2010 | Life After Hate

Archive for 2010

Choose Joy to the World

By Beverly Kipp ⋅ December 23, 2010 ⋅ 3 comments

I was raised a Christian and I have continued to practice and study and live my life as a Christian all sixty of my years. I am a Christian because I want to be and in reading Angie’s email, I realized, for the first time, that I am a Christian because I choose it daily. I marveled that she sees that in me. The choosing, I mean.

Can Christmas Coexist?

By Terry Hoffman-Vincevineus ⋅ December 20, 2010 ⋅ One comment

Happy Holidays to All: As I toured the Miller Brewing company in Milwaukee with in-laws, we enjoyed a light show synchronized with music. My 2 year-old niece pointed, laughed, and smiled, with a look of excitement accentuated by holiday lights reflected in her blue eyes. After the show, one of the tour guides proclaimed over [...]

‘Tis the Season for Interdependence

By Arno Michaels ⋅ December 19, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

As readers of My Life After Hate will know, my friend Chuck was murdered after a streetfight in 1990. To this day, that murder remains unsolved. At the time we used the needless tragedy to drum-up more hate and violence, claiming that the white race needed to wake up and defend itself or our children [...]

Working a Different Side of the Streets

By LAH ⋅ December 13, 2010 ⋅ One comment

At night, Rangel hits the streets on his own, sometimes to find a particular child, but just as often to cruise rougher parts of town, checking on kids he knows and making himself available to anyone needing help. During the day, he steps into classrooms to deliver life lessons.

Chin to the Bar

By Zek J Evets ⋅ December 6, 2010 ⋅ One comment

Compassion is a muscle. You have to exercise it, or lose it altogether. For some people, leaving old furniture on the corner is the extent of their compassion. About the equivalent of lifting a finger to push a button on the remote-control to the plasma-screen TV they just put in the place of those curbside [...]

To My Girls

By Theresa Nickol ⋅ December 3, 2010 ⋅ One comment

My Child: You have been my motivation…my inspiration in my failures and the joy in my struggles. Whenever I thought life was impossible and I couldn’t take another day; I had you to fuel me. I used to pray at night for a miracle and I was blessed with you; my purpose to be better. [...]

Thankful for Norway via Puerto Rico

By Arno Michaels ⋅ November 30, 2010 ⋅ 3 comments

“You’re gonna want to start getting in the right lane…” “Don’t worry about it dood; I’m Norwegian.” That means I always know where I’m going. “The Viking Sense” is what my daughter and I call it when we’re able to find our way around unfamiliar terrain. Sammy and I were on the way back from [...]

Genuine Change?

