So you are out enjoying a nice summer day when out of nowhere a gang of thugs descends on innocence. What are you to do?
Dial 911?
Run into the fray and sacrifice yourself to the beat down?
Pray?
What would John Wayne do? How about Clint Eastwood? Hell, what would Speed Racer do?
Sometimes I feel like a passenger on a hijacked airplane. Everyone is looking around to see what the others will do. People are scared. No one is coming to help. We are on our own.
Time to man up.
Before 9/11 there were rules. If you were on a hijacked plane, you were supposed to remain calm, quiet and cooperative. After the second plane hit its target on 9/11, the paradigm changed forever. Passengers now have a responsibility. They also have power. They didn’t ask for it, they took it. Now, hijacking isn’t as easy for the hijackers as it once was.
Shouldn’t the same be said for our neighborhoods?
I guess I could move, but if I did I would constantly be thinking of the friends I left behind. Most don’t understand what it means to truly be part of a community.
Am I my neighbors' keeper? Yes. What is my responsibility when it comes to lawlessness in the land? This is what I’m struggling with.
God bless the police, but there is only so much they can do.
No. It is time for the men of the nation’s neighborhoods to man up. It’s time to take a page from the heroes of United Flight 93. We need to pray, organize, pray, and then confront the present evil, violent youth culture in our communities.
I’ve got nothing against my suburban brethren, heck, soon I might just be out there with you playing soccer and stuff… but Sherman Park is home and the battle is here, now.
By the way, my friend is O.K. He said he is here to stay. Like I said, the man is a rock, a leader in our community.
Time to man up.
“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway” - John Wayne
Posted by: Kurt | June 22, 2007 at 08:00 AM
Maybe a pump action shotgun would be useful? The cocking noise alone would probably get the thugs' attention.
On the other hand, that could also lead to scaling up the level of potential violence. I guess it depends on how you think the thugs will react. Will they leave and stay gone or will they then come back with guns of their own?
Maybe learning karate would be better?
Posted by: Matt | June 22, 2007 at 08:06 AM
you need to get groups of 3 or more grown men to patrol for a half hour together -- walk through the community and organize others in different sections of the city. Each man should have a cell phone -- and without causing trouble keep this up while the weather is good. It won't solve problem but getting people active is the first step. Notify police of garbage going on and if violence occurs pick and choose your battles.
Posted by: Nic Cruickshank | June 22, 2007 at 09:05 AM
The police are so overwhelmed, what's the point in calling? They usually show up just in time to put up the tape.
If this city is going to solve this problem, it's going to have to come from within. Talking about it hasn't brought any solutions. Hiding from the problem ("there's no crisis here") hasn't brought any solutions.
Maybe "manning up" is the only solution this city has left. So, yippy kayay, I guess.
Oh, and a very strong recommendation if you go the vigilante route:
Kevlar, baby. It's all about the Kevlar.
Posted by: Bruce | June 22, 2007 at 09:33 AM
AMEN!
Sign me up for a weekly walk thru your neighborhood with you my friend.
Posted by: Uncle Ed | June 22, 2007 at 09:34 AM
James. What do the "women" have to do to defend themselves in your Sherman Park neck of the woods? I hear you talking about "manning" it up, but are the women hiding behind locked doors? Just wonderin.
Posted by: Diana | June 22, 2007 at 10:01 AM
The women should do what any responsible citizen should do in that situation.
Buy a gun.
I'm not calling for a return to the Wild West (which wasn't as wild as most would believe), but when faced with violence, self defense is the only alternative.
Of course, a responsible citizen makes a legal purchase, gets training on firearms use and safety, they don't treat it like a toy, and don't leave it laying around for little kids to pick up.
A gun is only a bad thing in the hands of bad people.
Posted by: Rustmeister | June 22, 2007 at 10:28 AM
James,
Henry Cannon over in the Riverwest Neighborhood has headed up the Riverwest walkers for the last year or so. It's a great way to meet neighbors, and walk around and be a presence in your neighborhood. Invite your local captain to walk with you. Stagger the schedule so that one week you walk on a Monday, the next a Tuesday, etc.
Don't go out with a vigilante mindset. Go out with the mindset of being in your community, owning it, loving it. I don't live in Sherman Park, but my grandfather did. And I would gladly volunteer to walk with you. Just let me know.
Posted by: mjonthemove | June 22, 2007 at 12:20 PM
MJ, James already does that -- but not enough. And so does the Sherman Park Ambassadors Program. (Much like what you're talking about in Riverwest, but an older initiative.) Good idea. You listening, James...?
Posted by: Alex | June 22, 2007 at 04:34 PM
You know you guys are right on top of things over in the Park. Does City Hall know about any of this? Isn't it great how the little guy can come up with such great civic-minded ideas and the big-wigs downtown collect their paychecks and do nothing. Calling Mayor Barrett. Where are you Mayor Barrett?
Posted by: Diana | June 22, 2007 at 07:25 PM
Actually, Diana, Ald. Hines does a lot in Sherman Park. Just ask James...
Mayor Barrett, on the other hand...you'd have to ask someone else.
Posted by: shoe | June 22, 2007 at 09:53 PM
Hines I know does a lot. Its Barrett who is supposed to "lead" the city.
Posted by: Diana | June 23, 2007 at 08:32 AM
You're right, Diana. Do you live in Wash Heights?
Posted by: shoe | June 23, 2007 at 02:47 PM
Lots of interesting comments here. I wish you all lots of luck. Just make sure that you have a plan if/when the tiger jumps out at you.
The following are my comments on the Badger Blogger re: today's (06-24-2007) Eugene Kane column:
"This pretty much sums up what you can expect for the rest of this summer and beyond unless black politicians, the Mayor, the local media and the next Police Chief start supporting the cops who are trying to get the job done":
(From Kane’s column)
Q. What is it going to take to reach out to you guys in order to be hopeful about the future?
A. “Why do you want to reach us? Like you said, we’re the dropouts, the ones without good parents, the ones who don’t really think much about the future beyond the next day. Plus, we can get all the guns we want. What good do you think reaching out to us is going to do?”
Q. So, it’s hopeless?
A. “Not as long as we’re the few. When we become the many, that’s when you will really have problems.”
Posted by: Glenn D. Frankovis | June 24, 2007 at 06:47 AM
And if you need "man up" Wheaties, have everyone in the patrol watch "A Man for All Seasons" before taking their walk.
Different topic--but it's a "man up" movie if ever one was made...
Posted by: dad29 | June 24, 2007 at 06:15 PM