Manifestation

My name is Spanish for miracle. Milagro was given to me by my mother because I was a survivor of a rare premature superfetation birth. The doctors said I wouldn’t survive and my mom had to have her tubes tied after I was delivered via a complicated cesarean section. My brother was an unnamed still born fetus. He was unceremoniously cast into an incinerator. From an incubator in Madison, WI, I was thrust into a world of chronic homelessness and extreme poverty. The reason why people follow me is because I have a passion for resilience, overcoming the odds, and using my unique life experiences to educate others about overlooked issues within American society.

Many people have spoken about survivors guilt and imposter syndrome. These are things that I deal with everyday. There is a constant reminder of the Genocide I have survived and the victims I called friends and family who fell by the wayside. It haunts me in my sleep at night, causing paralysis and terrible nightmares that my daughter shakes me awake from. In the daytime I am tense and constantly vigilant. I look over my shoulder often, remembering the bullets that have come so close to claiming my life in past.

From the streets there were only two places for me to go, the cemetery or the penitentiary. Lucky for me, I ended up behind bars where I earned my GED and saw enough wasted potential and broken dreams for a lifetime. I vowed that I would be a success story like the role models I read about in the pages of memoirs and autobiographies. When I got off parole I made it my life’s work to prove to society that a convicted felon could and would overcome the odds.

In 2016 I completed the AmeriCorps program Public Allies and moved from a homeless shelter in Milwaukee, WI to a two bedroom apartment with amenities and all utilities included. While my homies were still struggling in the hood I was planning my escape from the city. In 2018 I completed my two year service as a member of the National Youth Forum on Homelessness. My plans were derailed when my daughter’s child abuse injunction expired. Fearing for her safety after the courts had not protected her from habitual child abuse in the past, I fled the city with only $40 to my name.

I arrived in Los Angeles in the summer of 2018. It was a big leap of faith but hey, my name’s Miracle right? From motels, to skid row, to South LA, I worked at Koreatown Youth and Community Center and did everything in my power to pull myself up from my own bootstraps. I couldn’t tie the laces because I was carrying so many burdens. Thankfully there were many locals willing to help.

In 2019 I began attending Los Angeles Trade Technical College. As a formerly homeless single dad I had navigated the world of governments, non profits, and charitable organizations. I had earned features on local news outlets like Spectrum News and been highlighted by organizations like United Way. Now, as a student I had the opportunity to empower myself and transform my own reality. The first books I read on campus, Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari opened my eyes to a new perspective on who I was and where I had come from. I had been taught that humans were created in a garden and that the earth was only six thousand years old. Time spent in the streets and in institutional settings hadn’t given me a chance to question these outrageous claims. Now, I was suddenly presented with facts that shed light on the origins of humanity and the evolutionary processes that separated us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

My passion for education grew and grew with every day. When COVID-19 forced me off of campus I struggled to maintain my attendance due to issues with low cost internet and housing insecurity. Ironically, it was a property owner who discriminated against my daughter that gave us a way out of our housing crisis in South LA. When the property owner settled out of court I suddenly had the security deposit needed to move out of the hood. I loved the community that had welcomed me with open arms but I needed access to better opportunities for my daughter that just didn’t exist in the zip code where we were staying.

Armed with a Section 8 voucher from the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, I set out to find a neighborhood with better schools and less crime for my daughter. Senator Holly Mitchell sponsored SB 329, which was signed into law on Jan 1, 2020. With the stroke of a pen, Governor Gavin Newsom changed me and my daughter’s life forever. The bill made it impossible for landlords to place a blanket ban on Section 8 voucher holders. When I had first looked for housing in 2018, I was forced to accept substandard conditions in a rat and roach infested subdivision because the law allowed landlords to refuse to accept any Section 8 tenants to apply. A life long supporter of the Democratic Party, I was proud to approach property owners with my application now that they could not discriminate against me for being a Section 8 recipient. A few short months later I moved into my new place with my daughter in East Hollywood.

During the time I spent in South LA, I was covered by the LA Times and MTV News for my resilience as a college student despite COVID-19 and a lack of mental health resources. I continued to advocate for the homeless and ABC7 featured me in a story about encampments in Los Feliz. Since moving to East Hollywood I have filmed several music videos, one which was sponsored by a non profit community organization. I continue to be active in the community and focus on bettering myself and creating opportunities for my daughter and other local youth. People follow me because I know that leadership isn’t about giving orders and criticizing others. True leadership is about doing what is right and setting an example. It doesn’t matter if you’re homeless with no family and friends or rich with a million followers. As long as you follow your heart and put others first as a servant leader, eventually you will be recognized and rewarded for the hard work you do. Nothing about me or my life is or has been traditional. I stand out because I’m unique. I am Milagro, a real life miracle. I manifest positivity through my attitude, words, and actions. Everything else I leave in the hands of the positive forces of the universe.