Dem
51
GOP
49
We've been meaning to get to this story for several weeks; forgive us that it's now slightly old news. In any event, the Presidential Medal of Freedom presents various opportunities for the occupant of the Oval Office. It can be used to encourage various forms of public service and achievement. That was certainly the purpose intended when the award was first created, under John F. Kennedy. Alternatively, it can be used to try to score political points. Consider some of the more notable awardees from the two most recent presidents:
Undoubtedly, each president has some honorees in category #1 (encourage public service), some in category #2 (score political points), and some in both. We will leave it to readers to examine the lists and decide for themselves which category tended to be more common for Trump, and which one tends to be more common for Biden.
However, there is one award among the most recent batch from Biden that we are quite confident is in category one. That would be the medal presented to Father Gregory Boyle, who is something of a legend in Los Angeles, having served in various roles across the city for nearly four decades. Boyle is a native Angeleno who entered the seminary in 1972, earned four different post-secondary degrees (B.A. in Philosophy and English, Master's in English, Master's in Sacred Theology, Master's in Divinity), was ordained in 1984, and received his first pastoral assignment in 1988. That was at Dolores Mission Church, perhaps appropriately located in Boyle Heights. This is one of the poorer parts of town, and has been predominantly Latino for generations. When Boyle took over at Dolores, it was the poorest parish in the city, located between two housing projects and in the territory of eight different gangs.
As you can imagine, Boyle felt it was his responsibility to help improve a community that was both poor and crime-ridden. So, he joined with local leaders to found Jobs for a Future. After the infamous 1992 L.A. Riots, this evolved into Jobs for a Future and Proyecto Pastoral. That organization opened up a business called Homeboy Bakery, meant to provide vocational training for gang members who wanted to leave the life behind. Homeboy Bakery, in turn, became the foundation for Homeboy Industries.
Homeboy Industries has been, by any measure, a staggering success. Its vocational training now includes both coursework in various skills (reading, computer use, etc.) as well as hands-on work at the original bakery, several cafés, an embroidery and silkscreen shop, and a food processing concern that produces primarily Latino food products like tortilla chips and salsa. The organization also offers counseling and legal assistance, as well as practical services like tattoo removal and job placement. It serves 10,000 people per year, free of charge, and has an annual budget of $40 million. It is, in fact, the largest gang intervention and rehabilitation program in the world.
Maybe hitting a lot of home runs 100 years ago or serving in politics for a long time is an accomplishment worthy of a medal. We don't know. What we do know is that it would be hard for an award to be more richly deserved than the one that Father Boyle received. A tip of the cappello romano to him and his team.
Have a good weekend, all! (Z)