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Life & Times Transcript
06/14/05 Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- A life-changing program that could make a big change in Los Angeles's future. Frank Alvarez>> Right now, I'm faced with a big challenge and I can either punk out and let this challenge just totally disrespect me and I lose all credibility within the hood or else I can stand up and go head up with this challenge, which I'm doing right now. Val>> And then, he may not look like a big-time Hollywood producer, but his success is opening doors for people who've had a hard time breaking in. These stories and more next on tonight's Life and Times. Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val>> We often think of young people these days as interested in money, fame, fun or, primarily, themselves. But we met an extraordinary group of young adults who is headed in a whole different direction. They will be tomorrow's problem-solvers, community builders interested in the common good and, as Toni Guinyard tells us, some of these young idealists came from less than ideal backgrounds. Frank Alvarez>> Right now, I'm faced with a big challenge and I can either punk out and let this challenge just totally disrespect me and I lose all credibility within the hood or else I can stand up and go head up with this challenge, which I'm doing right now. Toni Guinyard>> Tough talk from a young man out to redefine the concept of leadership. Frank Alvarez is out to break stereotypes, confront biases and help build relationships between the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Frank has a lot of company. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> They are members of the group Public Allies, a leadership program that identifies, trains, then pairs this new wave of community leaders with nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles County. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> They're called Allies and this is a milestone for them. After putting the concepts they've learned into practice while working with nonprofits, they must present what they've learned. Frank Alvarez>> I confronted issues within myself like homophobia, sexism and other old beliefs that were holding me back from being the person that I wanted to be. Toni Guinyard>> In front of a panel of strangers. Frank Alvarez>> This person's been dying and fighting inside of me to get out and now he's able to come out. Toni Guinyard>> The presentations mark the beginning of the end of the program. It's been a tough ten-month long journey. Ernesto Saldana>> "This is our last fight and it's just amazing how fast it's come. This is going to be the last few times you're going to see each other as a group, right?" Toni Guinyard>> They range in age from eighteen to thirty and come from vastly different backgrounds. On Fridays, they meet and talk. The face to face discussions are brutally honest, forcing them to deal first with personal issues, forcing them to help themselves before they can help anyone else. Ernesto Saldana>> I think they're a great model of seeing, you know, different racial ethnic groups coming together, different groups of sexual orientation coming together, different social classes of folks coming together, college students and non-college students coming together to talk about what is leadership in their communities, in their back yards. Toni Guinyard>> One hundred twenty people applied to become a Public Ally. In the end, only thirty were selected, all from different communities in Southern California and all of them bringing different life experiences to the table. Surafel Tesfaye>> I'm from Ethiopia, so being from another country, especially another country that is perceived to be very poor and everyone is starving, not only those in that country, but people having that stereotype when they approach me and seeing me as a victim as always or someone who always needed help. Toni Guinyard>> Understanding the Allies' backgrounds helps explain why they are so passionate about social justice causes. Linda Lam>> It's a part of my life and I guess part of my history. Toni Guinyard>> Linda Lam's parents are Chinese, but were raised in Vietnam. They fled after the war. Linda Lam>> I saw all their struggles. You know, being here as a refugee, that really propels me to like -- you know, my mom is a garment worker and it really makes me feel like this is my duty and like I don't want people to see the sufferings that I've gone through and my family's gone through. Toni Guinyard>> The Allies hold tight to the belief that, in learning to understand why they think what they think, they learn to better communicate with people different from themselves. It's a slow and often painful process. Bev Tang>> You have your high and low points. Toni Guinyard>> With unexpected frustrations at every turn. Bev Tang>> You think you've got the community members all rallied up and ready to go and then sometimes they're not exactly there yet. Toni Guinyard>> They are expected to inspire people around them, expected to empower communities, but sometimes their efforts fall short. