Raynetta Van (second from the left), Life Academy sophomore and RAW member, fasted on 2/23/12.

Please comment on this post if you supported today’s faster or fasted in solidarity with our movement.

Visit us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Academys-Season-of-Peace-Building/266295463437265

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/raw_bam

Najely Gomez (left), Life Academy senior and RAM member, fasted on 2/21/12.

The moment I received the armband, I automatically felt honored to be part of this intriguing community of the “Season of Peace-Building”. This fast relay should not be just set as one day to build peace but in people’s everyday lives. I believe that a change starts off by someone being motivated to create awareness and dedication.

Through this fast relay, I began to recognize the place I come from. I come from Oakland. Not just plain Oakland, but a place where I would only hear people say that “Oakland is a very dangerous place where many youth die every day from Oakland notorious crimes.” I won’t deny this because it is true. Many youth my own age die from shootings, murders, etc. However, many youth do not evidently choose to live a life full of struggles. They are influenced through the acts they see around others. Anyone can change themselves and distinguish between what is right and wrong.

I decided that through fasting just one simple day I would feel that I am creating a change. I am immersing myself to change this current generation and future generations to come. I want to be set as an example to many youth in Oakland and aspire them that there are other alternative roads and not only one that many are force to follow. In addition, violence shouldn’t be set as an action but as abstain. Families should not be destroyed nor suffer but live in peace and in harmony. Building peace can initiate many positive aspects that will generate a new life for those who were caught in the wrong direction.

Throughout this fasting relay, I began to reflect of my cousin’s situation. Back in 2005, I can still mesmerize the day when my cousin was arrested because of Oakland’s violence. He was caught right in front of my home without realizing how that very moment it would not only impact me emotionally but my whole family as well. Now that he has served 6 years in prison, I came across wanting to show my cousins, friends, and peers that life shouldn’t be ended through violence. I work hard to maintain not only that 4.0 honor roll but to be a role model to students in my school. Being a role model to them, can change them to becoming students who want to make a change in their own lives by graduating from high school and going to college.

I did not only reflect on Oakland and on my cousin’s issue, but I also fasted because I wanted to realize what it was like not eating a whole day.  It was definitely a different transition, because I did not follow my everyday routine of eating breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Now that it is 7:56 pm I am in the mood of eating at least a fruit, but no because I am dedicated to this commitment and I am proud of doing. This I can connect back to those people in underprivileged countries that do not even have a piece of bread to eat or clean water to drink. It saddens me to realize that many places around the world people are dying from starvation. This should not be happening to the world where gaps are created between rich and poor people. Poor people should have the same equality as people who live in urban areas. More than anything, this reflection has made me realize that I want to ameliorate Oakland’s violent situation and not see the same Oakland we are used to seeing.

Please comment on this post if you supported today’s faster or fasted in solidarity with our movement.

Suneal Kolluri, Life Academy Humanities teacher, fasted on 2/20/12.

Please comment on this post if you supported today’s faster or fasted in solidarity with our movement.

Visit us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Academys-Season-of-Peace-Building/266295463437265

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/raw_bam

Marc Hua (second on the left), Life Academy math teacher, fasted on 2/19/12.

Marc Hua (second from the left) passed the fast relay off to Najely Gomez (left), Life Academy senior and RAW member.

Please comment on this post if you supported today’s faster or fasted in solidarity with our movement.

Visit us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Academys-Season-of-Peace-Building/266295463437265

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/raw_bam

Toai Dao (center), Life Academy science teacher, fasted on 2/18/12.

I am not usually known for declining food and have never fasted before.  I (and those close to me) was nervous about my insatiable metabolism’s need and my ability to fast.  However, because this opportunity to fast allowed me to join those whom I’ve admired and whom I’ve personally witnessed connect the physical act of a fasting to a greater spiritual, religious, or political meaning, my fast was not as challenging as I feared.

Before and during my fast, I drew inspiration from the well-publicized fasts of Cesar Chavez and Mahatma Ghandi’s, which lasted 25 and 21 days respectively. I was also inspired by and sought advice from personal friends who fast on a regular basis with Ramadan, Yom Kippur, or each new Lunar calendar.  I’m impressed at what lengths others will go to in order to personally challenge and better themselves.

My fast gave me opportunity to reflect on my relationship with food.  I have a privileged position of not “eating to live, but living to eat.” I also did not have to fast for physical health.  My fast was one of choice and because of that I was rightfully, not very concerned for my well-being.  I knew I would be fine at the end of my fast.  However, I kept constantly thinking during my fast about how much privilege I have with food and how grateful I am for it.  It cannot be overstated.  It is a travesty that not everyone has historically had this human right.

My sentiment about food security is also the same sentiment I have regarding peace within our communities: No one should ever go without food, as no one should ever live without a sense of safety.  My fast allowed me to better appreciate what is in my community.  I am honored to have had time to reflect, deliberate, and demonstrate my commitment to building a better and more peaceful community.

Edited By: Eva Oliver, RAW Co-Coach

Ricardo Sevilla (left), Life Academy senior and BAM member, fasted on 2/17/12.

Ever since I came to Oakland, I have heard that it’s known for all its violence. There are many families in our communities who, like mine, have migrated to this country for a better life. Yet, in their effort to find that life, they’ve encountered gangs, drugs, and many other factors that have led to violence. Unfortunately a great number of youth are pulled by those factors, and they forget about all that their elders have done for them to be here. I myself have felt pulled by those factors and into a wrong path; I feel very fortunate to be at Life Academy and be a member of BAM because I have changed into a better person thanks to those around me.

