UDLA organizes march to halt crime, drugs(1)

By Alfredo Santana

The Unification of Disabled Latino American (UDLA), along with Los Angeles Police Department officers, and city and community representatives, organized in Koreatown on June 12, 2010 a peaceful march to send a message to local communities that crime, drugs and graffiti activities must stop, particularly in low income and ethnically diverse neighborhoods.

The march, titled March Against Crime and Drugs, began in the Olympic Station of the LAPD, located at 1130 S. Vermont Ave. It headed north, and turned left on Olympic Ave, until it reached its destination at the Seoul International Park Auditorium, located at the corner of Olympic Blvd. and San Marino St.

There have been at least 25 similar marches against graffiti, drugs and violence organized by UDLA in past years. However, this is the first march after several years of absence held in streets of Los Angeles, in coordination with the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA), and the Wilshire Center Business Improvement Corporation (WCBIC).

Organizers estimate that between 500 and 1000 people attended the event, which lasted from 10:15 a.m., until about 11:30 a.m. Four police units, a special bicycle police unit with four standing officers, and about five officers in regular bicycle units also joined the march. About 20 LAPD officers, and several cadets attended the event.

Ruben Hernandez, founder and director of UDLA, said the main purpose of this march is to spread the word to neighborhoods seized with gangs and graffiti, that their residents must take action to eradicate these problems, because most city dwellers do very little to improve the quality of life of gang and poverty-ridden communities.

That is, in part, how sustainable communities, and better quality of life can be achieved, he said.

“The worst thing amongst us is to become abstinent to take action against these social problems. Many see graffiti on a wall, and six, eight months after it was tagged, the marks are still there,” said Hernandez, who became blind after a stray bullet fired by a gang banger ripped through his skull about 30 years ago. “The cholito won the battle against all the very smart heads who live in our neighborhoods.”

Hernandez said a kind of civic response must grow out of necessity to improve the quality of life of many decadent neighborhoods. He said many have joined this movement after they see UDLA crews work to clean places such as East Valinda, where blight was common: bleak views of abandoned cars, furniture dumped in the sidewalks, and scrawled graffiti dotted the landscape both in the streets, and in backyards.

“After they see the difference, and they say ‘I want it, I can,’ everything starts falling into place. Things began to take good form.”