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> The Allies learn by example. Guests are invited to come, talk, share. The Allies also learn by sharing their own experiences. Frank Alvarez>> Sometimes I think like I'm a walking contradiction, but I guess I just find balance from both the lives that I have led. Toni Guinyard>> Frank Alvarez is not only an Ally. He's also a former gang member. Frank Alvarez>> I thought I was going to be dead or in jail by now. Toni Guinyard>> Frank lives in Lincoln Heights with his mother, younger brothers Ricardo and Johnny and his daughter, Frankie Sue. Norma Ybarra>> It's Lincoln Heights. It's the ghetto just like the Projects. All the kids grow up the same way. Frank Alvarez>> Four years ago, I wouldn't be allowed in this house. Four years ago, I couldn't even go see my daughter. Norma Ybarra>> They caught him with a gun not even a block from right here. Frank Alvarez>> I had no self-love or self-care for myself. I really didn't care if I lived or died. At the point where I got arrested and I just told the cops that I want help and they go okay. I told the judge I want help and I got help. Toni Guinyard>> A series of events, the birth of Frankie Sue, the loss of a cousin and the shooting death of a friend, forced Frank to make the decision to break this cycle of violence. Norma Ybarra>> I'm proud of him that he finally graduated, got a diploma and he's working and he's able to support his daughter now and he's not living that crazy life anymore. Toni Guinyard>> You've done a lot of work on yourself, haven't you? Frank Alvarez>> Yeah. I've done a lot of work on myself. I kind of looked at it as de-programming, you know. I was programmed to think and act a certain way growing up and that really wasn't beneficial to my development or to my future, so now I'm re-programming myself to where every step I do is a strategic move to get me to where I want to be. Toni Guinyard>> This is where Frank says he wants to be, in front of people on this day facing other Allies and the panel. He is the first to make a presentation, telling of being torn between the past and present. Frank Alvarez>> "It's still a struggle for me. It's still a fight. I'm still in the grind. I'm still doing what I got to do. I have so much internal struggles this year that it's just tearing me apart." Toni Guinyard>> He talks for fifteen minutes. Frank Alvarez>> "Everybody expects me to look like this. You know, my boys expect me to look like this. Here and other places, I'm expected to look a little bit different, more cleaned up, more professional. But then I go back to my boys like that and my boys like are you forgetting about us or what? You're coming from this place of privilege now. And that's kind of the struggle that I had to put up with this last ten months. Right now I chose to dress like this for a reason. If I make people feel uncomfortable within their own skin, I shouldn't have to make myself feel uncomfortable in my skin to make them feel comfortable. I joined Public Allies with something to prove and that was that the homeboy could play this game as well, if not better, than the college student. Why I took such aggressive approach is because this road that I decided to take is a road less traveled upon by my kind. What I mean by my kind is anyone who's ever been locked up, dropped out or simply tossed aside and forgotten about in society. What Public Allies has really done for me, it provided me with some knowledge, some concrete skills, to go back into my community and pump out something other than crap, to pump out something that's going to help build my community and not destroy it. That's why I love Public Allies. Thank you." Toni Guinyard>> In that moment, the past ten months makes sense for Frank and the other Allies. They are facing their fears and biases and each other on their journey to becoming leaders. I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. [Film Clip] Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times". Val>> Women on the verge of a midlife crisis. They've often skipped their careers to raise children, run a household or help their husband. Well, now the kids are grown and maybe they're divorced and they don't know where they're going next or how to get there. Well, now there's a place to go for some guidance. It's called Woman Sage and it was started by Jane Glenn Haas, a writer for the Orange County Register on women's issues. Jane talked with our Orange County reporter, Roger Cooper, about how women can help each other. Roger Cooper>> Jane Glenn Haas, I've known you a long time. You've shown up in Time Magazine, a female midlife crisis, and there you are inside. Jane Glenn Haas>> Yes. Roger Cooper>> You were country when country wasn't cool. You've been writing about this a long time. Jane Glenn Haas>> That's right. Roger Cooper>> Is this female midlife crisis something a Time editor decided would make a great cover story or is it