By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
In the late 1980s and early 1990s gangster rappers like Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and DJ Quik put Compton, Calif., on the proverbial map.
Telling their violent tales of life in this poverty-stricken area of South Central Los Angeles, these rappers gave the city a notorious reputation for gang wars, drive-by shootings, and an overall grim atmosphere.
But Pepperdine sophomore guard Alex Acker doesn’t have to flip open a N.W.A. album to learn about the rough streets of Compton. He knows. He grew up there.
“I was born in Westminster (Calif.), but because of financial problems my parents, my two brothers, and my sister and I had to move into our grandparents’ house in Compton,” Acker explained.
Only 10 square miles in size, Compton is a working-class city of a little less than 100,000 people.
Originally a railroad station on the Los Angeles-San Pedro line, Compton is now a city based on industry; and it is made up of 83 percent minorities. Since the early 1960s, it has been one of the poorest areas in the Los Angeles area.
Luckily, Acker had three older siblings who taught him early on about the dangers that could be found on the streets. And even though he tried his best to avoid them, Acker said the grim reality of what was going on around him was apparent.
“Almost every night you’d hear gun shots or ambulance sirens,” he said. “All night there would be people walking up and down the streets, and you never knew what they were up to…a lot of times they would approach you asking for drugs or other things.”
But like so many other inner-city youths, Acker used athletics to shelter himself from the negative influences that surrounded his family.
His father, Luther, was a former basketball player, and he introduced Acker and his siblings to the game at young ages. Acker said he still remembers the first time his father took him to a Compton court to play basketball.
“We played without a ball. Instead, we just learned playing with oranges,” Acker said laughing.
Soon, Acker spent all of his time between home, school and the basketball courts. He hung around with other athletes and worked hard at developing his game. It was this kind of work that has made Acker one of the top guards in the WCC.
“I was mostly a stay-home type kid,” Acker said. “The only time I went out was to play basketball.”
But even just playing basketball, Acker couldn’t help but feel the effects of living in a city, that at that time, was ridden with crime. The sophomore said he still remembers the fear he felt as a kid walking home at night from a late game of hoops.
“We didn’t walk home, we ran home,” Acker joked.
When asked if he remembered any times he was put into scary situations, Acker replied, “I have got a million of those.”
“One time I was walking home with my brother and sister and I think my brother said something to a car that was passing, just joking, and the guy flipped a U-turn and started chasing us,” he remembered. “We ended running into a neighbor’s house before any trouble happened.”
Despite these instances, Acker said that a lot of the negative things you hear about Compton from the media are overdone, yet, he’s always getting questions from curious students.
He said he still has fond memories of family picnics of soul food in local parks, and of Sundays at church, which in the Acker family is a big event.
“It’s a little church, but everyone in my family would go every Sunday,” Acker said.
With three years left at Pepperdine, Acker said he has his family, the church, and basketball to thank for getting him out of Compton. But his mother and father are still there, and Acker, who talks with his parents every day, hopes his basketball talents will help them to get out as well.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Acker said. “I’m trying to get them out, let them live a better life than they are living now. I feel like since basketball got me out of Compton, it can do the same for them.”
Looking back on the trials and tribulations of his inner-city upbringing, Acker said it had a lot to do with giving him the sense of fearlessness with which he approaches life, and the game of basketball.
“Compton treated me real good,” he said. “It taught me to be tough, it taught me how to survive when things went bad. It’s part of who I am today.”
October 23, 2003