First, some background.
My given name is Paul, I’m 40 years old, male, white, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, single, straight and I live in Los Angeles, CA. I have a damned good life. Even more importantly, I know and appreciate it. This has not always been the case.
I arrived in LA with an open mind and an open heart ready to work hard to pursue my dream. I knew nobody and had to live out of my car for a bit. I just kept reminding myself that it was temporary and I still had it better than many others. My heartbreak was partly due to coming from a good place with great family which is why I missed it so. I became grateful for the heartache as a result. My move was voluntary while so many others are running from pain and escaping from a home and past that they hate.
I eventually got into a place, met people and started working in carpentry on tv and film sets. About 4 years in I was working full time on the set of a popular tv show. I was making decent money but had no time for anything else. Drinking, which I wisely gave up to successfully move out here, slowly started creeping back into my routine and I would hit up the bar often on my commute home. My social life revolved around it. It eventually caught up with me and I received a DUI.
I passed out at the wheel and ran into a divider on the 210 freeway at around 7pm rush hour traffic. I blacked out and awoke in jail and immediately assumed the worst. I had hit and killed someone while being selfish, reckless and stupid. I was inconsolable and passed back out. When I awoke, I found out that I had miraculously not hit a soul and had commandeered my disabled auto off the freeway. Several motorists had called 911 and I was pulled over while exiting the freeway. Even though I was looking at a severe DUI, I couldn’t have been more grateful. After all, for a brief but unforgettable time I had the horrible feeling of having an innocent person’s blood on my hands. To not have that happen was like hitting the lottery in a way, and I was determined to not waste that extreme fortune by repeating my past foolish mistakes.
I blew a 0.24, 3 times the legal limit. My license was suspended and I drove 40 miles a day to work, so that was a huge problem. I ended up having to hire an attorney who got my driving privileges back through a hardship license, which allowed me to drive to work and back only. All in all, with the attorney fees, the court costs, fines, a 9-month mandatory drug and alcohol program, and sky high car insurance, that mistake ultimately cost me a little over $11,000.
Here’s the thing, though. I owned my own car and had steady employment. I had the means and resources to get it behind me. It absolutely took every little bit of them too. Through the process I met many others who weren’t so lucky, and didn’t have the money for an attorney. Even though I got past it with the resources that I had, the whole ordeal was extremely difficult.
I couldn’t imagine how much harder it would be with little to no funds and no reliable transportation. The odds are stacked against some more than others in our criminal justice system and that’s the cold, hard truth. It’s also putting it very mildly. Many who haven’t had the experience of being processed through the system don’t realize how it’s designed to keep you in it. One missed class or court date could set you back to square one. It feels like it will never end and, for some, sadly it never does.
I was required to attend a weekly drug and alcohol education class for almost a year as part of my sentence. The class I attended was held in downtown Hollywood. I was shocked at the number of people that had multiple offenses. Even more shocking, to me at least, was the cavalier attitude about the seriousness of the offense committed and the lack of attempts to correct the behavior. In short, the privilege and ignorance of these people blew me away every week when I walked through the door.
A woman named Rita was the instructor of my class. She was black, probably in her early 50s, and was a past convicted felon who had spent some considerable time in prison. She had transformed her life, rehabilitated herself and was a successful rehab counselor. Rita commanded my attention immediately as she was very wise and knew what she was talking about. She expressed the importance of changing our individual behaviors to avoid recidivism and, if we didn’t she would definitely be seeing us again in that class. I ended up really enjoying hearing her speak every week and got a lot from her words of experience.
I very wisely heeded her advice and successfully completed the program. Upon completion of my final class, as I headed for the door, Rita approached me, gave me a huge hug and told me how proud she was of me for changing my behavior. It blew me away and meant the world to me. This woman had a much steeper and treacherous climb to get out of her situation than I, so her words of encouragement were priceless to me because of that fact.
The marginalized in our society are the real heroes, for far too often they’re too busy trying to keep afloat and survive rather than complain, which they have every right to do. Women of color hold a special place in my heart for facing the double-edged sword of racism and misogyny that we’ve been witnessing to the extreme these past few years. They’ve faced this their entire lives and yet they bravely continue on to my profound respect, awe, and undying admiration. They’ve hardly, if ever, received what they truly want in their lives and over the course of time have only been able to take what they can get. That’s true sacrifice and compromise and, because of this fact, I’ll always be in their corner.
This portion of our society, with women of color in particular, are by and far the base of the Democratic party and the eventual Democratic nominee for President will HAVE to have their support. This is an undeniable fact and to me is about as close to true justice that we can get. Those with the most to lose deserve the biggest seat at the head of the table in order to get our priorities straight moving forward. I keep this in mind with regards to the media and their obsession for a close horse race because this fact will eventually clear the field by 2020. I firmly believe that the eventual nominee will be Senator Kamala Harris.
She will be the eventual nominee because of who she is, where she comes from, and, most importantly who she represents. From the LGBTQ community to all people of color, she has lent her voice to represent them as a prosecutor, state attorney general, and currently as Senator. She knows that the most well-meaning, comprehensive, ambitious, and progressive income inequality legislation that would ever see the light of day will do absolutely nothing to help those that are unfairly deemed unemployable and therefore permanently oppressed due to systemic racism inherent in our criminal justice system. The opportunity for true and meaningful criminal justice reform is upon us however, and I see no one better or more experienced to lead the charge than Senator Harris.