By Sammy Rangel

closeAuthor: Sammy Rangel Name: Sammy Rangel
Email: sammyrangel@yahoo.com
Site:
About: Sammy Rangel has been the Program Coordinator for the SAFE Streets Outreach Program for ten years. Sammy works with Racine County youth and families who face extreme crisis or danger. Often times these youth are involved in gang, drug, and crime activities that place them in risk for incarceration, addiction or worse. Sammy has reached thousands of youth, families, and professionals across the nation. Many of the youth experience abuse, abandonment, homelessness, and engage in survival behavior such as sex in exchange for food and shelter. Mr. Rangel has created an initiative called “Adopt a School”. The presentations are tailored to the climate and needs of the individual school. Sammy has been able to reach tens of thousands of youth through this effort alone. Most recently he was asked to provide a plenary session to open the second day of the 2010 Gang Summit Conference in Milwaukee to Federal, State, and Local Law Enforcement and service providers. Mr. Rangel provided two six-state regional conferences in 2004 and 2006. In 2004 Sammy provided in Chicago, a six-state regional conference keynote address and workshop for the Region V Training & Technical Assistance Program and again in Milwaukee 2006 provided a six-state regional two day conference as co-main presenter for outreach workers on best practices, crisis intervention, and gang intervention in non/traditional settings. Sammy has been the main presenter in 2008 and 2009 for Why Gangs in Racine. In conjunction with the Milwaukee Lincoln Park Community Center and the Milwaukee Police Academy, at the Annual "Gangs, Violence and Crime" Conference, Sammy has provided ongoing workshops, presenting information on gangs for the beginner and advanced listener. Analysis on the subject included development, physical, and mental organizational concepts that make up a gang, street gangs and street workers, providing relevant facts and data. Sammy also has provided presentations to University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Carthage College in the Criminal Justice field with emphasis on client centered approaches and the importance of self-awareness when choosing fields and providing services. Mr. Rangel is often asked to come in to various juvenile and adult correctional facilities around the state speaking with staff and clients. In 2006 Sammy was asked to present to the Department of Corrections Psychological Staff. In 2004 Sammy graduated with Presidential honors from Gateway Technical College-Racine as the District and College Ambassador representing 450,000 students in Wisconsin. Sammy graduated from Carthage College with a Bachelors of Social Work Degree with a minor in Psychology, Cum Laude, in 2008. On September 13, 2009 Sammy graduated with a Master of Social Work Degree, Summa Cum Laude, with a mental health focus, from Loyola University-Chicago. He was also awarded An Excellence In Service Award by the school at graduation. Most recently October 19, 2009, Ren Svanoe Youth Leadership Award by the Wisconsin Association for Homeless and Runaway Services in recognition of outstanding dedication working with youth and families over the last ten years. In February 2008, Racine Interfaith Coalition recognized Sammy and his wife Denise, for promoting peace in the community. In 2006, Sammy received the Martin Luther King Award from UW-Parkside for his Community Service in Racine. Sammy, in 2005, was awarded the Hispanic Unsung Hero Award from the Martin Luther King Center in Racine for his work in the community. Sammy has been repeatedly asked to speak at multiple Black History Month events including for the NAACP and at the Sturtevant DOC site. Mr. Rangel also worked at the Racine County Jail from 2004 through 2008 as a Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor helping men and women with addictive and criminal lifestyles. In addition to his work with youth he also provides mental health treatment as Racine Psychological Services with patient who are chronically mentally ill and/or dual diagnosed. Sammy is an adjunct teacher for MATC, Gateway Technical College, and for the Department of Transportation. Sammy contributes to the community by sitting on various committees that address race, homelessness, crime, gang activity or drug abuse issues among our youth and adults. Sammy has furthered his credibility by overcoming the grips of addiction, and recovering from a street life of Chicago area gangs, violence and prison. It is worthy of note to mention that Sammy has accomplished all the aforementioned within ten years of being released from the Department of Corrections November 11, 1999, after serving more than 15 ½ years through his juvenile and adult years. Sammy lived out the majority of his preadolescent years as a victim of daily and ongoing childhood physical and sexual abuse. At the age of 11, Sammy set out on his own and lived out the rest of his juvenile life as homeless, throwaway child who very quickly encountered drugs, crime, sex, and violence on the street, just like at home. Eventually, Sammy made a lifestyle of the street life including gangs, crime, drugs, and institutions. Sammy considers his most crucial role in the community as raising a family of four girls and enjoys being married to a wonderful woman, all of whom have actively participated and supported Sammy through his career and education. As his wife so aptly stated… “The scary thing about Sammy is that despite all that he has accomplished in a very short period of time…He’s just getting started.”See Authors Posts (6) ⋅ November 27, 2010 ⋅ 5 comments

The question is “How do you know when someone has really changed?” The question arises from the high profile cases of men and women who have finished treatment programs only to have massive failures occur soon after. Treatment failure rates are higher than ever and so is the recidivism rate.

The ReEducation of Thanksgiving

By Tamara Westfall ⋅ November 25, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments

Here’s a Thanksgiving recipe for you that’s just in time and sure to pack a punch: Get a warm pumpkin pie and some delicious turkey and gravy. Sprinkle in some laughter from kindred spirits and glaze it over with a slathering of Manifest Destiny. (Try the easy to come by flavor: “indoctrinated denial” of racial, [...]

Giving Thanks

By Angie Aker ⋅ November 18, 2010 ⋅ 4 comments

It’s typical to be thankful in November. It’s a tradition that dates back to the days that embody the essence of Basic Human Goodness- the days when Native Americans were able to Think Past Fear to not only allow Europeans to cohabit the land they loved, but to share its secrets and bounties with them. [...]

Sammy Rangel “FOURBEARS: Myths of Forgiveness”

FourBears: The Myth of Forgiveness: isn't a simple memoir; it is a graphically illustrated guide from tortured child, to remorseless beast, to healing and change. This book is about helping others find their way out of their history and into the here and now. Proof that what once held you down can now hold you up. After the book reflects on a horrific upbringing it looks to offer key and ground breaking insights of the inner workings of the mind of a victim and later a perpetrator of hate and violence. Service providers working in treatment centers and institutional settings would greatly benefit from this work. Anyone facing issues with forgiveness and change might find a process toward healing and recovery.