“San Antonio makes you fall in love with the idea of helping it.”

This is one of my favorite quotes about San Antonio, from my good friend Diego Bernal. I love it because it captures the feeling so many people experience when they think about San Antonio’s potential. But as much as I love this quote, the more I reflect on it, the more I feel the need to add something to it—something that touches on the downside of the city I love so much. I would amend the quote to say:

San Antonio makes you fall in love with the idea of helping it, and then it fights you every step of the way.

We are a city of seemingly unlimited potential, yet for some reason, we can’t get out of our own way. We want all the right things but seem to fear anything that requires too much change. One of my mentors once told me, “The greatest fear of all is the fear of the unknown.” When I examine the extreme resistance to change in San Antonio, I know it is this fear that holds us back.

I know this to be true because it’s how I felt for much of my life growing up here. And when you grow up with a scarcity mindset like I did, everything makes you afraid. Then, one day, a tiny startup company hired me and gave me a career. That company was Rackspace. They took a chance on an inner-city Hispanic kid with no college degree and gave me a job. What I didn’t realize at the time was that they were giving me so much more. They gave me skills. They gave me a network and connections I could never have imagined. They gave me tools I didn’t know existed. And they gave me the greatest gift of all: my second plane ride ever, and with it, a glimpse of the rest of the world.

First Rackspace Employee Photo

All of this happened because three Trinity University students decided to start a tech company here in San Antonio. They could have done it anywhere, and any smart person would have advised them against starting it here. But they did it anyway, and that company changed the lives of so many people in our city. I would argue it even changed the city itself in a small but meaningful way.

I share this part of my story because that one company changed my life. And if it could happen to me, it can happen to anyone who grew up in the inner city like I did.

This brings me back to Diego Bernal’s incredible quote. But let’s frame it as a question this time: Why? Why does San Antonio make you fall in love with the idea of helping it? In my humble opinion, it’s because you actually can help it.

Sure, San Antonio can be a pain in the ass and fight you every step of the way. Too many people seem to want to put the city in a glass case, stick it in the San Antonio Museum of Art, and simply admire it from a distance.

But you cannot deny that for those willing to endure the pain and turmoil, it is possible to change the city. How do I know? Because I’ve seen it happen.

I’ve seen three Trinity students create one company that changed our city. I’ve seen a tech startup scene bloom downtown, born out of Geekdom. I’ve seen the Pearl transform into something that is the envy of the world. I’ve seen our city take on ambitious projects like Mission Reach, Hemisfair, and Haven for Hope—projects so impressive that people fly in from around the world to study and learn from them.

I’ve seen small businesses and individual citizens step forward and literally change the city for the better. And I say that without exaggeration. How are they able to do it?

The answer is simple: Even though San Antonio is over 300 years old, there are still chapters of its story that remain unwritten. Anyone who wants to can step up and write a chapter in our city’s history.

“Texas Politician before a speech at the Alamo.” Photography by Joshua Perez.

Try going to New York or Austin and writing a chapter in those cities’ histories. Good luck. The stories of those cities are largely written. But here in San Antonio, there are still entire books waiting to be added to the historical volumes.

This is why I put up with San Antonio fighting us every step of the way. Because I believe anyone—you and I—can help change our city for the better.

And very few people get the opportunity to change their city in their lifetime.