{"id":5934,"date":"2019-10-31T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/?p=5934"},"modified":"2020-02-06T14:49:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T22:49:52","slug":"hope-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2019\/10\/31\/hope-opportunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope &#038; Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"color: #1daeec;\"><i>&#8220;Our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see\u2026 Will we rob them of their destiny? Will we rob them of their dreams? No \u2013 we will not do that.\u201d \u2013<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Congressman Elijah Cummings<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hope and opportunity. Those are the reasons our ancestors came to this land by the millions for well over two centuries. Mine came from Sicily and Ireland. They came with plenty of hope and were most fortunate to find the opportunity America then offered. I cannot help but think of those who made this country truly great, including my own relatives who braved the trek to come to America for a better life for themselves, their children and their children\u2019s children.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They all had the same dream \u2013 a distant shore that brought both hope and opportunity to those brave souls who ventured to this new and prosperous land, where \u201call men are created equal.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Our history has not proven that \u201ccreated equal\u201d sentiment true, as the land of equality has too often limited the opportunities of scores of people who deserve so much more. And given our current president and his shameful legacy of prejudicial statements and vile slander of people of color already living here and those who dare to try to come to our borders, it is understandable that the original idea of a land of \u201chope and opportunity\u201d cannot seem a reality today for millions of our citizens, and especially for far too many of our youth.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For those of us who have benefitted so much from the opportunity this country has provided, it is incumbent on us to assure that the disenfranchised and most vulnerable are provided the same opportunities we are enjoying. These predominantly people of color do not possess the power and resources necessary to combat the prejudice and limited opportunities they endure and end the cycle of poverty and violence that is too often their everyday lives. Nonprofits like my Boys &amp; Girls Club organization strive to provide many opportunities unavailable to children of poverty. While we will soon be operating 20 sites within the greater Los Angeles Harbor Area, this combined with the other nonprofits doing great work is not nearly enough. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When done right, public education is the truly great equalizer and opportunity for our youth, and we must do everything in our power to assure that all youth are provided the best opportunity for a full and equal education. It is incumbent on us to provide the children of Rancho San Pedro and similar neighborhoods with the resources necessary to compete academically with their more affluent peers.<\/p>\n<p>When I went to San Pedro High School, California was one of the top five states of per pupil spending in the nation. Today, we are in the bottom five. In all truth, we are not nearly investing enough in our public education pathway, and if we continue to do the same then we will continue to subject those born to limited opportunities with a lifetime of struggle and little hope for a better life for themselves and their families. This is not the American Dream the vast majority of us enjoy.<\/p>\n<p><i>\u201cBy providing students in our Nation with such an education, we help save our children from the clutches of poverty, crime, drugs, and hopelessness, and we help safeguard our Nation\u2019s prosperity for generations yet unborn.\u201d \u2013 Elijah Cummings<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Without hope, opportunity will be unattained. Without opportunity, hope is just a pipedream. Let\u2019s truly make America great again. Time to change the rhetoric and excuse-making and provide the infrastructure investment we truly need \u2013 our children. It is time to provide all the opportunity necessary, so that \u201chope\u201d is more than just a word. <strong><span style=\"color: #1daeec;\">spt<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see\u2026 Will we rob them of their destiny? Will we rob them of their dreams? No \u2013 we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":5936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hope &amp; Opportunity - San Pedro Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanpedrotoday.com\/2019\/10\/31\/hope-opportunity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hope &amp; Opportunity - San Pedro Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;Our children are the living messages we send to a future we will never see\u2026 Will we rob them of their destiny? 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