“Welcome to the Hood”
The semester has started and I am still unable to register for classes due to tuition registration blocks from my previous two semesters. I have come to realize that it will be highly unlikely for me to return to school this semester because I dont have the financial means to cover $4,000 by the end of September unless I receive 3 of the scholarships I have been considered as a finalist totaling at least $6,000. In the event that I receive all three scholarships but don’t enroll for classes I fear that the $6,000 I would have received would be lost given how one of the conditions to receive the funds is to be enrolled as a full-time student. Hence, I am caught in a catch-22 type of situation. But I will continue to fight for my education and see where it leads me.
On Tuesday night someone broke into my new apartment, stole my laptop, and backpack. Within my backpack was my Mexican passport, bank statements, and other important documents with my private information. The following day my laptop was “miracuously” returned. My backpack remains missing. Here are my theories about what happened. We are new to the neighborhood and we are college students. The long term residents must have been paying attention to us moving in and the individuals who stole my belongings must have known that we were unaware about the ways in which their community works. The fact that my laptop was returned after the Oakland police officer told me how highly unlikely it would be for me to regain my property brings to mind two things.
- There is a strong underground self-policing mechanism within the community I live in. This may be in direct response to the Oscar Grant shootings and outcomes. At this point, I strongly believe, the Black Community I live in must have a direct disdain of police officials as well as a general distrust of them. Much like the same way undocumented immigrants don’t trust police officials in fear of being deported. Albeit, these are two very different reasons as to why individual communities might not necessarily have trust in the police who is supposed to “serve and protect” us. Anyone associated with the police must also be regarded by the Black community as A) a snitch, B) a person to distrust, or C) all of the above. I think nobody wants to be seen as a snitch or a person of distrust especially when you are new to a neighborhood. Because of the general distrust against the police department, community members have created their own creative and resourceful ways of protecting themselves from individuals who seek to harm them which reinforces the notion that the Community knows best.
- The other reason may be that since we are new to the neighborhood they have had an eye on us since the beginning thinking that we are naive and unprepared to live in a neighborhood such as District 3 in Oakland. We were a direct target whether for malicious reasons or to keep us on guard. Whatever it was, it was planned and it wasn’t the kindest “Welcome to the Hood” gesture ever.
I will be looking into the type of crimes occurring within my neighborhood I just moved in and the number of times crimes occur.
