Many opponents of Proposition 6 spent the last weekend before the November 4 elections getting the word out against the measure.
However, members of one Los Angeles organization decided to spend a day in remembrance of one of their slain leaders.
The Youth Justice Coalition - a South LA group that assists urban and gang youth - dedicated one of their last anti-Proposition 6 events to the center co-founder, Jesse Becerra.
The budding activist, who was nicknamed Chuco, was shot to death at a local party.
"I wanted to do something personal," said Kim McGill, who organized a talk about the initiative followed by Jesse's memorial service, which was held at his gravesite at the Holy Cross Cemetery two days before elections.
The service coincided with the "The Day of the Dead," an annual celebration that honors the spirits of the deceased.
Prop 6, which was voted down by 69 percent, would have: mandated that youth as young as 14 be tried as adults, increased funding for prisons to $1 billion a year and $500 million every other year, and imposed harsher penalties for more than 30 crimes.
YJC members said provisions of the bill targeted immigrants, as well as blacks and Latinos - many of whom live in public housing.
Undocumented immigrants charged with violent or "gang-related" crimes would be denied bail and local sheriffs, district attorneys and trial courts are required to report their immigration status.
The measure would also fund housing authorities to conduct criminal background checks for Section 8 recipients and occupants.
Organizers not only focused on how the bill criminalizes people of color, but also discussed how many minority youth become victims of crime.
According to the YJC, there have been 100,000 shooting deaths in the nation the last 25 years.
In Los Angeles, the likeliness of dying from gun violence is largely dependent on where one lives.
Kim said young men between the ages of 14-30 in South LA have a 1-22,000 chance of getting shot. That can be compared to Westside males of the same age, who stand a 1-78,000 chance of becoming a shooting victim.
YJC members said Proposition 6 would have done nothing to lower crime rates, but would actually contribute to its increase because the initiative would take away from schools and preventative services proven to reduce crime.
Three years ago, Jesse - then 24 years old - attended a house party in South Los Angeles. While standing in an alley way on the side of the house, he was shot by an unknown assailant.
His case was never solved.
At the gravesite, family members along with YJC workers, laid out Mexican sweet bread and different Jarritos soda bottles near his tombstone.
Family members also placed flowers and posters about Proposition 6 near his grave.
"I never pictured my life without him," said Alexis, who is the mother of Chuco's only child.
Jesse's best friend, Nick Estrada, didn't think he could have ever been caught up in gun violence.
In their younger days, he remembers getting into trouble with him for public drunkenness and fighting, but nothing serious. "Jesse was pretty mellow," he said.
Then, he began to turn his life around.
That was the same time he joined the YJC in 2004.
Estrada says Chuco acted differently when he was at the Center, where he began to work with youth on different issues.
He said Jesse was the kind of person that people were automatically drawn to. "He was a positive role model," Estrada said.
Kim remembers him doing chores like changing diapers, washing toilets and other tasks other people did not want to do.
Sandra, his co-worker, said he was also courteous towards women. "He was the most respectful," she said.
She said Jesse had so much more to accomplish before he was killed.
"I miss him," she said. "He wanted to do good."
However, members of one Los Angeles organization decided to spend a day in remembrance of one of their slain leaders.
The Youth Justice Coalition - a South LA group that assists urban and gang youth - dedicated one of their last anti-Proposition 6 events to the center co-founder, Jesse Becerra.
The budding activist, who was nicknamed Chuco, was shot to death at a local party.
"I wanted to do something personal," said Kim McGill, who organized a talk about the initiative followed by Jesse's memorial service, which was held at his gravesite at the Holy Cross Cemetery two days before elections.
The service coincided with the "The Day of the Dead," an annual celebration that honors the spirits of the deceased.
Prop 6, which was voted down by 69 percent, would have: mandated that youth as young as 14 be tried as adults, increased funding for prisons to $1 billion a year and $500 million every other year, and imposed harsher penalties for more than 30 crimes.
YJC members said provisions of the bill targeted immigrants, as well as blacks and Latinos - many of whom live in public housing.
Undocumented immigrants charged with violent or "gang-related" crimes would be denied bail and local sheriffs, district attorneys and trial courts are required to report their immigration status.
The measure would also fund housing authorities to conduct criminal background checks for Section 8 recipients and occupants.
Organizers not only focused on how the bill criminalizes people of color, but also discussed how many minority youth become victims of crime.
According to the YJC, there have been 100,000 shooting deaths in the nation the last 25 years.
In Los Angeles, the likeliness of dying from gun violence is largely dependent on where one lives.
Kim said young men between the ages of 14-30 in South LA have a 1-22,000 chance of getting shot. That can be compared to Westside males of the same age, who stand a 1-78,000 chance of becoming a shooting victim.
YJC members said Proposition 6 would have done nothing to lower crime rates, but would actually contribute to its increase because the initiative would take away from schools and preventative services proven to reduce crime.
Three years ago, Jesse - then 24 years old - attended a house party in South Los Angeles. While standing in an alley way on the side of the house, he was shot by an unknown assailant.
His case was never solved.
At the gravesite, family members along with YJC workers, laid out Mexican sweet bread and different Jarritos soda bottles near his tombstone.
Family members also placed flowers and posters about Proposition 6 near his grave.
"I never pictured my life without him," said Alexis, who is the mother of Chuco's only child.
Jesse's best friend, Nick Estrada, didn't think he could have ever been caught up in gun violence.
In their younger days, he remembers getting into trouble with him for public drunkenness and fighting, but nothing serious. "Jesse was pretty mellow," he said.
Then, he began to turn his life around.
That was the same time he joined the YJC in 2004.
Estrada says Chuco acted differently when he was at the Center, where he began to work with youth on different issues.
He said Jesse was the kind of person that people were automatically drawn to. "He was a positive role model," Estrada said.
Kim remembers him doing chores like changing diapers, washing toilets and other tasks other people did not want to do.
Sandra, his co-worker, said he was also courteous towards women. "He was the most respectful," she said.
She said Jesse had so much more to accomplish before he was killed.
"I miss him," she said. "He wanted to do good."
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