A number of thoughts
1. Kenyon Farrow: Read his letter to Condoleeza Rice in "Letters from young activists." by Dan Berger. It is awesome, well written, insightful. I may or may not transcribe it here later.
2. Working with Neighbors:
There are a handful of issues that I think cause poor neighborhoods to be shitty neighborhoods. These are: Literacy, Drugs, Incarceration and Nutrition. Essentially in that order. I have been talking with Kindra about literacy, she works with IndyReads now. Drugs are tough, because poor neighborhood drug culture cna be dangerous. Incarceration is a fact of life for most, but I don't have enough experience with it to speak intelligently. Nutrition is a huge issue in our neighborhood where now there not only isn't a Grocery store in walking distance, there isn't even a Village Pantry (what does it mean for a shitty neighborhood when the Village Pantry closes? Is it good or is it a death knell?)
I'm stewing over ways to not be a preachy white person, or a stupid privileged white radical. I'm trying to figure out ways to integrate with the neighborhood and cause some sort of community to foster with out being a religious group. I've tossed around the idea of a independent community space, but there are already a couple spaces in the neighborhood that have funding, but I think also have stigma. It would be great if there was a space that wasn't so much a Mission/Outpost but instead was a owned by the community. I think a really good way of doing this would be a Food Co-op, but not like Bloomingfoods, not some hippy shit. Just a buying co-op with sliding scale membership. More as it fleshes out in my head.
3. Boxing tonight! WOOO!
4. Work, meh.
2. Working with Neighbors:
There are a handful of issues that I think cause poor neighborhoods to be shitty neighborhoods. These are: Literacy, Drugs, Incarceration and Nutrition. Essentially in that order. I have been talking with Kindra about literacy, she works with IndyReads now. Drugs are tough, because poor neighborhood drug culture cna be dangerous. Incarceration is a fact of life for most, but I don't have enough experience with it to speak intelligently. Nutrition is a huge issue in our neighborhood where now there not only isn't a Grocery store in walking distance, there isn't even a Village Pantry (what does it mean for a shitty neighborhood when the Village Pantry closes? Is it good or is it a death knell?)
I'm stewing over ways to not be a preachy white person, or a stupid privileged white radical. I'm trying to figure out ways to integrate with the neighborhood and cause some sort of community to foster with out being a religious group. I've tossed around the idea of a independent community space, but there are already a couple spaces in the neighborhood that have funding, but I think also have stigma. It would be great if there was a space that wasn't so much a Mission/Outpost but instead was a owned by the community. I think a really good way of doing this would be a Food Co-op, but not like Bloomingfoods, not some hippy shit. Just a buying co-op with sliding scale membership. More as it fleshes out in my head.
3. Boxing tonight! WOOO!
4. Work, meh.