WEBVTT

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Bob and Sam, Sam Whittenburg
was, he was a Jew

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and his sons Bob and Don worked with him.
And Bonnie Simon, they were all Jews,

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they were white, and they… they were the original owners
and they were (inaudible) all these black people.

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They were good people and they… they were part of
the community. They respected the people out here.

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They weren\'t just like trying to take advantage of them, they gave
back to the community. You know, they helped a lot of people out,

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when the transition came, you know,
it was a little bit in this,

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because Bonnie and Sam, they had
gone, you know, so, you know,

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as he think, he will come and then do this and
that. You know, that was a challenge in itself,

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to be consistent again, you know, hey it\'s going to be
the same thing, we are going to be down, which you know.

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Yeah they were out here a long time. In fact
people still come in and ask about him.

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People have gone and come away, been gone
and come basis, Sam is still on this.

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[music]

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Hello, how are you all doing? Could I
help you? How much is this (inaudible)?

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This is a 380 gun,

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12 shot. That\'s a GLOCK right?

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Yeah and it\'s 249.95. How many times does it
shoot? How many times does it shoot? 12 shots.

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Yeah. How much does this, right here?

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This is a 32 automatic, this is about
9 shot. Can you put it out like that?

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[sil.]

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9 shot. And this one is 169.95,

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this is Dragon arms.

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Get that… How much is
this… is this diligent,

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like a 22. That\'s a 22 mag. 22 mag? Haa

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5 shots right? Yeah. 5 shots.
And this is 249.95 plus tax.

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What to pay for this one right year?

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No 100. That\'s (mixed
audio) This is 38 revolver.

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Big. That\'s too big…

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Too big. That\'s too big, right there?
This is a 249.95…

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That\'s right. How we got to be to get
that, that 380 right there the GLOCK one.

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You like the 21. 21 21 no
(inaudible) California ID.

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Alright, let me just check it.

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Okay. Thank you.

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[sil.]

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My kids, first of all their ages are

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12, 13, 14, like stair steps, you know,

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they\'re really survivors

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you know, that they\'ve been like to
continue with me in a life that I live in.

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Okay, my son turned from stealing

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to gang activity. He got
stabbed in his right thigh,

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where they almost had to amputate it. During
my addition, they had to eat like (inaudible)

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or McDonalds. They used to have to eat out of the
thrash canes, you know, because I had nothing for them.

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I smoked their… their life away,

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but they\'re survivors. I\'m a single parent

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and I have been a single parent for
the last 13 years. I have a son

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that\'s 15 years old and
we have been together,

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just me and him, since he was 2.
I take care of him

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the same as if I had a wife in the home. The only
thing, he goes to school and he comes to the shop

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in the afternoon and work, and he works on
weekend. We lived in the backhouse, in the back.

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My dad owned this restaurant.
He brought it back in 54,

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and we worked in here when we were going
to high school, over Fremont High School,

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and I have inherited the
business, now I have been here

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for over 10 years and I
enjoy being in this area.

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The black own, my son is stayed up here

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during the riots. He had to put it up here,

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because they were having… just
burning down a lot of stores,

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not only there was black owned, the Korean also.
As it turned out it really didn\'t matter.

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They were just got to burning everything,
but we left without, because it represents,

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you know, yeah I chew the black gold in one of the
few in California pine shops, that are black owned

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and it\'s part of the graffiti that
I like amongst all the others.

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[sil.]

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Eight or nine months
after my son got killed,

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I was up at this parking lot, looking at this
wall and I… it hit me that his name was up here,

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Tom, crossed out then this is Stanley one of
his friends, I think they call him blue rig

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and then there is key, you can see
the key and over here is rife

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for Rifle man. I don\'t know what all of this means.
This is a lot of and everybody\'s trying to cross out

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everybody else\'s neighborhood. It\'s
really shocking to see this on this wall.

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It\'s really hard to, but
this is South Central LA.

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[sil.]

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South Central is actually a very good area.

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It is very central located.

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It has decent housing and at one time

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it had decent businesses in South Central,
and at one time it had lot of jobs.

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But due to the fact that
the riot broke it down,

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all the jobs here leave
and no new jobs come.

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At one time we had good year
hearing, we had firestone,

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several plants in this area and
we also had General Motors,

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which was closed around South Central,
right at South Gate, which was

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right next door to Watts, and
all of that left the area.

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[sil.]

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I\'m on the go.

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Don\'t get on my car.

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That\'s my car. Alright now (inaudible)

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Are you all right?

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[sil.]

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Hi Sarah. (inaudible)

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[sil.]

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Alright, we are done. I will get it back though,
right? Okay that\'s what I will do to you. Okay.

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[sil.]

