Amor is absurd. To promote it as the base for a movement is to embrace insanity. Love is too passionate and caliente—a burning trash can in the middle of the night. Amor leads to ashes. From ashes I came, to ashes I will return, so why fear or negate my own dust? I was born into San Fran streets where the superheroes were not Batman or Wolverine. The bad-asses were the lowriders, the cockroaches who cruised las calles proclaiming through their dance—in the face of so much despair and desperation–“We exist!” No doubt about their powers. They convinced me of … Continue reading “Amor for Alex” Film Premiere and Lowrider Show

THE REAL NEWS ABOUT ALEX NIETO! ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S REPORT DECIDING NOT TO FILE CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO POLICE OFFICERS WHO KILLED ALEX NIETO ON MARCH 21, 2014 Welcome to the real news! Scholarship student and security guard Alex Nieto never pointed a taser at San Francisco Police Officers Sawyer and Schiff. There is at least one witness who saw everything and emphatically confirms that Alex Nieto never pointed a taser at officers. This witness was never interviewed for the district attorney’s report. But for one moment let’s forget the witness. The district … Continue reading THE REAL NEWS ABOUT ALEX NIETO! ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S REPORT DECIDING NOT TO FILE CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO POLICE OFFICERS WHO KILLED ALEX NIETO ON MARCH 21, 2014

An excerpt from my new book Renaissance Homeboy: When I began law school in Fall 2001, I felt my job was not to be critical but first to be secretly submissive. Many years earlier in Marine Corps boot camp, a drill instructor had barked in my face: “Scumbag, do you want to be private or a Sergeant?” He thought it was a simple rhetorical question. “Sir, this recruit wants to be a private.” I looked forward so as not to eyeball him. “You must be the stupidest rock I’ve ever seen in my life!” He jumped about two feet in … Continue reading Law School Education

Education in the educational institution was not my priority. I wanted to be someone, and to be someone I had to belong to a gang, but I was too fearful to make that ultimate move. I was doing an excellent job of keeping under the radar. Besides my brother, no one was bullying me. I was intelligent enough to know how not to create too much attention, but during lunch when I saw the separate sets of solid homeboys on the Luther Burbank school courtyard, what I saw was coolness and power, and I sensed that it was more than … Continue reading An Excerpt from my New Book, Renaissance Homeboy

No capital or curriculum can solve all our educational problems. We must individually and collectively make a lifestyle change. Introducing genius to each other is a start; sharing our innovative genius with each other is a beginning. Forget a classroom as the root of education; spirit is always the root, whether you believe in spirit or not. Call spirit something else if you really want to, even call it nothing: you will not insult it because both spirit and you know that even nothing, the great emptiness, is something or eventually becomes something, even if it is simply death. But … Continue reading Authentic Educational Empowerment

Over a year-long sabbatical, I was able to complete my new book, Renaissance Homeboy, an unprecedented exploration into the education of a former street kid and Marine turned professor and philosopher. Click on the link to enjoy the preface and first chapter 🙂 https://todobododown.wordpress.com/nonfiction-writing/ Continue reading Renaissance Homeboy