When I reflect on these things, I start feeling very grateful because I honestly feel that I would have become another contributor to the violence if I had been in another school, which is why I decided to support the Season of Peace Building.

I have always gone to meetings regarding the violence in Oakland. In the last one I went to, I noticed how a lot of people in Oakland talk about all the violence yet after those meetings there aren’t any further actions taken and everyone seems to somehow forget about all the impact that violence causes.

Coincidently a couple of weeks later we came up with the idea of the Season of Peace-Building, and Julio (my BAM coach) told us about how this would show everyone how our communities need to take action. I showed my support to this idea by agreeing to fast and to get signatures on our pledge.

I have seen other fasters before me, and I have seen many of them get criticized for fasting. There are many who criticize, but I know that there are a lot more who support us and want to help us build peace. I felt very much supported by everyone during my fast. The only hard part about fasting was the first couple of hours because I almost forgot that I was fasting and went to get a snack. Luckily, someone reminded me I was fasting. The rest of the fast went pretty well.

I reflected on the statement, “I pledge to not disrespect my community by trashing our environment” from the Peace Pledge during my fast. It’s quite noticeable that the neighborhoods in which most violence occurs tend to be the most trashed. Our carelessness or laziness has brought us to destroy the places we live in instead of beautifying them. Having this statement in our pledge is really important because having people sign this will make them commit to keeping their neighborhoods clean and make them reflect on how important having clean streets will help us have more secure and peaceful neighborhoods.

Edited By: Eva Oliver, RAW Co-Coach

An Tran (left), Life Academy senior and RAW member, fasted on 2/16/12.

Daisy Vega (far left), Magdalena Mendoza, and Stephanie Revoreda supported An Tran by fasting with her.

My name is An Tran. I am a senior attending Life Academy and also a member of my school’s young women empowerment group, Real Ambitious Woman (RAW).  As a dedicated RAW member, I am helping to promote our “Season of Peace-Building.” I took the initiative to participate in the fast on February 16^th, 2012 and pledged to find the beauty in and empathize with everyone. I also requested and encouraged my two best friends, Magdalena Mendoza and Daisy Vega, to fast with me; they eagerly agreed.

During the fasting process, I faced extremely hardship with my craving for food and criticism. Just like any other human being, I have special love and needs for food. Food is my best friend because its the essential source of energy that helps me cope with any of my worst or best situations. The day before I started my fast, I told myself, “Well, I can definitely skip eating for just one day. It’s easy and I can totally do it!” However, after one hour without food, I began to doubt my ability to ignore food. In addition, many people commented on my decision of fasting and said that it was just a waste of time. One of my good friends even said, “What’s the point of fasting? It’s not like you’re going to change anything.” Instead of further doubting myself, I searched for the reason why I wanted to fast in the first place: CHANGE.

For me, fasting is a form of demonstrating commitment to change certain issues. I was not eating to show that even though food is important, I still can sacrifice it to promote peace. When a person fasts, it catches everybody’s curiosity. So, everybody would start questioning why certain people are fasting, which is a great way to spread the word about different issues. In this case, we are trying to create peace within our own community, Oakland. Everybody is beautiful in their own way and instead of fighting each other over violence, we all should fight for peace. That is the simple and unique beauty.

I am now done with my fast, but I am not done trying to create peace. By facilitating and being apart of such a powerful event, I am helping to mend broken families and ameliorate Oakland’s reputation. I am proud to say that I am proactively attempting to help all members of the Oakland community.

Please comment on this post if you supported today’s faster or fasted in solidarity with our movement.

Visit us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Academys-Season-of-Peace-Building/266295463437265

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/raw_bam

Edited By: Yuvitza Rivera, Sophomore, and Eva Oliver, RAW Co-Coach

Diego Rivera (right), Life Academy freshman and BAM member, fasted on 2/15/12.

On this fast, I was already expecting the hunger and the temptation, but I didn’t expect to feel somewhat scared and sad. I felt this way because a lot of kids and families go through this for months on end, until they can’t take the pain anymore. There was definitely people trying to make me break my fast early, but I didn’t because I knew I had the support from my peers, teachers, and family. During my fast, I valued my friends and family, but the number one thing on my mind was the smell of my mom’s cooking in the kitchen.

Edited by Yuvitza Rivera, Sophomore

______________________________________________________________________________________

By: Eddie Chao, Skyline High School student

This 24-hour time period of fasting has been a very humbling experience. My main thought during this time was, “Yeah, it’s a little painful at times, but it’s voluntary. Many people around this world face this pain all the time and they have no choice.” I felt really bad turning down food that was offered to me throughout the day because I know many others don’t even have the liberty to do so.

Another powerful point of reflection that came about in my meditations is that I truly recognized how insignificant some of our “so-called” problems are. I found myself to be more worried about how hungry I was, rather than how I was being judged. My more basic and primal nature came out, so I came to think more about my “needs” rather than my “wants.”

Being the first student at Skyline High School to pick up this fast was a little daunting, but I felt really great after receiving so much support from my friends, other students, and even the teachers at school. I was even encouraged to give a small presentation/speech about the “Season of Peace-Building” campaign in class by three different teachers and even told a couple friends about it.  This was a great part of my day, and I was ecstatic about the pure respect that I was given just for doing something very simple in support of a good cause.  But, I felt even better when I noticed how many people were ready and willing to pick-up the fast and support the cause.

To all those who supported: “salamat, kamsahamnida, muchas gracias, arigatou gozaimasu, and thank you.”

Please comment on this post if you supported today’s faster or fasted in solidarity with our movement.

Visit us on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Life-Academys-Season-of-Peace-Building/266295463437265

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/raw_bam