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Buckhalter, B-U-C-K-H-A-L-T-E-R,

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first name Wave, W-A-V-E.

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[sil.]

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TVs, VCRs, remote control, you
will find microwaves, blenders,

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and sometimes golf clubs.
Well people get short down,

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towards the end of the month, when their money runs out,
because their check haven\'t came yet. So they come in

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and get a few dollars to hold them over until they
receive their checks. And then when they come back

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to cash their check during the first of the month,
they redeem their item and that\'s the turnover

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for me in planning. You know not…
not so much is to try to give them

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amount of money that\'s going to end all of
their problems, but just to illustrate,

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you know turn them, turn them, turn them all on the
loose, so they can get by the rest of the month.

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My concept is, I would like to loan
somebody some money on an item,

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because they have fallen short
of cash, until they get paid,

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and then when they get paid, bring their check
back, cash their check, give the money,

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then redeem their items, where I would make
some interest on the items that they redeem

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and make a little money on cashing
check, and turn it over like that,

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and get repeat customers on that basis. Okay, I
will be right back. County checks come on the firs,

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the SSRI checks also come
on the first of the month.

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On the 3rd the social security checks come and they
cash those and then generally checks come from

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the 1st all the way down to the 29th.
It comes on the same day

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that they get their pools down.

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[sil.]

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So even though they have to pay a 1%, I think
it\'s fee, I\'m not sure, but that\'s minor to them,

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small to them, because if they go to the bank,
I think you have to have… you do have to have

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a certain amount and checking account
and savings account and some of them,

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they don\'t have that extra income. Thank you. Alright
thank you. People are afraid to go to large institutions,

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they don\'t trust them in this area now. They
have no identification still this is there,

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they cannot go to the large institutions now.
When I grew up in this area, it wasn\'t like that.

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The families were working. You had the mother and father, and they worked a
job, and they had pay checks and they had bank with the large institutions.

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Now when I came to this area in 1965,

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we had may be 3 to 4 check
cashing out facility

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in all of South Central, but
after the economy took it\'s dip,

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check cash in places
came up from everywhere.

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So they just buy the money orders and cash
the check, pay 1% or 2%, cash the check,

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buy the money orders, and that\'s
bottom line. There is nothing left.

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Yeah, I can remember a guy coming here with his prosthesis and he
came in with the shoe and everything and pulled his whole leg off

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and started (inaudible) and said
don\'t look at the shoe, he said,

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this is a real good leg. Sometime they come in with
things of gold and of course we don\'t take those.

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They have rings, gold rings, diamond
rings, big diamonds, small diamonds,

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the TVs which they come out, and make sure that they are
working in proper condition. The VCRs, also remote control.

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We make sure they are working
perfectly and they are 1986 up,

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and everything is working. We tell the customers
that we don\'t go higher than 25 on our loans.

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[sil.]

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I remember a funny man coming with his swimmin
chunk, somewhat wet, telling that he just want

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50 cents, so he could catch the bus
and he is coming back tomorrow.

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So don\'t get rid of it, he is
coming back swimming tomorrow.

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So I mean, you know, people come in, they have
got this story, everybody has got a story.

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[sil.]

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Hello, how are you doing? I am doing good.

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Alright.

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Okay, be right back.

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Could you sign it for me please? Yes mam.

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[sil.]

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Thank you, I will be right back.

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Thank you. What do I do to survive?

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I do things, I am not going
to say that they are legal,

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but I somehow call it a better way
than it\'s not really a better way,

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but it\'s a non drug related way okay.
I have friends.

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All my friends are smokers, okay,
that\'s where I came from, you like.

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So if I make $20, then I know that they are going
to want to smoke whatsoever and this is the truth.

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I loan them money, they want to borrow 5, to get whatever,
they need and they have to pay me 10 or 15 back,

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that\'s my survival today. Okay.
It\'s like the 15 days

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(inaudible) and I get paid.

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15, 16, 17, 18, 19, thank you.
The loan is based on the stuff

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that you have to offer them. In other words the bank
is in the business of making money of your money.

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So you are dealing with a community where nobody has
no money, so they can make no money out of this.

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So, but they have to have a front up and say
we are here to help, but they are not going to

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loan you some money on stuff that they cannot
win on. I mean this is the same concept, like…

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just like the prior shops, when the riots came.
Now all this rebuild LA money and stuff.

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Now if I didn\'t have another business that
was feasible to them to loan money on,

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that they could hide, you know, they loan me money on
that, and acting like they are loaning me money on this,

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but if all I have was this pawn
shop, they wouldn\'t loan me a dime.

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When I first came to this area, I mortgaged
my home to get the money to start a business.

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At that time it was almost impossible

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to get a loan in this area to do anything,
from any bank or any lending institution.

