Category: East Los

De Escalation – Tensions are high but they could be diffused more often if we had a better outlook.

Hugo was an angry young man in Los Angeles during the late 90s and 2000s. Luckily his anger didn’t land him in serious hot water. Now at 40 plus years he has rethought his approach to dealing with situations where tempers are flaring and how that could impact the lives of his kin. Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated.
Today on the Show:
Boyz n the Hood clip: https://youtu.be/W1fv8bPOwGk
Cholo Definition by Urban Dictionary:  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cholo
Subscribe to the Podcast or you can find Hugo on Twitter at @hugosposts on Insta at @hugotorres or his blog at sangabrielvalley.blogspot.com  

A Brown Boy’s Wish

The North Star reflected off the eye of the brown little boy who beheld it that evening. 
A salty tear had well up and now trailed down his cheek that still smarted from the earlier slap that was now starting to turn his skin red even in the dark of his room. His back stung from the belt lashes too but those were familiar and less agonizing. He stood there at the window wishing to the star at the north for a different reality but unlike the movies the twinkling never materialized into a fairy godmother to grant him his wish. 

A walk a near mile in the Cold

And so I told them this morning…From near a top North Eastman Avenue to Belvedere Junior High down below is a mile long walk that I made each and every day no matter how cold the morning or how East LA hot the afternoon. I never ever once complained and I never made my parents late.

PS: The Administrative Team here at Casa Torres also serving as council to the mentioned patriarch cannot confirm the voracity of the claims the aforementioned is making. Mr. Torres has been hereby warned about his over seasoning of facts as it pertains to lecturing his offspring on cold mornings. We (the Administrative Team) apologize to any and all who may have been miffed by Mr. Torres

Dad Aid

So there I was this morning trying hard to ignore the unusual cacophony coming from other rooms in my house and trying to stay on schedule. Just as I was drafting one of a series of important emails to a client and was thinking of the words I’d say to the next one I heard the cautious footsteps of my youngest approaching my desk. 
She then preceded to tell me that her brother had cut himself in the leg. I braced for what was next. Sure enough when I found him in a ballerina pose there we blood at midway up his tibia in two distinct places and I winced. 
My job as a dad though is to clean, treat, scold and hug. I did all those and as I placed the last Band Aid on the kid and asked them to be more careful I had a flashback of me as a boy with a gash on my leg after some street-football on Eastman Ave in East LA.

Cholo

Most each and every morning and even sometimes at midday my mama would perform an audit. Her threshold was clear…thou shall not wear clothing or style one’s hair in such a manner as to connote a resemblance to a “Cholo” for me or a “Chola” for my sisters. This meant that pants were to actually fit at the waist and underwears were meant to be kept under and never seem. Hair was to be cut by her and it mirrored my papa’s distinguished (old fashioned) look. No wild designs on clothes, no flashy brands. 
It is a testament then that in spite of all this I still had an unauthorized girlfriend in High School though mama Torres sure had plenty to say about that!

True Hugo

At Belvedere Junior High circa 1991 a bunch of boys and I would have clandestine meetings on the south eastern part of campus. There at about lunch time we’d partake in some shady business with a woman who came up Michigan Ave every school day to meet us. There, while the look outs kept watch you could buy a fully loaded Torta for a couple of bucks (50