There was a time in Manteca where you were liable to be approached on the street by a young, brash young man toting a crude digital camera asking you questions about any of a number of things for publication in this very newspaper.
Andrew Bell, a longtime Manteca resident, spent years working for his hometown newspaper before the winds carried him up to Sacramento where has made a huge impact on the local arts and culture in a city that is becoming every bit as culturally and artistically significant as the Bay Area communities that are known for such things.
And now, after years of grinding away as Andru Defeye – an emcee and guerilla poet that has served the youth through outreach programs like Sol Collective and brought poetry to the masses through his ZFG (zero forbidden goals) crew – the same young man that used to approach random strangers asking if they’d answer even more random questions is now up to become Sacramento’s Poet Laureate from 2020-22.
I could say that his rise has been meteoric, but I think that would take away from the slow, steady grind that embodies the person that Andrew Bell – and Andru Defeye – have become in the State Capital.
Whether it’s organizing poetry events on the street corners of Downtown Sacramento or organizing flash mobs in seemingly random places, Bell has been putting in the work necessary to grow the Sacramento arts scene and stay true to his mission of bringing beauty to the world.
While it seems like a lifetime of work for Bell to get to the point, he’s at now in the process – recently invited back for another round of interviews in early 2020 – he would become, if selected, the youngest poet laureate in the history of the program.
And it’s amazing to see former Manteca residents making a splash and a name for themselves in Sacramento.
Earlier this year Casey Tinnin was honored as the Community Grand Marshal for the Sacramento Pride event for his outreach work in the region as a pastor for the Loomis Basin Congregational United Church of Christ – providing a safe place for LGBTQ+ teens who struggle with their identity and their place in a relatively conservative, traditional community.
Much like Bell, I’ve known Tinnin for years and it’s wonderful to see even though the two young men left the communities in which they grew up, they haven’t given up the work of improving the communities where they now reside.
Nobody knows yet whether Bell will be the one who gets to recite poetry at official Sacramento events or get his name etched in the history books as the youngest person ever to hold the title that he seeks, but one thing is apparent – he’s making an impact in the world and staying true to the person that he always knew that he was.
I’d like to think that Andrew Bell was a man before his time in a place like Manteca – trying to bring the guerilla spirit to the masses when they weren’t quite ready for it just yet.
I mean, this is a guy that wrote a whole expose on graffiti as art that drove the Manteca Police Department absolutely crazy, and now people from all over the world pay obscene prices to collect urban walls that were graffitied by the likes of Banksy or other artists that have become household names.
From the pages of the Manteca Bulletin to the cover of the Sacramento News and Review and potentially into the annals of history as Sacramento’s next poet laureate, Andrew Bell has found his groove.
Best of luck to you in the New Year, Sir. You’ve earned all of the recognition that is coming your way.
Use FasTrak? Pay attention
when you get a new car
On a recent trip to San Francisco when I knew I would be crossing the bridge and using the carpool lanes, I decided to log into FasTrak to make sure that my account was up to date, and my billing information was all accurate.
And, much to my surprise, I noticed that I had picked up a toll in August that I didn’t quite recognize for driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.
The license plate wasn’t one that I recognized, so I looked a little closer and discovered that the license plate was actually from my previous vehicle – which I traded in three years ago – and apparently somebody took a trip across the bridge in it and the agency decided to stick me with the toll.
Not being a regular FasTrak user I didn’t even think twice when I traded the car in for my current one – I just removed the transponder from the front window and put it into my new vehicle.
I never even thought to log in and remove the license plate from my account.
From what I can tell, there was only the one transaction. And as the FasTrak Customer Service Center so aptly pointed out to me in their recent emails, the terms and conditions of my enrollment require me to keep my driving information current and up to date.
Translation? Thanks for the toll, guy.
I can’t say that I disagree with their decision because it was my oversight that led to the issue, and it’s obvious that whoever bought the car didn’t know that that the license plate was linked to a FasTrak account.
So, to whoever managed to pick up that Acura RL, you’re welcome.
And if you’re a FasTrak user and you buy a new car, make sure you log in and update your information.
With the Bay Bridge – and all Bay Area bridges – soon going toll-taker free the way the Golden Gate has been for years, I’m glad that I caught this before the charges really started to add up.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