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Our plot belonged back, last September,

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to purchase a property
to open a new business

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and I had no luck. Red lining
banks were not loaning

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in a certain area, if it was a zip code

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9008 or 9000 something, then it\'s an
area where there would not loan money.

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[sil.]

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The way I started writing,
was that first I had to…

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I needed a loan, I could get a loan from
the bank. So at the time I was teaching at

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LA Unified School District,
and at that time

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I draw my retirement to get it, because the
banks would not allow me to have a loan.

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I had all the… all the things
that were required to get a loan,

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but I was not able to get a loan. So I draw
my retirement and started this business,

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and I don\'t think there\'s any
difference prior to 1974.

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It\'s the same problem right
now, you cannot get a loan.

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We went to the small business
administration and apply for loan.

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We have got a lot of paper
work, a lot of red rig,

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no forms available, and we are having, so we
decide to put a few dollars to get ourselves

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and create some job for ourselves.

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I really feel and I know that I\'m
going to get this thing of the ground

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with bureaucracy or without it,

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because I\'m determined to make this
thing work. I am trying to get

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maybe a $1,00,000 to set this thing
up, man I know we\'ll get it, no way,

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unless I got a $1,00,000 that I want to put
up. If I have got a $1,00,000 to put up,

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I don\'t need to borrow the money. I am already set
up. But this is the way this system is designed.

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[sil.]

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The police come and the manager, you know
in the old days, the pawn detail would come

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by say once a week, pick up
your pawn slips and look.

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They were basically looking at amounts, in other words,
if you had like a $100 that you loaned somebody,

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or 200 or whatever, and excessively high amount,
they would always want to see this item,

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because you know, of the promise that if a pawn shop
give you this kind of money, it must be worth for

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the whole lot of money. They would check
the items and say like rings and stop,

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you know, and they would say, well we are going
to put a hold on this, this might be robbery,

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stolen, or stuff like that, or nice guns,

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and they wouldn\'t return your stuff. That\'s why I came
over to promise that I am not going to first get stuck

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with a whole lot of money loan to anybody. I am going to keep the
amount lower, they are not just going to look at amount and say,

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well I want to see this because, you know, just don\'t
look at something and say because it looks good,

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it\'s got to be stolen, because we got it.

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[sil.]

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I was also told not to let the home inside,
detectives were investigating his murder,

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no he was a gang member, because they don\'t
really delve into, who killed gang members,

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it was like one less black kid on the street,
but I did tell the truth and I am glad I did,

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because they already knew he was,
they had a file on him, you know,

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because they take… they took pictures, I didn\'t know this. They come to
South Central LA, taking pictures of the young black kids, boys primarily,

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you know, who they think might be gang affiliated. You know,
we are finding pictures, since we are trying to move,

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we were finding pictures of him with blue rags around his face
and giving up different signs and my mother just shakes her head

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and she says, no that was not my baby, he
didn\'t… he doesn\'t like that, you know.

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Tony was brought up in the church. His father died,
before he was born. He got killed in Vietnam.

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He was raised by three mothers, myself,

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his paternal grandmother,
his… you know, my mother,

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and he was brought up to with the word ethic,
and brought up to believe in serving the lord.

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However, by the age of 14 or 15, I am not sure
when, because he was living his grandparents,

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he got caught up in this
gang in South Central L.A.

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and decided to take his own little route.
He had his all food for a while though,

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because he kept going to church every Sunday,
that was a requirement. He had to go to church,

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he was attending school. And by the time we
found out how involved he was with the gangs,

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he had dropped out of school at around
age 16 and was off in the streets.

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[sil.]

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Yes, if only I left LA, if
only he hadn\'t been exposed to

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things he was exposed to, and
bottom line to it, I don\'t think

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I could have saved him, that was
his destiny to die, like he did.

00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:08.000
[sil.]

00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
Oh this is like a little fast and stable, and
you know for, what next six months or so,

00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
you know, you get a brand new hat or beanie, you
leave the tag on, so everybody know it was new,

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
you know, well I guess you will be (inaudible) if that\'s what
you want to call it, want to tag it all and that get you know,

00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
kind of wrinkled up, and you just take the tag off
from your beanie, oh you got to get a new one.

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
Well my life,

00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
my life right now, is okay, is
not the best that it could be,

00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
you know, I have two grandparents that I stay with, they love
me, they make sure that I am going to be alright, you know,

00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
I have what I need, if I cannot get it myself,
they will help. It\'s the struggle right now,

00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
because I want a chance, but you know, I have done
some pretty bad things in my life and my record

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
speaks for itself from the juvenile, all the way up
to now, I am 23 years old, I didn\'t pretty much,

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
you could say, done it all, everything, and
they won\'t give me a chance. If I get a chance,

00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
I know I can success, because I want to
work, it\'s just that I won\'t get no chance.