real? Jane Glenn Haas>> Oh, I think it's real and I think there's more than one midlife crisis. That's the first thing I have to tell you, Roger. I mean, it isn't age-related. You might have one at age forty and another one at age sixty, but it's a very hot topic right now because of the boomers. The boomers are getting older. The youngest boomer is forty. The oldest boomer is sixty. So you see there's, I don't know, forty some million women in there and they're all having crises at the same time, so it makes a good cover story for Time. Roger Cooper>> Your early recognition of this has to come out of you personally. You've been through some crises, not just midlife. Jane Glenn Haas>> I have to tell you, Roger, that I started writing about the woman's movement around the time that I went back to work in the newsroom. So I wrote about it when it was in the seventies with Gloria Steinem, so I have sort of followed that in my career and the way it's affected our lives because, whether or not women subscribe to it, they've been impacted by it like we had no credit in our own names until after the woman's movement, things like that. Roger Cooper>> You actually went out and bought a car? Jane Glenn Haas>> I bought a car one time because they let me buy it and they didn't want my husband to sign for it. I won't even tell you the brand. I went out with a car that I regretted for the next four years (laughter), but I could buy it on my own and it was such a triumph. It meant so much to me to do that. In that article, they talk about when I got divorced twenty-seven years ago. My mother said to me, why are you doing this? I said because I'm not happy. She said whoever told you you're entitled to be happy? Which is an indication of what her generation felt as women that their roles were. Then the reason that I got involved in it again was when I was on a vacation with my husband and he was driving. We were going along and all of a sudden he says I think I'll retire and we can open a Bed and Breakfast. Roger Cooper>> We. Jane Glenn Haas>> We. And I thought, oh, my gosh. I could see my whole life crumbling. I could see everything that I had worked for and I was going to spend my old age cleaning out toilets for strangers. Then the heavens parted and this little voice said, aha. I said you have your own money. I have a 401(k) and social security and a pension plan. My mother didn't have that. I said to him, you go right ahead and I'll come and visit you on the weekends (laughter) and that was the beginning of my interest in the woman's midlife crisis. I had some midlife crisis and the way I got out of it and the way we looked at it, we decided that it was a terrible business plan. You know, we didn't do it anyway. But I got so interested in that that I started Woman Sage and I started this survey. How is your life different from your mother's? That's been my side life now for about four years. Roger Cooper>> You mention Woman Sage. So if somebody hasn't heard, what is it? Jane Glenn Haas>> Woman Sage, okay. Well, right now it's much more than it was. It is a website and on the website there's news and information that women need to know about where they are in midlife. Midlife is not chronological. It's a state of mind. But it also is a nonprofit organization. The surveys that I had came back and the women told me they didn't have any friends they met with regularly and I thought, well, that's interesting. Then I thought, well, it's true. You know, you reach a point and you're working in an office and you live someplace else, you don't see the people on the weekends. So Woman Sage attempts to get these women together. We have salon meetings. They sit at round tables. We have five hundred members now in Orange County, five hundred-plus members in Orange County. Roger Cooper>> Now salon meetings. Tell me what that is. Jane Glenn Haas>> Well, that means you're talking. You're interacting. You're not sitting there theater-style and taking it in. You're participating in this. So we meet monthly. We have a speaker. We have special interest groups. We have one for the workplace and one for retirement transitions and one for singles and one for couples, anything anybody wants to start. If they want to start it, we'll go with them. We have chapters starting all over the place. We have one in Connecticut, one in the Valley, one in San Francisco, one in San Diego -- I have to think -- Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Washington, Seattle. Roger Cooper>> And it all started here in Orange County? Jane Glenn Haas>> It all started because of my husband wanting to open a Bed and Breakfast. That's how it all started (laughter). Who knew? Roger Cooper>> Who knew? What could I learn, being male, if I went to a Woman Sage meeting? Jane Glenn Haas>> Well, now that's an interesting thought. Probably you would learn that women talk to themselves in ways they never talk to you. Then you would have to take the sort of male ear plugs out of your ears and listen a little differently than you ordinarily listen because