THE JOSEPH LEE GYM FIASCO (8/25/07)
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There use to be a time when after a hard day's at my office on Third and Palou, I would walk a block and watch the youth play ball. And sometimes if I was lucky and there was something nice at the Opera House - that too made my day. It was a pleasure visiting the Seniors.
The Joseph Lee Gym has been a safe haven for thousands of youth for too may years. Many famous football and basket ball players remember the Joseph Lee Gym. And when they think of the Gym they think of their mentors, the coaches, those that encouraged them to play hard at games and do better still at school. And then you have those that will be in for trouble but those too in the course of time had to learn to be disciplined to play well in order to make the team. The last two years plus the Joseph Lee has been closed for renovation and the timing was perfect for those that wanted our youth to be incarcerated and more. Only the devil could have come out with such a devious plan - shut the Joseph Lee Gym and also the Milton Myer Gym at the same time - close to summer time and in one scoop, permit so and so to make their round ups. Twenty five percent of the youth in our City live in the Southeast Sector and most of that comprises the Bayview Hunters Point. These youth need a place to play and the Joseph Lee Gym, Milton Myer, and the Boys and Girls Club by Kiska Road fulfilled that need for the youth to play and be safe. Did anyone say something and do something when the sell outs came in and did what they pleased? Let us watch out for those that think they will run the gyms without much scrutiny. Sophie Maxwell the most despicable jack ass on this planet represents her pocket and the cronies that have not taken a stand for our youth. So, now is the time to recall the evil woman and send her packing. Because of her actions, too many youth have been incarcerated. These actions have failed the youth in all the departments and she should be ashamed of herself as a representative and more of District 10. From time to time I visited the site on which the Joseph Lee Gym stands. The renovation progress is slow and the job shoddy. You cannot expect a lot from the Recreation and Park and the contractor is not from San Francisco and the workers from far off places - never seen one single person work at the site from the neighborhood. Just before the Joseph Lee Gym was shut Captain Rick Bruce and many of his contacts volunteered to fix the Joseph Lee Gym and the Milton Myer Gym and there would be night basketball games. Many thought that would never, ever happen but it did. I saw rival gangs and foes that thought ill of one another play ball and move to a better place. I saw cousins learn about cousins, at the gyms and before that they were deadly enemies. That is what some folks do segregate and design the most convoluted plans to make people hate one another. Imagine cousin killing cousin - only to find out at the burial ceremonies, the truth. This is a fact and this fact has been perpetuated for a long, long time by the forces that want our community to go away. It is called depopulation. It is also called Gentrification. Mayor Gavin Newsom will come soon with his rabid ass to cut the ribbon and you will see the many sell outs hang around him to eat bread crumbs from under the table. The days of the "masta" one thought was far removed from today's reality but some Negros will never get it - they are deep into the plantation mentality. So now what about all the youth that were incarcerated and are angry they cannot get good jobs because of their record. What about the many dead on street corners because these same youth could have been at a safe haven playing ball and been alive today? I know a lot of them that were shot and Sophie Maxwell who has been used like a rag - does not give a rat's ass that so many youth have died. She is the devil incarnate if you dig what I mean. I knew of Damone Hale and others that would take youth to place outside San Francisco and outside the State to play ball and many of the youth saw a different world and learned good stuff. Other coaches too many to mention felt sad because no one had the decency to sit down and plan future plans for the youth. Seniors too would hang around and play cards and crack jokes and live a life. Now and then there was a party of sorts and all was good. Now, for the last two years and more - you see so much dirt, you smell crap, the construction is slow and the youth and good life non existent. There is a cloud of death hovering around the Joseph Lee Gym where once there was vibrant life and joy. It is time we take our community back and teach the sell outs a lesson. Anyone that has anything to do with Sophie Maxwell in anathema and one should watch out for the witches brew. Some of the old leaders have been talking the talk but cannot walk the walk. We, the community must stop the crime and check mate the killers. The thugs are running free because they think they can do as they please. It is wrong to perpetuate Black on Black violence and for leaders to sit and allow rampant crime to take place and accept it as if you are eating a hot dog! How many of you have seen a safe haven where you do not have to pay a leg and an arm so that children can be children? The YMCA has come to town but few want to go near it. The one woman Director who was with it has now joined Lennar BVHP LLC as some community liaison. Lennar the company that kills our children by bombarding the environment with the worst type of toxic dirt and add to that the killer Asbestos Dust that gets you fifteen to twenty years down the line. Watch out for anyone that has any remote contact with Lennar BVHP LLC and the many lies it throws with bread crumbs. The day the Joseph Lee Gym is opened and the ribbon cut some one must mention the truth. Whose plan was it to close the Joseph Lee Gym during Summer two years ago? Who is responsible for the many youth spending time incarcerated? What about those that died - whose hands have blood on them? How many Seniors are worse off today and have been for over two years? Many have left us forever and will never be seen because they are dead. They little socializing they had going for them was snatched from them - and they had to leave this Earth sad and lonely. I use to meet some of them, before they passed away and they were not too happy. I have taken some photographs for you all to check out the slow progress made in fixing the once glorious Joseph Lee Gym. Check out the photographs and check mate the cronies and sell outs that harm our community. |
