Won't You (Not) Be My Neighbor?

So once, because I’m ignorant, I casually mentioned to a single Black man who was living a life of shiftlessness, getting his hustle on, was an aspiring "rapper," and had a child by some random chick, that there will be a time when Black folk are more divided than we are now. That because of “values” and economics the chasm would widen. He looked at me perplexed. And then I pushed the ignorant meter over and said, “I’m just saying, I’m not going to want my child to play with your child.” Color him offended.

In my mind when I envision my future life, it involves being married with children. And raising those children in a certain manner. Not sheltering them from the world, but making sure they learn certain values, morals, etc. And I am a little fearful of what’s already happening in these here skreets. I work with "inner city" children and their parents on a regular basis – and um let’s just say we’re not on the same page when it comes to child rearing. And so I have decided that we, this would include me and my imaginary family, will live on a compound with other folks I love, trust and respect and their imaginary families.

Although my one friend who’s been invited to the compound said, “so that we don’t look like crazy people who wear long dresses, don’t put on make up and swap husbands, can we call it the cul-de-sac? A cul-de-sac of mini mansions?” Yes! So we shall all live in le cul-de-sac.

A place where while us ladies/mommies will stay flyy, we just might grow our own fruits and vegetables. We won’t go so far as home schooling our kids, but we will have Saturday School, followed by cookouts. Church and then old school, Big Mama’s house, Sunday dinners. Have guest houses for the grandparents. Take field trips into the city so our kids can get some culture. Watch, feed and discipline each other’s children. Take care of each other’s property when a family goes on vacation. Be a community. You know like we used to have back in the day. Before the white man’s welfare broke up the family. Before integration. Before the crack cocaine. When every Black woman had a huzband to herself. Huzzah!

My mother was blessed to have three sisters who lived in the area. So when she and my daddy were off doing their thang, we had built in babysitters – whom mama trusted. Cause she knew they would spank us if we did wrong. Would adhere to the bed time she had set. Feed us only what she deemed healthy. My one aunt watched us every Thursday night for like 10 years. In retrospect I think this was my parents’ date night. My brother and I didn’t notice because we were too busy watching the Cosby Show.

I only have one natural sibling, but I consider my good girlfriends family. My sisters. Or sistas depending on your black-o-meter. And I would find it totally awesome if we all lived in le cul-de-sac together. And raised our children together.

I mean I would love to be able to send my kids to Godmommy Amaretto’s house and know that it will be filled with dancing and laughter and that she’ll read my babies Bible stories. Have them spend the night with Mama Courvoisier where she’ll have them doing arts and crafts (cause mama Rum Punch is not artistically inclined) and then they’ll eat individual servings of mac & cheese that she baked in muffin pans. Send them to Aunt Bellini’s house where she’ll be playing 90’s jams and telling my kids about how she believed in a Black man from Hawaii long before Mama Rum Punch ever did. Leave them at Dark and Stormy’s house, where world music will fill the air, Bob Marley on a record player, and she’ll be breaking down the lyrics. Send them to Auntie Mint Julep’s where she’ll be keeping it RBG and telling my kids never, ever, ever step outside your own house if the police come to your door.

Ahhh yes, le cul-de-sac, a place where, we are family is not just a song, but a way of life. Where people got your back. Where everybody knows your name. Where we set the standards. And said standard is always excellence. So, favorite ladies in my life, I hope y’all are “looking” for y’alls husbands and stacking your pennies cause mama is on the hunt for some land. Hmmm…. And I guess a huzband of my own.

That’s my time y’all! Happy Rum Punch Friday!

Who Are The People In My Neighborhood?

As I was walking to work last week, I realized I say Good Morning to the same people every day. In fact one morning, a person (we are not on first name basis) said “Didn’t see you yesterday”

“Hmm…” I thought, “there’s something nice about being familiar with your neighborhood.”

Now, hold that thought because at that moment I was taken right back to my childhood days. Remember, the Sesame Street song “Who are the people in your neighborhood?








Well from that point onwards I was singing until I got to work. Check out the people in my neighborhood. Sing along, my lyrics below.

Oh, who are the people in my neighborhood?
In my neighborhood?
In my neighborhood?
Say, who are the people in my neighborhood?
The people that I meet each day.

Oh, da sandwich lady cooks on wheels,
Quick, cheap and greasy first meals.
Selling egg and cheese for two bucks,
She’s only there for breakfast, which sucks.

'Cause da sandwich lady is a person in my neighborhood,
In my neighborhood,
In my neighborhood,
Da sandwich lady is a person in my neighborhood,
A person that I meet each day.

Oh, da hus’le man always has good deals,
On items you’re not sure he steals,
But he can get me the latest DVD,
At a price none of da stores can beat.

'Cause da hus’le man is a person in my neighborhood,
In my neighborhood,
In my neighborhood,
And da sandwich lady is a person in my neighborhood.

They’re the people that I meet,
When I am walking down the street,
They’re the people that I meet each day.

Crazy? I know. If only I had more time I would make a video for you guys.

Much luv until next week…peace and happy holidays!

Round 'em up. NOW, part ii

I told you, we would revisit this topic and the time is now. To the ire of some, they were not feeling my opinion on the matter. But in the nation’s capital the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) chose to do as my post is titled – Round ‘em up NOW.

“It was a warm afternoon in the District's Trinidad neighborhood, and a group of boys was walking shirtless in the streets, some with pants hanging down below their behinds.”

This is part of the problem – I didn’t say the origins of the problem, but problematic nonetheless.