women talk about emotions and they talk about things that are deep inside them and men talk about things, you know, like how are those Dodgers or what do you think about this or that? They don't get down at that level. They don't do the support group thing as easily as women. Roger Cooper>> Jane Glenn Haas, is there a need for a male equivalent of this? Jane Glenn Haas>> Absolutely, there is a need for a male equivalent of this. Whether or not men will ever do it is another question. You know, I think very definitely there is a need. You know, the male midlife crisis is usually to buy a red Porsche and go out with a cupcake or, you know, do something like that. Women, as I said, tend to make these seismic changes as this Time Magazine article talks about. Roger Cooper>> Having followed this and written about this as long as you have and experienced it, are you hopeful now for the path women have? Jane Glenn Haas>> I think that, for the first time, this generation of women is going to show the world what women can do. You know, Woman Sage can also be read Woman's Age and I think the twenty-first century is going to be the time when women really come to the forefront. I had a column recently where I talked with a male psychologist who's worried that men are going to be extinct in 125,000 years because they don't multitask and do the different things that women do so well and are more adaptable to the business culture that we're in today. I don't think that's true, but I do think that this is a time when women are really going to be able to show what they are capable of doing. Roger Cooper>> Well, Jane Glenn Haas, I can say I know someone who started a movement. Jane Glenn Haas>> Roger, I hope you're right. Thank you very much. It's been fun. To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val>> It's the mission of the Catholic Church to steer souls toward heaven, so you might be surprised to learn that the Vatican also searches the heavens in a very different way. Saul Gonzalez of Religion and Ethics News Weekly has this story. Saul Gonzalez>> Rising nearly eleven thousand feet above the deserts and small rural communities of southeastern Arizona, Mt. Graham dominates the landscape. It's a mountain with an abundance of natural treasures such as snow-fed springs and old-growth forests. And on Mt. Graham's peak can be found another kind of treasure. It's both an observatory and one of the world's most unusual scientific research centers, unusual because of the institution that built, operates and staffs the state of the art telescope: the Vatican. Dr. Chris Corbally>> It's so often a huge surprise to Catholics, let alone everyone else, that the church does have a professional scientific observatory. Saul Gonzalez>> Chris Corbally, a Jesuit priest and respected astronomer, is Vice Director of the Vatican Observatory Research Group. Dr. Chris Corbally>> We're scientists, but we're also scientists as we are representing the Catholic Church's regard for science and that's, as far as the church is concerned, is to do good science and to show that the church values good science. Saul Gonzalez>> Of course, the Catholic Church has often had a troubled relationship with science. Most famously in the seventeenth century when church authorities put the astronomer Galileo on trial for heresy for arguing that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa, the astronomer was found guilty and placed under house arrest until his death. Although most Catholics embraced Galileo's views centuries ago, it took until 1992 for the Vatican to issue a formal apology for the astronomer's trial and treatment by the church. Now the Catholic Church honors the astronomer's importance. Dr. Chris Corbally>> I respect Galileo. I respect his science very much and, as Newton said, we stand on the shoulders of giants, and he's one of the giants on whose shoulders we do stand. Saul Gonzalez>> The Vatican's Mt. Graham observatory is known formerly as the Vatican Advance Technology Telescope. Running cooperation with the University of Arizona, the observatory has been used to study everything from comets in our own solar system to exploding stars and vast nebula in distant corners of the galaxy. The Vatican provides about a million dollars a year to operate this observatory. It's money the Jesuit astronomers say comes with no strings attached. You know, when the Vatican or Rome tells you what to do or what you can't do? Father Jose Funes>> No, no. We are completely free to do the research. We think that's important. Saul Gonzalez>> Actually, the Vatican's interest in studying the heavens dates back at least to the late sixteenth century when the Catholic Church set out to fix problems in the old western calendar, problems which jeopardized the accurate observance of holy days. Dr. Chris Corbally>> The church found that the calendar that we follow, the dates that we have, was getting out of synchronization with the seasons, so Easter was in danger of slipping backwards into a winter feast and yet, in the northern