Los Angeles thus far

These past two weeks in L.A. term have been eye opening for me. I have learned many things about Los Angeles that i did not know. As a native angelino i am shocked of the things that are kept under wraps and not taught in school. My experience has been great because we get to visit historical sites in L.A, so far we have visited old china town (which i never knew existed) where a massacre occurred in the 1800s. We also visited Olvera St. (AKA little Mexico) known for having the oldest house in L.A, and being the location where the U.S took California from Mexico. I grew up visiting these locations and never knew their historical significance. It's has however been a challenge to talk about social justice issues that some of my classmates don't know are issues. This frustrates me because i give the vantage point of someone who has been marginalized and has experienced oppression in life, and i get frustrated when someone doesn't get it. I need to work on this and i am very aware of it. Its difficult though when you don't feel as you belong. I spent 2 months of the summer in Mexico and experienced the rejection of being "too white" in their eyes. Many didn't consider me a true Mexican because i wasn't born there. However here at home i also don't feel as i belong because to many i am "too Mexican". So i ask myself where do i belong and when will i get there. I've been told that i am part of the family of God, and that i shouldn't have these feelings, but its usually someone Caucasian who tells me this. I was talking to my roommate about this and she was shocked, she's never heard of anyone feeling this. I told her that It's as if i live a double life which has no mid point. I am dealing with many issues but i know that there is a reason for it. I am also trying to discern what God's call over my life is and I am learning how to be obedient to Gods voice.

*The photo was taken from the rooftop of an old bank that was turned into lofts. This is happening all over LA its called gentrification and its basically taking an low income bad area, reconstructing the buildings and encouraging the more wealthy population to move in to change the property value, while in process kicking out subtly the lower income populations. This is what is happening to skid row they keep pushing it farther from the main downtown area and kicking them out so that the city can look "cleaner". No matter how much they push them away from the downtown area, the people remain, out of sight out of mind is not the approach to take.