00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
So I got to do what I got to do, put my hustle down,
do this, look of car stereos, look up car alarms,

00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
fix house stereos, install speakers, you know, I
am… that\'s what I do, I am good with all that.

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
I like electronics and news. It was
just like a 3 or 4 months job,

00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
you know, I am trying to find some permanent,
because I cannot keep doing the things

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
that I am doing to survive
right now, and so we work…

00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
work putting showers around the
neighborhood, installation of bath tubs,

00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
ceilings, and it was a good
job though, they pay good.

00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
I made… I was making like 20
dollars and 63 cents an hour.

00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
They moved to Rosemead

00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
and I had no… no transportation, so I had to let it
go, because I had no other way to get out that far,

00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
and so I have been looking ever since then, but I
don\'t want to mess. You know, it\'s kind of hard

00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
for a young black guy, who has been
to jail few times, get a nice job.

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
That I cannot go into no body\'s shop or car
stereo place, I would be like, I can do this,

00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
but they want to see a piece of paper, a
diploma something to say that I can do it,

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
but I don\'t have that, and he won\'t give me the chance, because I
am black and also I have a record. He won\'t give me no chance.

00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
How does it make you feel? A little
angry, but I am kind of used to it,

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
because like I said it\'s always everybody looking out for number 1, so
what\'s going to make me think, this guy, this going to look out for,

00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
I got to look out for myself. I am
going to expect no hands from no body.

00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
That\'s the way it goes, that\'s the way
it is, nobody won\'t help, nobody.

00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:23.000
[sil.]

00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
How are you doing?

00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
33, 33, 56.

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:23.000
[sil.]

00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
Alright, we want $40.

00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
[sil.]

00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
Oh, I don\'t say, well I want to get off the county, I
want to get mid job, and work, this is not enough money,

00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
but then they have children and they have to look for a babysitter
and all that, and a lot of children are going to kindergarten,

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
which their parents have to pick them up.
A lot of times nursery schools

00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
don\'t pick up their children. They have to pick
them up themselves. So they have to get more money

00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
in order to get babysitter, so they still
in the county till they can do better.

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
People don\'t like these checks.
You get $500 or $600 a month,

00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
you cannot even sleep in the car with that
kind of money and eat with three or four kids,

00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
you cannot do it. I work
here at my uncle\'s shop.

00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:25.000
It\'s a black owned shop and we have been here six months and
it\'s my first experience. I have work in a cafe before.

00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
And I, I mean, I like it, I enjoy
because it\'s something different,

00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
because by trade I am a computer analyst.
So I was out of work,

00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
and my daughter Amber she comes down
here on Saturdays and helps me out.

00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
I like to call it, it\'s like a bag of hope,
these accounting checks or whatever, this is,

00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
that will be given away. They open the bag of
hope, (inaudible) feed chicken till that time,

00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
and chickens go (inaudible). I
think this is a big conspiracy

00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
against this particular community.
You know, just like a big sedentary,

00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:09.999
taking everybody from society. Put
numbers on them and throw them aside.

00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:14.999
Mostly a black male is on welfare,

00:26:15.000 --> 00:26:19.999
as one time or another, had a decent job,

00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.999
and it\'s same that goes with black
man as black women, they had a job,

00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:29.999
making 10 12 bugs an hour, to job folder

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
and they cannot find a job making 425
or 5 bugs and they can draw that check

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
and stay at home, it makes
it very easy to do,

00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
but there were more jobs in the area.
A lot of these men

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
wouldn\'t be on welfare because I don\'t
know what welfare pays the man,

00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
but I know, it\'s not a lot.

00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:03.000
[sil.]

00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
Okay 20, 40, 60,

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
81, 20, 40, 60, 80, 92,

00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
10, 15, 21, 22, thank you. Welcome.

00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:38.000
[sil.]

00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
Okay let me go ask her. Yeah. A lot of people don\'t
have ID you know, and I know the bank is not going to

00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
work with them. I mean, if you don\'t
handle ID, I will go out and get you more,

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
where you had your car fixed
or traffic ticket signed

00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
or you\'ve just been out… you are jail
released, you know, or call your social work,

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
you know, I name, I will go another step to
work with you, you know what I am saying?

00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
Yeah. Because they sent a check there
and the cancellation will take

00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
traffic tickets that they signed for an officer,
we also take the bus certificate with their sign,

00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
for their children, with their signature on, there we
can use that for ID. We also make cards from those too.

