One Day as a Lion by Jonathan E. Hernandez

“What does a kid who comes with a background like mine supposed to do? I defended myself.” Hernandez said he once was beaten for “walking down the wrong street.” When he fought back, he added, he drew a suspension from Willard Intermediate. More common, Hernandez said, was bullying at school and violence in the streets. The next day, the police officer came around to check up on Hernandez and brought Pokemon cards.īut such kindness was rare. “My uncle wasn’t a good guy,” Hernandez said. Hernandez, then in second grade at Freemont Elementary, wasn’t sure how to feel. And he was with a youngster who overdosed.” “I remember coming home when I was a little boy and seeing my uncle in the backyard. “All the dads were gang banging,” he said. On Raitt Street, where Hernandez grew up, gang life was pervasive.

15, he attended his first regular meeting as councilman. Last week, Hernandez was sworn into office by his 10-year-old daughter, Evoni. A father since he was 17, Hernandez is raising his daughter in the same home where he and his mother grew up, in an area where it was routine for Hernandez to witness gang violence and drug use.īut he’s broken the cycle of trauma that has trapped his family for generations. And he’s still deeply connected to Artesia Pilar. Hernandez, 28, said he’s the first man in his family on his father’s side to not go to jail or prison. The tattoo, Hernandez explained, pays homage to “the neighborhood that made me who I am.” The mural is part of Santa Ana’s Artesia Pilar neighborhood where, growing up, Hernandez was exposed to crime on the streets and inside his own home. The image, on his right bicep, depicts the faded “La Raza” mural near El Salvador Park. Johnathan Ryan Hernandez celebrated his recent election to the Santa Ana City Council by getting a tattoo.

One Day as a Lion by Jonathan E. Hernandez