‘There’s Still Light Beyond the Tunnel’ : A shooting death shocked parks director Ras Jimi Jaimin, but he believes his work with youths remains valuable and fulfilling.

Ras Jimi Jaimin, 45, is a native of Los Angeles and has spent the last 20 years as director at parks and recreational centers throughout the city. Last October, he decided to transfer from the Rancho Cienega Recreation Center after witnessing the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy who, in Jaimin’s estimation, simply happened to be wearing the wrong color.

Jaimin is also a musician, rapper and self-described “griot-poet” who recently released a CD titled “Five-Wheel Drive” on Mud Lab Records. The Crenshaw district resident recently toured as an opening act for the renowned reggae band Steel Pulse. He was interviewed by Erin J. Aubry.

I’ve worked with the Recreation and Parks Department for 20 years, and I’ve seen a lot of changes in people--in kids, in park management, in my own peers. I’ve seen the focus go mainly from children and programs to how green the lawn’s going to be, and how good the equipment is. Now, the energy goes where the money’s going to go. Certain centers in certain areas get a certain amount of money; it seems like the rich get richer.

For instance, if you have two working parents in a family, they can afford to pay a $50 basketball fee, plus uniform, banquet, trophy and umpire fees. But if the parent is single or isn’t working, then kids have to turn in uniforms to the coach after every game, because they can’t afford to buy them. Also, they don’t have the support as far as anybody coming to see them play. Mama’s not coming to the game, uncle’s not coming to the game, brother’s not coming to the game.

So as director, you’re pretty much the coach, transportation, and you even try and pay the fees. People say we help keep kids off the streets, but we do much more than that. We’re making more of a difference. It’s an ‘Each one, teach one’ philosophy; I’m learning from them. I’ve seen that making a difference with one or two kids is like making a difference with 20 or 30.

What happened Oct. 19, the shooting incident in the Rancho Cienega gym, was a tragic thing. It was very uncalled for because the child had on the wrong color. He was a young guy not from the neighborhood, who came into a zone where he did not know colors made a difference.

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I was right there when it happened. I stayed with the boy. I’ve seen some drive-by shootings, I’ve seen kids get shot, but never anything this ruthless or blatant. There was a girls’ volleyball game going on. A mob came right in with no remorse, carrying out what they came to do--destruction and death.

The shooting got me thinking, “What’s it all about, Alfie?” I’ve never had to think about my personal safety, but I realized that needs are changing. My trust in mankind has not faltered; I still think there’s light beyond the tunnel. This isn’t something that happens very often, and probably won’t happen again for a long time. I still think I’m an inspirer, that I have the fervor to continue on. It was an isolated incident, just one of those things.

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There were a lot of other things going on around that time (of the shooting). A girl from Dorsey High got shot. It seems like the girls are attracted to the boys who are on the edge, the borderline. The violence is more glorified in the movies now. When I was growing up, the athlete was the hero; now it’s the gangbanger.

I still see a lot of hope, but I think that whenever a kid aspires to get out of that situation (gangbanging), the masses fight against him. It’s like crabs in a barrel: the gangbangers can’t get out of the situation, so they won’t let anyone out. They won’t support you in getting a scholarship to go somewhere like San Jose State. We’d rather have you gangin’ and down here with us. And it’s not a black thing, or a brown or Mexican thing. We can’t put the whole blame on kids. In my generation, we gave kids things like African names, but that’s all. We didn’t live the example.

I think I’ve gotten over what happened at Rancho, although there will be some scars in my mind. You can’t run away from it, (a shooting) could happen anywhere. But I need kids as much as they need me. I found out that being a griot-poet, working with a lot of young rappers at these recreation centers, has gotten me to push my own project, create my own CD.

When you work around kids, you work around life. Life begets life. I want to work around living, breathing people who are unpredictable. I need that. Maybe that’s my way of being on the edge. You don’t know what’s going to happen, but that’s what keeps me going. Every day is different.