00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
This is because B12, 11,

00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
which would take the… their picture and we take their IDs, so if they
haven\'t lose their ID, they can always come back and cash their checks,

00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
so we have ID on file. Your
birthday is going to stay the same

00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
and your signature is going to be the same.
Those things, you can always relate back to,

00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
you know, because you could look
at a picture and you know, I mean,

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
they sent you, based on what life has done to
do, you know, all the changes you\'ve been to,

00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
the weight you gained or lost, you know,
there have been a bad accident to some,

00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
but if I can ask you what\'s your birthday,
and you know, and get you to sign your name,

00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
then I got it. If they don\'t have the cards that they don\'t
know their numbers, what we do we have a cross reference card,

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
which is over here, right here, which they don\'t
have the card, we just look at their names

00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
and we find their card numbers and
then we refer back to the file

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
and we identify time, then they cash their checks
and that\'s the way, that\'s how we keep our files,

00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
in case if they lose their ID,
they can always cash their checks.

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:48.000
[sil.]

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
At first of the month, you got some money,

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
but time to pay the bills, bring little food, downtown food for the kids,
and then you are out of money to send the kid to school on the bus,

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
or what have you. You know, so
(inaudible) let me have a few bugs

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
to lessen to the next
phase, this is a cycle.

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
So banks won\'t loan, they won\'t get people

00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
check in accounts, so they have to go
to the loan places to get their money

00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
and then sometimes people get
short between the month time

00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
and they have to go and borrow
some money on… certain articles,

00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
cameras and things like this. He will get
$20 and then when he gets his money back,

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
he can pay it, but he would do this every
month, it\'s just over and over and over.

00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:58.000
[sil.]

00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
(inaudible)

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
No on your IDs, I have to correct.
(inaudible)

00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:23.000
[sil.]

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
Okay, excuse me Mrs. Smith.

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
But someone is still suffering, I mean that\'s
just daringness, because they come in,

00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
and set themselves up. I am assuming that if you bring, if
you are stupid enough to come in, it will have stole the TV

00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
and leave your name and address, with the,
I mean what can I do for you, you know?

00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
So but in this (inaudible) bring it in and
then use someone else\'s idea, whatever.

00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
You can kind of put it together with
somebody, if it stays in that, you know

00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
cannot come home with a (inaudible)
problem here, you know.

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
No I said he can sign it for you.
Sigh for me.

00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
Yeah and then you can pick it up. And I
can pick it up. Yeah, but if you lose it,

00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:14.999
then you have to find him. I have to find
him. You have to have a set of rules,

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:19.999
you know, when you are in business, you know so that what
you know had to fluctuate so much and pick and choose,

00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
if you are going to give, just
give it too much in pocket,

00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
you don\'t go to the changes, and making it a business
arrangement, meaning not having anything of value to sell,

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
you know, all along, they didn\'t have it to start
with, that\'s why they were here asking you.

00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
And here is where we put
the amount of the item

00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
and down is where we sign and then they
sign here and here and on the back of here,

00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
it\'s where they put their thumb print on here. And on this side,
this is there receipt, where we put the name of the item,

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
the amount of the item, then the date. Then
the date and then the name of the person.

00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
So that\'s how you know… that\'s how you know the
items are matching up, because, and the tape.

00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
Now these were the original
pan tickets were wrote

00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
in this type of… in a book like
this, which was kind of ancient,

00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
this is the original. That\'s how
they used to look. After 3 months

00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
the interest changes, and then in 2 months
they send them a notice, and then after that

00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
the item goes out for sale.

00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
[sil.]

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
There we have here are the gun books that
we use to sell, when the gun is sold,

00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
the deals record are saved
and we have to keep these,

00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
because if the gun is stolen or ever lost or misplaced,
we keep these on file so the person come back

00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
and tell us, you know, that the gun is missed, so we can
get out their name, because it not, and be in their name,

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
and if somebody takes it and robs some or shoots
somebody, then the police will be looking for them.

00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
So therefore we have a record of every gun that
we have ever sold and these books go back to 78

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
and 1976 and so on.

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
He was my father, Peter . He\'s deceased.
He\'s the one that gave me this game

00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
and all the knowledge to run this
place and I come in every day

00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
and I read this. God is my ever-present
comfort, that basically keeps me

00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
centered about who it is all
about in essence, the Lord

00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
and this is my little girl.
It\'s her first birthday party

00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
and this is my son

00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
and he was a little stepper here. They\'ve
all grown up now, here she is graduating

00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
and this is him, and he is seeing
here, he is quite a football player.

