We held the first Morningside Park Sustainable meeting last month. It was filled with enthusiastic people who are excited about a smaller, more local and more sustainable Inglewood. We invited Valerie Watson, the Pedestrian Coordinator for the City of Los Angeles and former chair of downtown L.A. Neighborhood Council’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee to speak to our group.

Why did we invite her rather than the traditional organizations that serve communities that are a majority of color? The reason is simple: I do not feel that such organizations fit this community. Our city may be black, Latino and white, but we have a sizable and strong middle class. We have a sizable bohemian class too. I feel that I and many other residents of Inglewood already know how to eat healthfully, how to exercise and how to shop for food.

I am tired of people coming to our community and saying we shouldn’t eat Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald’s—as if these are things we don’t already know. I find that approach highly insulting. I and my neighbors, my parents and all our peers are tired of being subjected to such disrespect.

While I understand that portraying the city’s residents as ignorant people who don’t know how to not kill themselves with food is a cash cow to many people who want to beg under the umbrella of a 501(c)(3), I believe the journey is as important as the destination.

If "you’re helping" of the community portrays the community and its residents as trash then you haven’t helped anyone, but yourself. The image of your community is important. It impacts the opportunities of the residents and it impacts your home values.

I have a message for people who come here to “help”: please stopping helping to ruin the image of this community for publicity, for grants and for funds that will never be used for what they are purported.

I was recently interviewed on a radio show. The hosts asked me to pick out songs that represent Inglewood. I purposely excluded songs that denigrated the city’s image. This means I included zero rap songs from the 1990s. It’s not about taking the easy road and making the easy buck by falsely embodying stereotypes.

I have respect for the people who live here. After all, I live in the Avenues in Inglewood’s Morningside Park.