The View From Here

Mai Vang has always been a trailblazer. She is a first generation Hmong-American, and the eldest of 16 children. As a young adult she started a non-profit to give political voice to her South Asian community. Now, she’s a school board member and aspiring Councilperson for Meadowview. Is it a thirst for power, a sense of altruism, or something else that drives her to working tirelessly for the public?

Margarita Chavez has the best house on the block. At least, that’s how she describes it to all who come to visit her in Detroit Park. She wants all of her neighbors to feel that same pride in their home. So Chavez patrols nearby streets to report neighborhood ills; trash, stray dogs and overgrown lawns. She’s a familiar voice to the city’s 311 operators — a squeaky wheel who knows how to get things done, for herself and her neighbors.

Rolanda Wilkins grew up in Meadowview and lived through its crack epidemic in the 1980s. Now, she dedicates her life to empowering neighborhood girls, some of whom may be working through residual effects of the crack epidemic’s “lost generation.”

We’re excited to share the next episode with you — which we’re still producing. In the meantime, we’re going to share a few snippets of other stories we’ve gathered during the past year CapRadio has been in Meadowview.

When an unarmed black man named Stephon Clark was killed by police there in 2018, it reinforced negative stereotypes about the neighborhood. We decided to ask residents how they define their neighborhood and why they choose to live there.

Teenager Lamajhe Miles wants to be a professional football player one day. And he has the talent. But without a bed to sleep on, poor grades and bad influences all around him, all he has is his will.

Meadowview residents still talk about how much they loved Officer Dan Ware, one of Sacramento’s first black policeman. He often patrolled by foot, and as a baseball coach, he was a role model for young neighborhood boys. But he also had personal battles with his employers at the Sacramento Police Department.

A large community of Pacific Islanders lives in Meadowview, attending Christian churches and public schools. When members of the Tongan community were becoming active in criminal gangs, elders brought them back to their roots by teaching them Polynesian dance.

Music credits:
Building the Sled by Blue Dot Sessions
Jungle by Last Voices
Hukilau (instrumental version) by Benjamin Isles Group Album: Enchanting Hawaiian Holiday
Kiko by Queen Victoria School
Maori Haka
Mate Ma’a Tonga by Tupou Loto’aniu