00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
He was in Crenshaw High School, and
this is Mr. Lark Café himself,

00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
just to do, well better known as kings,
now you guys have taken 100film,

00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
but that was the original one of it. My
little girl wrote me this, when she was about

00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
nine years old. Dear dad, you look so
handsome when you are in the bathroom

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
shaving and saying that I just want
to tell you right then and there,

00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
but I can\'t because I am so ashamed.
So please try to understand

00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
that I love you more than anybody
in the world, except for god,

00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
but still you and god are almost
about a tie. And then she says,

00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
thank you for putting food on the table.

00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
And for some reason I had to keep every
little piece of paper, every scrap,

00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
this is a estimate of how much his funeral would cost and I kept
that, and this is the estimate of how much his beuro will cost,

00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
I kept that. As soon as
the boy was released

00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
from the corners\' office, I wanted to get him here as
soon as possible, because I thought it could behind me.

00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
May 6th was his twin sister\'s birthday and they said,
mom you cannot burry him on her 18th birthday,

00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
17th birthday, he was 17 when he
got killed. Where, when I was in…

00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
at the funeral, at the church, Tony was
brought up in paradise Baptist Church,

00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
this way he was baptized, serving
(inaudible). That\'s tony.

00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
When he was 4 years old, still a milk kid.

00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
This is Tony\'s baby, he was 3-weeks old,
when Tony got killed. He is a junior,

00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
Anthony Natalie junior. This
is Tony\'s little step son,

00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
given up a gang sign, he was 4 years old and he
has been brought up in the manner of the gangs.

00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
4 years old. This was a flower.
Someone had placed a blue flower,

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
blue of course for grip, on his grave, on his
22nd birthday. It\'s not blue any longer,

00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
but it was when I put it in his book. This
was the first Christmas without my son

00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
and that was a point setter.

00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
Is either gangs, red or blue,

00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
our choice between colors, our
choice between (inaudible)

00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
to come and watch my first game, so
first thing I found out about red.

00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
That\'s all I knew. I didn\'t know there
was a color blue against red okay.

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
I did, I grew up with… and everything, I never gang
banged with them in my life, but I (inaudible)

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
but I know they had enemies
that were different color.

00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
You know, I didn\'t know that when I came to Washington,
while I was age 16, and I didn\'t know them,

00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
until once upon a time I got shot at, you know,
I am (inaudible) one side of (inaudible)

00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
to the other side. It\'s like the bullet was
so close. It like kind of brushed my ear

00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
and it sound like a bee going by, you know. And like the
guy from the cross street said, get down, get down,

00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
okay I got duck, he said someone is shooting at you. I
didn\'t even realized this. I didn\'t even realize this.

00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:53.000
[sil.]

00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
This what he wrote right here.
These were poor friends that are

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
with us no more. (inaudible)
this is my brother (inaudible)

00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
that we are (inaudible) for blood and peace. When it would
(inaudible) what that all mean, they still cannot be (inaudible).

00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
[sil.]

00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
I had a twin brother, his name
was (inaudible) seen you,

00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
in 1987 October 21st,

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
when he was on a van… he was on a motor cycle. He was
in accident, you know, and that took my brother\'s life.

00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
So he is not here when (inaudible) I had no
other brothers and sisters, so for my Jim here,

00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
my Anthony here, and my Corey over here
to my left. These are my brothers now,

00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
if they need me any way anyhow, I will do anything
for him, because that\'s how strong the love is.

00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
It was like we (inaudible) football field, (inaudible)
time we all grew up like that, we all grew up

00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
like little scrubs, and (inaudible) and they
are full grown trees now, we don\'t stay strong

00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
and stay together. This is my
location here and which I moved here

00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
after the reds (inaudible), which as you
can see this was once a market here,

00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
which is now gone, which
gives me great exposure,

00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
but unfortunate to the scenes of
this area, they don\'t really have

00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
a place to go shop, what\'s in a 10 or 12 block
radius, this makes thing very complicated for them.

00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
And these (inaudible)

00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
and things (inaudible) fallen down and
being tore down and all the confusion

00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
and deception, you see anything that
stands, that stands consistently.

00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
You know, something you can count on is still
there, just to come to the store everyday

00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
and it\'s still open and it\'s still there, the last
bit is sold out, when other bit is burned out.

00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
The people did got killed, you know, riot,
the burnout. So anything that is consistent,

00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
you know, you get a level
of respect from that.

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
And during the riots, they came in

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
and (inaudible) I had all my displays,
guns, and ranks and stuffs like that.

00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
All the stuff was tore, they tore that out.

00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
So also we had lot of microwaves, TVs,
all of this was, was stuff in pawn that

00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
during the riots they came in and took all of
that, all the stuff was filled up with stuff.

00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
So I haven\'t replaced it yet.

