"they were not like me"

[ishai_wallace]

They did not say "Bleecker St." on the news yesterday, but the murder they described as being at "College and Sherbourne" was on Bleecker St. Where I live. Thursday night I was in bed when I heard the gun shots. I recognised the first one as a gun shot, but then there were so many loud bangs, in two clusters, that I un-recognised them. I decided

Comments

[tyresias]

Thank you for your insights, as always spot on and mirroring some of the self-reflection work I'm trying to do for myself. I've been mulling over many of these things as well. My father has suggested on two occasions I move because of the violence on our street. I've let him know I don't think it's necessary but the sense of safety I feel is definitely tied to my class and race.

I've also been reflecting on the red umbrellas that have been spray painted 3 or 4 times on our sidewalk. My parents would see this as another sign that *I* need to move because *someone like me* doesn't belong in a place where this happens. I chaired the safety and security committee for my townhouses when I first moved here because I knew some of my neighbours would go after the sex workers, wanting them displaced and sure enough within months some of them called on me to "work with the police" to get rid of them (of course, I didn't). Ultimately, to "get me out of the way" the property manager, with the board's blessing, disbanded the committee.

I can only imagine what "response" they're currently planning to the "graffiti" "rise" on our sidewalk. :(