“One of the boys had thrown a plastic soda bottle at a youth passing by on a moped, nearly causing a crash. "Unsupervised teenagers -- that's part of the problem,"... "Now, how they're getting a hold of all these guns and drugs, that's the other part."”

Just a neighborly observation as told to a columnist for the Washington Post.

Now, remember these quotes as I make my point ….

In a neighborhood that is in the backyard of the US Capitol, during the past two weeks there was a spike in homicides. So, the chief of police and the mayor’s chief legal counsel devised a plan Neighborhood Safety Zone to contain the number of homicides in this neighborhood. Over a 6-day period, they imposed a military-style ID checkpoint on a street in that neighborhood. In effect, stopping all motorists (however pedestrians could walk on by). The efficacy of the plan was criticized, considering that pedestrians were not stopped and if a motorist was denied entry at the checkpoint – they could enter the neighborhood via other streets, alleys, etc. Now some residents were peeved and others were relieved. During MPD presence, no homicides occurred.

I must admit the mayor and chief of police strong-armed residents of the embattled district. The mayor’s office didn’t inform the city council of his intentions let alone residents of that district. But then again, the mayor of café au lait has operated in this manner since the inception of his mayoral term. His claim would be: In the name of efficiency – I gots to do what I gots to do—and for the most part—his newly minted citizens (circa ‘90s +) don’t mind his style. They like when the job is done.

Lest I forget to mention, that the neighborhood is slowly being gentrified. A new train stop was added a few years ago. Residents built a new charter school – so a change is comin’

Remember the quotes above

The issue of civil rights vs. civil liberties is not new in this country. It is a crude idea for the government to intrude in your neighborhood while you pay taxes and such, however you better devise a plan of your own and become proactive 'cuz if not the government will adopt their own plan to the ire of many.

Now critics to my original post can twiddle their thumbs all they want, but the government ain’t waiting for ya to figure things out. So, either we round ‘em up NOW and salvage what’s left of our neighborhoods and rebuild or they will round ‘em up NOW.
It’s your call to make.

cheers,

Bellini

P.S. Congratulations to the Boston Celtics, stone-cold crushing LA!

in response to "round em up now" and the beloved community

i started to comment but i didn't have time to fully articulate my disgust for this "let us search your shit for kicks and we MIGHT not prosecute you" program that's being floated by DC and other cities. my vote is...

hellll to da nawww!

first off just reading the proposal points that bellini outlined yesterday, the program seems way too sketchy for me. as gangsta d pointed out in the comments, the program goes nowhere if there is no community buy-in, no "volunteers" willing to let the police all up and through they residence on a search for guns and drugs. AND they want people to sign consent forms that will most likely (a) allow the police to do whatever the hell they want when they enter your home and (b) waive any responsibilities or liabilities or promises on the police's part to not prosecute, be nice, and not fuck up your shit in the process.

Then the kicker is that if the guns are found to have been involved in a crime of some sort, the police will launch an "investigation" and you best believe charges will be filed and your ass is goin to jail. despite the wishy washy language in the article quote, somebody's gettin locked up! Again, whose gonna sign up for that? knowing as rum punch pointed out the history between the police and our people, dirty cops who plant, manipulate and otherwise twist evidence against us comes to mind.

i'm sorry bellini but i doubt if the aclu has enough "extra" lawyers to cover these random neighborhood sweeps to make sure the law is being enforced. furthermore, who would pay for these attorneys even if they could be found? the city and/or police force is damn sure not gonna fork over the money to provide oversight to a program they concocted.

i really do hear you that the "status quo" is not working but a failure in policing and crime fighting does not warrant an abandoment of folks basic rights, a relaxation of the constitutional freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. how bout the mayor and police force put there heads together to come up with creative LEGAL solutions to reduce crime that respect the humanity of the citizens and communities they interact with. but those are just my thoughts.

this post did get me to thinking about crime and black communities and black folks varied views about the crime in ours and other black communities and how to best tackle the problem. (yea that was quite long but follow me). you see this past weekend, i visited the new city to look for an apartment. i found a gorgeous place in an historically black community in the city. it is in a lovingly restored historic home with a balcony and a view of the city skyline. on a quiet couple of blocks in a historically black community that a native told me was "not some place where i wanted to live" and that i should pick an apartment near one of the white univiersities with white neighbors who would look out for me and my things.

now i took this advice somewhat seriously cause this is a new city that i've never lived in and i'm not trying to get shot walking from my car to my apartment. but the notion that i could only be safe in an area surrounded by whites was quite hilarious, especially coming a black person. i thought about the historically black neighborhoods in cities that i have lived in, like auburn avenue or the west end in atlanta. areas where you can find the most beautiful homes (like the one MLK grew up in) inhabited by upwardly mobile black folks and your obligatory gay white men on one block and crackheads a couple of blocks away.

i think that we should be cautious about fleeing these communities that we have historically inhabited because we percieve there to be more crime in these areas. being the internets slueth that i am, i did of search of both neighborhoods on the city's crime statistics website and found that both areas experienced about the same level of crime (thefts and auto thefts) in the past couple of months. but the perception is that since black folks live over there, the neighborhood is crap. what's white is right, and if you black, stay back!

if i (or we) followed this line of thinking, our most precious cultural gems will be handed over to crime and then to pioneering white folks who come in and gentrify. the difference is that those white folks demand respectful and diligent policing of their neighborhoods and aren't afraid to snitch on dem boys who be slinging on the corner.

i don't have all the solutions but i'm willing to put my head together with those who are willing to work and do something constructive about the problem. are you?