30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 15-21, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com FACE TO FACE Charles Chambers has been in Salinas for nearly 50 years. He moved to the area for work, and then became involved in his church and the community and it became home. Chambers was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia in the 1960s. He eventually enlisted in the Air Force and served one year in Vietnam. Following his service, Chambers worked in law enforcement, both as a police and a correctional officer. Next he took on community issues from a different angle, switching careers to human services—first as a social services coordinator for the Salvation Army in Salinas and later at Catholic Charities in San Jose. Finally, he returned to Monterey County to work at the Kinship Center. “We had families and children, grandparents of all nationalities, and it didn’t matter because they were all in the same boat,” he explains. “They supported one another no matter what culture, no matter what nationality.” Chambers retired in 2014 but is still active in the community—causing “good trouble.” He defines that as “talking about things nobody wants to talk about,” he says. He volunteers with the Salinas Juneteenth Celebration Association (see p. 31) and Concerned Citizens, an organization in Santa Clara County, supporting families and people who face discrimination. Weekly: Are there changes you want that you haven’t seen yet? Chambers: I think the next thing that needs to change is the price of housing and the availability of affordable housing. Homelessness in Salinas—this is an atrocity, and it’s an insult to humanity to have veterans living on the street because of whatever reason, to have a family of women and children living on the streets. There’s always been homelessness, but not like it is now. And I think the reason is the cost of living. Who can come up with $2,000 first and last, and $2,000 deposit? That’s like $6,000 to move into a one-bedroom apartment. How can you even expect that from people? That’s unrealistic when the salaries are stagnant. We’ve made huge strides, but we can’t seem to get get past racism. Why does it persist? If you don’t know me, you can’t relate to my problems, I can’t relate to your problems, we can’t grow together—we’re going to continue to grow apart. So we have to communicate; it starts there. The other thing is acceptance. And our differences sometimes keep us from wanting to do that, especially when you’re talking about color barriers and nationality barriers and racial barriers and language barriers. Sometimes we’re hesitant to try to overcome those things. But we need to overcome those things. I had neighbors where their children and I played together daily. We cared about each other. And if one of us got hurt, we were concerned about each other. If someone’s house caught on fire, we all pitched in help. That’s the attitude that we all have to have. Because if your house is on fire—doesn’t matter what color you are, doesn’t matter what language you speak, doesn’t matter what religion you are. What matters is that your house is on fire. And if I’m any kind of a human being, I will show my compassion and help. You’ve been in law enforcement. Another persistent problem is access to weapons. Think of why they’re called assault weapons—they’re made to to kill. They’re not made to be in the gun rack. I was in Vietnam. I carried an M-16. I know the damage it can do. I know what it takes to fire one. You can’t convince me that you need an M-16 for deer hunting. It’s not necessary— people hunted for deer with rifles for years. If you have a shotgun, fine, if you have a rifle, fine. But you do not need an assault weapon. Do you know an M-16 round will penetrate the motor of a vehicle? Did you know it has that much power and velocity? So think about what it does to a human body. It’s designed to bring pain, misery and death. On to a happier topic. You said West Virginia was a beautiful state. What is your favorite place? Charleston has a big river, the Conroy River. I’d love to go fishing there. I fished all the time when I was growing up. It’s a much slower life than California. People seem to be more contented and happy. Not that you seem to have spare time, but what do you do with it? I like to write, poetry and short stories. I like gardening. I like to watch cowboy movies. And I think my biggest hobby is hanging out with my wife. Keeping Active Charles Chambers likes to cause “good trouble,” and he has spent 50 years doing it. By Celia Jiménez Charles Chambers believes people of different races are more united than in the past. “People are not so concerned about the color of people’s skin,” he says. “They’re more concerned about if they can afford the gasoline, if they can afford the rent.” DANIEL DREIFUSS
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==