00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
So now I have been putting my guns, you know, few display
up in the window here, till I get the cases fixed,

00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
because I didn\'t want to get them fixed too soon
before the other (inaudible) we are going to

00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
start under that. So also I
keep my Jewelry up in here now

00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
to little bit of it, they stole a
lot of that too during that thing.

00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
Even since the riots of 92, our
business have dropped approximate

00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
40 to 50%, because people
that were coming to the area

00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
with all the media coverage,
now is afraid to come.

00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Sometimes I have to go
to other sources like

00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
check cashing places and friends
that own business to borrow money.

00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
They\'re going to talk all that on the television,
but see no body follows up after they leave the TV

00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
and the big committee meeting. Nobody follows up to see
if they followed up. Yes (inaudible) on the things,

00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
say yeah we are going to help all the
small businesses to rebuild and get back

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
way you were and you know, all that bullshit.
Lot of people are stepping up then

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
and then now behind the closed doors,
you won\'t tell them, you know,

00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
I have enough collateral, you don\'t have, which
you should have said that from the (inaudible).

00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
I mean to me, I want you to tell me, which, I am,
from star. I (inaudible) telling me the truth,

00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
you know, but don\'t play me, this is what the
system does and in this community, they play you.

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.999
I really don\'t think

00:42:35.000 --> 00:42:39.999
as a one man, I have an option.
Basically most people

00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.999
leaved the area. But at
this time I worked in

00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:49.999
South Central for 17 years, and I\'m
happy and I am comfortable here.

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
[sil.]

00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
And I have seen the area changed
in the last may be 30 years,

00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
the black business, don\'t have very many
black businesses in this area now and we are

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
one of the original black business owners in the
area, we have maintained and stayed in this area.

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
There is no stability in this area so

00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
people are just living from
day-to-day, week-to-week.

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
Right now, if down to the bare necessities,

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
people don\'t buy anything that they don\'t
have to, and when they do, they wait till

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
last minute to do it. A perfect example
here is the small checks. You have 45 days

00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
before you get small checks, with
the economy, the way it is now

00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
most people wait until the last day,

00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
because they don\'t have the funds, and that\'s
one of the problems. Believe it or not

00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
in the 70s and in the early
80s, people didn\'t do that.

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
Spending was sky high, because
people had money, they had jobs,

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
aircraft was building, and
then later the companies

00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
expanded of the aircrafts, so it was a lot
of money and people were spending money

00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
at that particular time.
As time has got tougher

00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
they start tightening up the
bills and you get (inaudible) of

00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
a really good week and then it\'s
a bad week and then good week

00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
and it\'s up and down, you never know, what to expect,
when you come to work. This can be a good day or bad day.

00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
[sil.]

00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
I would still need money\'s to be funded to
try to get the thing out of the ground,

00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
but we got to persist in the direction

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
that we\'re going

00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
and basically that\'s it, and just pray
to god that it works. And to thank,

00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
stretched out some breaks, where we can
possibly have 10 or 15 people, then.

00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
We can get away from that cycle, (inaudible)
cycle, month to month cycle. You get money today,

00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
tomorrow you borrow.

00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:18.000
[sil.]

00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
Well I\'m (inaudible) so long,

00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
you cannot take that. Well it has to
be (inaudible) Where am I going to

00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
get a (inaudible).

00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
Oh well.

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
You have to be careful when you are pawning people\'s
items, you are dealing with something that is special

00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:54.999
to a lot of people, that may have not a
lot of value or materialistic worth,

00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
but to them it means a lot, so
when you when you say, you know,

00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
the terminology I like to use is that we\'re just
not making any loans today, not necessarily,

00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
we are not taking your item, and it makes the
transition of not loaning some money little smooth,

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
because you have to realize, when they
get to this point, it\'s the last stop.

00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
They tried all options of getting some, but
no one like to come with the items in pawn,

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
a (inaudible) as they said in old days,
but… So this is the last option for them,

00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
so you know, you want to let them leave in here with
a little hope and that not making things worse,

00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
you know that they already are. I mean,
myself, I want to take a nice trip someday

00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
with my family and kids, whenever they
popup and have fun, but I cannot do it,

00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
doing the things I do, because you know, money
comes and goes so fast out here on the street,

00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
personally the study, pay check,
keep things going in this, for us,

00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
family, house, and things like that.

00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
He was a provider at 13 years old, my son
Taivon Cunningham was a provider okay.

00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
It was like he would go out and steal and he would
come in, I don\'t smoked up all the money okay

00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
and he would come in, he is like, hey mom here is
$50, really I am like, where did you get this from,

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
but really need it, because my kids hadn\'t gotten anything to eat, I
am like okay thank you. But you better tell me what you are doing,

00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
okay and he continued to do this, until he
got stabbed in the leg, and amputated it.