Kamala Harris’ stance on education and increased teacher pay also solidifies her as my choice. Teachers deserve multi-million dollar contracts for the services that they provide, for they are securing our future by sending prepared young minds to go forth and face it with knowledge. In a perfect world that would be the case but the world in which we reside is far from perfect. I believe that some of the sharpest minds of potential are those that have grown up through adversity and they are in the crosshairs of downright evil GOP policies of education cuts aimed directly at them in an effort to destroy. This has to end now. I was privileged and lucky enough to not have everything I wanted but, more importantly, everything that I needed growing up. I had great teachers that put a lot of effort and invested time in me. I appreciated it then but it means so much more to me now. It was truly a gift from them that has payed itself forward, and in a perfect world every single child would have, at the very least, an experience equal to my own.
I’m proud to report that, 13 years later, my heart and mind are still as open and perhaps even more so than when I moved out here. I value the education I’ve received so far in my life both in school and, perhaps more importantly, those lessons that can’t be taught in the classroom but rather through experience. I’m strangely glad and grateful for that DUI due to the challenge that it presented and that I thankfully overcame before I headed for self destruction. It made me a better person and a far better listener. I’m a better listener today than I was yesterday, and I aim to be better tomorrow than I am today. I was given an opportunity to redeem myself of my mistakes, and I demand the same for every single human being. None of us are perfect and anyone worth redeeming deserves an equal opportunity to do so.
The upcoming 2020 election is a chance for white America to start to redeem itself, for their voting habits are ultimately what led to the talking pig rectum currently infesting the white house. This is the primary demographic that either voted for him, voted 3rd party or wrote in an absurd choice. Perhaps most egregiously, some decided it wasn’t worth their time and didn’t vote at all. This is unacceptable and is profoundly disrespectful to those that stand to lose everything. We have in front of us an opportunity not just to win back the presidency, but perhaps more importantly to retain the house and take back the Senate. Let’s make the most of it and never look back.
In closing, I’d like to thank you for reading this if you’ve made it this far! Due to my line of work and propensity to be on the go I’ve neglected to write a diary so this is a first. I hope it’s useful as a heartfelt and positive view of my chosen candidate who I find very easy to support. I’d like to take a moment and give thanks to many great writers here @ DKos and in particular this group for their uplifting and motivating diaries. They’ve done some mighty heavy lifting and I’d like to put forth a contribution, no matter how small. Never forget to participate in real life as well. Say hello to a stranger, hold open a door, or let someone go ahead. These small, simple things cost us absolutely nothing to do, yet can have such a positive and powerful impact. You never can tell what someone is truly going through and if something small can help lift their spirits then I gladly choose to do so. May everyone have a great and productive week ahead and my best to you all!
Kamala2020 info and below!
Newpioneer has rounded up some highlights of her sponsored legislation here.
snowman3 has rounded up some more legislative highlights here.
Gay CA Democrat lists 21 bills or proposals here.
Want to know more about her positions and plans? Her policy page is Our America.
Or go straight to an issue: quality, affordable health care for all, economic justice,raising teacher pay, combating the climate crisis, criminal justice reform, action on gun violence, a fair and just immigration system, LGBTQ+ equality, government for the people, debt-free college and student debt, gender equality, American leadership at home and abroad, and fighting for racial justice.
More plans: The Reproductive Rights Act, Equal Pay, Roadmap to Citizenship for Dreamers, Combating the Racial Homeownership Gap, Fair Prescription Drug Prices, Kamala’s 3AM Agenda.
Please remember to visit our community group page Kamala2020 and give us a follow! That way all our group efforts will appear in your stream; this makes it easy for everyone to keep up with our latest posts. As always, any who would like to join our group please leave us a comment and we’ll get your invitation right out to you!
If you’d like to volunteer to host one of our Kamala 2020 diaries, please leave your comment in the ”Calling all Volunteers”thread.
Even if you can’t commit to a weekly spot due to your busy schedules, guest bloggers are always welcomed!
This week’s schedule
Please volunteer! Come share your story about why you support Kamala!
This week’s schedule
Monday, August 12th — LASouthpaw
Thursday, August 15th — snowman3
Saturday, August 17th —
Monday, August 19th— Gay CA Democrat
Thursday, August 22th—
Saturday, August 24th—
Let your voices be heard!
Upcoming Events:
Davenport Rally with Kamala Harris
RiverCenter
136 E 3rd St
Davenport, IA 52801
Senator Kamala Harris will host a rally for her presidential campaign in Davenport on Monday, August 12 as a part of her 5-day river-to-river bus tour across Iowa. Join us as she shares her vision for America's future.
Doors open at 3:20 pm. Program begins at 4:05 pm.
Senator Kamala Harris will host a health care roundtable in Burlington on Monday, August 12 as a part of her 5-day river-to-river bus tour across Iowa. Join us as she shares her vision for America's future.
Roundtable with Kamala in Burlington
Date: Monday, August 12, 2019
Time: 9:45 a.m.–11:30 a.m. CDT (Doors open at 9:45 a.m, program begins at 10:25 a.m.)
Location: The Loft at the First United Methodist Church
416 Jefferson St.
Burlington, IA 52601
Missed the soapbox? Starts at 1:30 in. She’s on for about 20 minutes.