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I got hired
at CHALK, in the summer of 2006. It is the first job I have ever
held. The whole applying process was new to me. Having not even
received a call back from other jobs I was applying to, CHALK
had a guaranteed interview; just the thought of the process and
going through with it was a good exprience. After the whole interview
process I had to wait about a month to get a call back to see
if I received the job. I couldn't wait to hear from them, so I
would call back often to see when they would be able to tell me.
Excited and confident about the opportunity, the day that they
would be able to tell me if I was hired came and I called as soon
as the clock hit 12:00 p.m. I began to jump up and down as soon
as my new boss, Ruth, told me, "Sandra, you got the job.
See you at the orientation." All I was thinking about was
getting the money, which was my main concern. As the day of the
orientation arrived I was anxious and nervous to see who I was
going to be working with and what the whole job was about. The
day I got handed the application to work as a Community Street
Outreach Worker I had never heard of CHALK, but I had been told
that the Youthline was one of the programs they run. I was given
the choice of working on the phonelines or going out in the community
and promoting Youthline, a phone line that offers resources, information,
and support to youth. I didn't care what I was going to be doing
as long as I was getting paid. After being there for almost a
year now, it doesn't feel like a job at all anymore, but more
like a lifestyle.
Going through over 80 hours
of various trainings, (which included topics such as LGBTQ, professionalism,
public speaking, oppression, cultural diversity, team work, grief
and loss, and substance abuse) I learned a lot. My favorite training
was the one on oppression. That's the one I remember most. Some
folks from HOMEY
came through our training site and really broke the idea down
for us. They was teaching us about how it is the government that
sets everything up, how the colored people are brought up to fail,
and how the media has a lot to do with this as well. What caught
my attention the most was when they informed us that MLK was murdered
a few weeks before he had a meeting with other civil rights leaders
that included Cesar Chavez. Just the thought of blacks and browns
being united, together they could have overthrown the whole government.
People of color can overcome by being educated and informed on
how corrupt the whole government and politics really are. Even
schools which are run by the government only teach us what the
government wants us to learn. We don’t learn about leaders
such as Malcolm X who said "forget the system," but
still created change. My whole perspective of life has changed.
Things began to make sense to me and I began to ask so many questions,
such as have I been living in lies my whole life? Are we really
brought up to fail? Why are there certain facts the government
does not want us to know? Why is everybody in the government white?
CHALK is a San Francisco project providing a range of youth services
with a specific focus on transformative youth development and
employment. As an employee I have developed a lot during my time
there and have definitely grown intellectually.
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