the church

La Villita: a church in the neighborhood. We got to meet with the senior pastor, and as I loved what he had to say, I decided that quotes would be appropriate. Especially since the last posts have been a bit too rant-ish.

Quotes form Victor:
on the neighborhood...
"Right now is not a good time to be a Latino"
on young people...
"You guys are the bomb, but you give up too easy because you're used to having things instantaneously."
on immigrants...
"The illegal immigrants are taking maybe 3-5% of the good jobs. Do you want to pick strawberries for $.70 a bucket? Ok then. Think about the hypocrisy: don't come! but if you do... we will have some sort of job waiting for you."
on church...
"The least important thing we do all week is our service on Sunday."
on community...
"Engaging the neighbors is what matters: share life."

Following our fabulous meeting with Victor(a genius in the church loving community) it was time for some pizza! Lou Malneti's was the place of choice... and not just any franchise. We went to the Lawndale branch. This store is the 10th in the local chain, and all proceeds go to Lawndale Community Development. Plus, it is a place for the men of the Hope House (a drug rehabilitation program) to gain experience. Can you say awesome system?

In other words, today was encouraging for the most part, which was just what the doctor ordered.

Side note: we also drove by the lot where MLK Jr's house once stood. Mayor Daley had it bulldozed. Seriously? Somehow, I just feel like that was a childish move. Regardless, Daley gets the bad rap in history for the day.