family how POPS the Club cultivates an inclusive space for youth who have been stigmatized and silenced by their experiences with the carceral system. Our clubs build positive self-identity through peer and adult support and understanding fostered by shared experiences. We empower students to achieve their full potential by creating a loving community and encouraging self-expression. — Tracy Harper