hemisphere, it's got to be a springtime feast for the Resurrection of Christ. That was when the church brought in a team of mathematicians and scientists to advise on reforming the calendar. Saul Gonzalez>> It was Pope Leo XIII who, in 1891, founded the modern Vatican observatory. Its telescope was located near St. Peter's Basilica. In the 1930's, the observatory was moved to the Pope's summer residence at Castel Gandolfo just outside of Rome. In 1981, the Vatican observatory moved its astronomers to Arizona. That was followed by the installation of the Mt. Graham telescope in 1993. For astronomers like Jose Funes, this mountain, far from sources of light pollution, is an ideal location to observe the heavens. Father Jose Funes>> Well, the main quality of this site is that it's very dark and the quality of the atmosphere is very good. It's like you can touch the sky, you can touch the stars. Saul Gonzalez>> Like their professional colleagues at other observatories and research institutions, Vatican astronomers and astrophysicists are trying to unlock the secrets of the universe and push back the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding. But they say they also had another important mission: to build a bridge of understanding between science and religious faith. Dr. Chris Corbally>> It goes together and it goes together naturally in our lives and maybe that's an inspiration to people who are also trying to, you know, join their science with their faith and say, no, there isn't a contradiction between the two. The whole realm of the heavens is part of our Christian lives as well. Understanding how the whole universe works is part of Christianity. Saul Gonzalez>> The Vatican astronomers say that their efforts to understand the cosmos are a form of ministry. It's a ministry which extends to what they believe are the farthest reaches of God's creation. For Life and Times, I'm Saul Gonzalez. Val>> Asian-American actors, like all minorities in Hollywood, have a hard time landing those big roles on the big screen in part because producers and directors are, for the most part, still white males and that's why people like Teddy Zee are such a valuable exception. Teddy Zee is a successful producer. Among his various movie credits is the film "Hitch" starring Will Smith as a dating consultant. Zee has also produced "Saving Face" about a Chinese-American doctor who's shocked when her single mother becomes pregnant. Why does Teddy Zee feel the need to showcase Asian-American actors and themes? We hear from him in his own words. Teddy Zee>> I'm Teddy Zee and I'm a movie producer. There are very few Asians in the movie, period. I feel like it's my responsibility to open the doors for others to come through and I don't think that Asian-Americans will truly be a part of this society, integrated in the way they should be, unless they have the same access to pursuing dreams and passions. The stories don't have to be about being Asian. The stories have to be about universal themes. "Saving Face" is a beautiful, wonderful, romantic comedy. [Film Clip] Teddy Zee>> It helps other Americans look upon Asian-Americans and say, wow, they're no different than the rest of us, and that is really, really important for greater tolerance and greater empathy and greater unity in the country. >> "Saving Face" would not have been made without him. He is Asian-American and he understands our problems, our desires and our need to tell our stories. Also, he is extremely smart business-wise. This doesn't have to be a mission, that this can be great entertainment. >> I really credit him with the person who believes in me and, as a result, I have this film. I remember -- in fact, I won this writing contest at the Cape Foundation. It has a new writer a year award and I won it in 2001. It was actually an award started by Teddy because he felt very strongly that Asian-American stories weren't being told and a lot of it is that we weren't writing them or, if we were writing them, they were not getting read. So he created this award as a way of getting the scripts out there and of motivating writers like myself to write something and is giving us some recognition. >> "Teddy, you made this happen for me and, you know, I couldn't have done this without you, so thank you so much." Teddy Zee>> I'm out to entertain people and, through entertainment, while they're not even conscious of it, we have an enormous opportunity to change peoples' minds and let them see Asian-Americans in a whole different way. Val>> And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val>> Next time on Life and Times -- Two-thirds of African-Americans who take the bar exam fail, but this man is out to change the odds. What's his secret? >> He made it clear that he had expectations that nothing, even children, family, parents, nothing was more important for the next two months than studying for the bar exam. Val>> That's next time on Life and Times. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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