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
And then you know, I kind of woke up, I
woke up. I said I don\'t want a better life,

00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
I can at least show him a better life, you
know me. So I had, I showed him a better life.

00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
That\'s the hardest thing in the world to
do to keep on trying to want to live,

00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
find reasons to live, when your child is dead. I
think, had Tony died of illness or something,

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
I could have accepted a little bit better, but
just talk to your son one hour and two hours later

00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
he is laying up in a body bag, I
mean that… that is so traumatic.

00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
So I just have to try to figure out
ways, I have two daughters, twins,

00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
and one is in college, she just loves it, she had
to get away from LA, after her brother died,

00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
her main goal was to leave Los Angeles, and I
am so proud of her for going on to college

00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
and trying to maintain her life. My other
is married, and has a little child

00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
and she has got her baby to keep her company. The better opportunities
first of all, out of lots. I had to show them a better light,

00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:19.999
and (inaudible) is a good place,
this is my home, I love here,

00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
I would never leave, right. But I had to show my kids better,
you know, this is all I know, I had to show them different,

00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
right, okay. They both are staying
in Upland California now,

00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
when my oldest daughter
was just 23 and you know,

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
they are well on their way. That\'s all it took, just little
bit of, just little difference from what I lived, okay.

00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
And I wanted them to have better.

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
My son\'s plan is to going to high school,
finish high school and college, and then

00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
major in management accounting
one of those fields,

00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
and then possibly if we still
can survive in south central,

00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:04.999
he plans to come to work here.
There is going to be a job market,

00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:09.999
but I don\'t ever thing it would be
another job market for the black,

00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
because South Central right
now is about 60% Hispanics

00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
and is growing and as a rule

00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
they have their own people. So it
would never be a good job market

00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
in South Central for blacks any more.
So a lot of people don\'t,

00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
they don\'t care what goes around here, they see
somebody dead on the street, where there is blood

00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
or other kind of people, you know, they just think there was another
gang banger there, but that was somebody\'s brother, father,

00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
sister, mother, aunty, cousin, whatever,

00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
you don\'t say, and it was somebody,
somebody loved that person,

00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
even if it was just a drug addict on the street, somebody
loved him, but you know, a lot of people don\'t care.

00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
They just think, oh well it will never hit my town, but it\'s always going to happen, it\'s
going to happen because trouble is spreading everywhere, everybody needs to slow down

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
and think about everything that\'s going on for a minute. The life
that they think they are living, they think that is the better life,

00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
they think that\'s the better life, they think that you
know, one day I am going to go to the promised man heaven.

00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
You make your own heaven a hell, right here
on earth. Life is only what you make it,

00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
only what you make it. You know,
people say well we are down,

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
us blacks are down, because the white people keeps us
down, no this is not true, this is not true. Life is only

00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
what you make it, what you want out of it.
Opportunity is for all.

00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
We are liberating, now opportunity is
for all, black, white, purple, blue.

00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
[sil.]

00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
And nobody is in your heart,

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
if it is actually being done, I mean
oh yeah, that\'s a lot, (inaudible)

00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
making decisions, go home and say, I
really would like to help those people,

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
but they don\'t mean shit, you know what I am saying is,
what you do, you know what I am saying. So the end

00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
result of the deed is what I am saying. It\'s
always about the end result of the deed.

00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
It don\'t matter, where you started or where
you are going, it\'s what you end up doing,

00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
you know what I am saying, so with that fact end
result of the deed is nothing is happening,

00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
nothing is getting done, and people are still
out here in the shape they were in and there is

00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
a whole lot of money, post headed his
way, I won\'t let you know that, tell me.

00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:33.000
[sil.]

00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
Okay I would like to get you to sign
where the two Xes are. Alright.

00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:48.000
[sil.]

00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
Here,

00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
(inaudible)

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
[sil.]

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
Okay, I am going to need your thumb print,

00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
your right thumb. Okay. Alright. One there.

00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
Thank you. And you have

00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
three months in which to pick it up

00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
and thank you very much.
Alright, can I get my money.

00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
Oh my money is here, money is here.

00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:48.000
[sil.]

00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
Here you go 25.

00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
Okay, alright. Thank you. Thank you. Like I
have six months? Well you have three months,

00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
at three months the interest changes, okay and
then two months after that I send you notice.

00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:09.999
What 75 cent. No no it\'s $20 right now.

00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:14.999
Okay. Okay after three months
it goes a dollar month. Okay.

00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:19.999
Then after the two months I will send you a notice,
if you still don\'t come here, the sixth month

00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:24.999
your thing goes up for sale. Alright. So I hope you come
back before that time. Okay, yeah I will. Okay thank you.

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:29.999
Thank you, alright.

00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:38.000
[sil.]