Vera M. Bilbrew
Submitted to Los Angeles Garment & Citizen
"Letter Home" Essay Contest, Posted: Mar 31, 2005
Dear Giovanni,
Since you are planning a visit to my country, you have asked me if I know California. Do I know California, I have known here all of my life. As you know, I have traveled a bit. I have seen great buildings, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Notre-Dame, the Statue of Liberty, and the Eiffel Tower to name a few. However, the first tower that I remember is the Watts Tower. It is a tower that rose out of nothingness of a seemingly infertile soil. A man of no real significance, Sabatino Rodia, pieced together his tower from remnants. My mother drove by that structure often. One Hundred and third street was a short cut to Sears and Roebuck store that my daddy helped to build.
They tell me the store is gone now, but I can still smell the popcorn, roasted nuts and various other confections that were sold right inside the store. I can see an array of toys at Christmas time. Trains, bikes, dolls, games, and pogo sticks were brightly colored dreams of Christmas morning. My parents shopped from Sears catalogs on their country farms in Mississippi.
My parents were California transplants that settled here in 1945, and started a life together. For a while my dad worked at the shipyard in Wilmington, California. After the war, he went into construction. In his lifetime, dad built two homes for his family. Not bad for a country boy who grew up during the depression. California did not make us fat and rich, but we were comfortable, and we were happy. Yes, I did live through two riots.
In August 1965, when the city erupted in violence, we slept on the floor for several nights to avoid stray bullets, and we stayed close to home. My older cousin, and my grandmother stayed with us. One morning very early, too early for the sun, we awoke to the sound of crackling wood and an orange glow in the sky. Our neighborhood store was burning to the ground. I always wondered what happen to the nice people who ran the store. They never did us any harm. What kind of satisfaction does one get from burning down a Mom and Pop store? Even then, California was a place of hopes, and dreams, and promises.
It is the place where I learned to read and write, imagine, and think. At one time, a man with barely two nickels to rub together could send his children to college. Each morning as their children arose, parents saw the future in their faces, as these children moved ever closer to the promise. It was the promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. California was on the cutting edge of America’s promise. Because my state was always looking forward, she saw her people as a natural resource. An education, even a college education, even a college education was almost free. Of course I encountered racism. Anyone who has ever carried a football across a goal line will tell you that there is a break in every line of skirmish.
Wait, I must tell you that California is unique and beautiful. I have seen this state from the border of Baja California to San Francisco. I have hiked her trails in Bishop, California where I saw Bristlecone Pines. Ancient, gnarled trees purported to be the oldest living trees on earth. Some Bristlecone Pines are 4,000 years old. The trails near Del Mar lead pass the Torrey Pine Tree, which is the world’s rarest tree. In fact, this tree is only known to exist in two places in California. On many occasions my hikes have taken me into the Angeles National Forest. Once my friends and I caught a glimpse of a doe and it’s baby as they came out of a misty morning haze to drink water from a stream.
I have stood on beaches up and down the coast and wondered what people were on the other side of the beautiful, calm waters of the Pacific Ocean. I confess, I have not been faithful to one city, or another. I have lived in the heart of Watts, Long Beach, San Pedro, Eagle Rock, Burbank, and North Hollywood. For a long time I have had a need to pack my bags and be off to other places. I loved the adventure of learning new streets, and new people, and the personal histories that each community offers.
I love California because she kept her promise and because she saw her people as an asset and not a liability. California had the wisdom to use her resources wisely. We built schools instead of prisons, we offered hope instead of despair. Be as wise as you ever were my beautiful California.
Sincerely yours,
Vera M. Bilbrew
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