Real Hartford

Sick of the Weak Rhetoric?

I certainly am. Every time the term “Sanctuary City” is used, it seems to be with contempt in the speaker’s voice. The Columbia Journalism Review published an article in November 2007 which explains how: “[t]he term exists in a linguistic no-man’s land, a frame that suggests urban officials abet soft-headed lawlessness. At best, the press has done a poor job of explaining the motivation and legal framework behind policies slapped with the label; at worst, it has recycled and showcased the term, which is little more than an anti-immigration talking point, without much analysis or skepticism.” This should be mandatory reading for anyone who continues to throw around the phrase.

Thought(s) for the Day

While re-reading Urban Nightmares: The Media, the Right, and the Moral Panic over the City by Steve Macek, I came across two quotes that could not be more relevant:

To put it crudely, the “moral panic” appears to us to be one of the principal forms of ideological consciousness by means of which a “silent majority” is won over to the support of increasingly coercive measures on the part of the state, and lends its legitimacy to a “more than usual” exercise of control.
–Stuart Hall

The cancer of fear has taken over. We have government by fear. We have a fear economy. We have a landscape of fear. We have a mass media that sells it.
–William Upski Wimsatt

On Main Street

The environments that I work in and many of the people I encounter daily are vastly different from those I grew up in and around. I am most comfortable in situations that are disorganized and without pretense. The people who(m) I am most accustomed to are rough– they curse unapologetically, don’t even own dress shirts, drink beer from a can, speak directly, and have dirt/grease/oil staining their hands (not just under fingernails). I take a lot of pride in knowing that this is my background; I frequently I feel like a visitor in the professional world, like I could be sent away at any time for breaking social norms that I was not even aware of.

I habitually walk in places that I’m not supposed to. It’s unintentional. Growing up, I was allowed in boiler rooms, construction sites, and other potentially dangerous places because those were the job sites for my family and relatives. It’s instilled in me to watch for nails, look to see if I’m going to walk straight into boards at eye-level, and to keep my hands away from circular saws (”you don’t want to get your hand cut off. want someone else to have to do everything for you for the rest of your life?” -mom). When I walk around downtown during the week and see people-in-suits dodging uneven sidewalk or staying extreme distances from construction areas, I wonder if among them, there are any like me who feel more at home with sawdust and paint than with clip-on corporate ID tags and business lunches.

Yesterday, I walked through an area (that I was allowed to be in) where workers were dismantling scaffolding. At one point, chunks of concrete went flying down onto the sidewalk below. Immediately, a couple workers yelled to the others to “take it easy” and “watch it.” I received numerous apologies from four or five of the workers, even though nothing hit me and I was not jumpy or annoyed. I wished that there had been others around to hear the concern coming from men typically portrayed as uncaring and lewd.

More than Violent Acts

Hartford cares. Hundreds from Hartford and surrounding towns showed up to prove this. In the crowd, I spotted a former student of mine from a few years back, a former professor of mine from even more years back, and two colleagues–one from each place I’m employed at. There was an unofficial bloggers’ seating section, where innocent, objective reporters were being plied with strawberries by an unnamed city official. Under canopies, a dozen community groups set up to hand out literature, candy, magnets, and let people know what they offered. Knox Parks Foundation, Rebuilding Hartford, My Sister’s Place, CREC, Community Renewal Team, and Hartford Public Access were among these organizations.

A “Wall of Commitment” (giant posterboard) was set up for attendees to write on. Many used this as a place to publicly promise to make changes in their actions as related to Hartford; others used it to say what they are already doing (what organizations they are affiliated with) or what they think about the city.

The two-hour long program moved rapidly, lagging only during the extended candlelight vigil toward the end. The Hartford Symphony Orchestra performed several times during the night– a pleasant surprise for me, since I’m not the type to seek out orchestra music (or whatever kids these days call it).

Ted Carroll, President of Leadership Greater Hartford (organizers of the event) gave the greeting, which also moved along. I don’t want to be the person to point this out, but there is some irony in thanking the Hartford Courant and WTIC radio for being media sponsors of this event, since the Hartford Courant along with other local media are part of why the national media picked up on recent incidents, causing damage the Hartford’s reputation. Some on the Courant staff have written meaningful columns after this, but we should remain critical of any outlet that would post video without any context. We live in the age of the internet, when material is quickly picked up and dispersed. Few bother to investigate their sources, as Christine, Heather, and I were discussing. False information gets spread nearly instantly, and is difficult to rectify later. It’s fine to be diplomatic if a company is giving money, but let’s not forget their own role in why the event has to happen at all– even with such a great showing of people from Hartford who do care about our community, I have to wonder how much damage this will undo.

MIRA and Mind Evolution, both spoken word artists, earned robust applause from the audience. MIRA performed “I Wish We All Had Daughters,” and Mind Evolution, “When I Grow Up.” There was dance, drumming, a puppet of what I believe was a Phoenix (it was a bird of some kind, I think), and a series of “conversations” (interviews and speeches).

Rabbi Donna Berman announced that there would be a second Hartford Cares gathering held at the Charter Oak Cultural Center in July. That one will allow the community more of an opportunity to be active in the conversation.

From my chats with people, there was a lot of surprise about the number of people in attendance and the racial diversity. A few thought that the “cheese factor” would have been way higher than it was. Actually, until the grand finale of dozens of adults and children crammed on the bandshell stage, singing and swaying, it really was not corny. And for those who must know, there was absolutely no singing of Kumbaya.
Continue reading More than Violent Acts…

Tales from the Cesspool: Part Three

The embellishments and lies distributed in past days by the media only damages Hartford’s reputation. Posting video of a person lying in the street after being hit by a car seems to be in bad taste, serving no function, except ironically, to show that the reports do not line up with reality. As several, including Heather Brandon, have noted, the time lapse between the accident and assistance was about 90 seconds. People did help. Those people happened to be the police.

Before making all kinds of judgments, let’s hear some reasons for possible bystander inaction:
1. callousness and/or apathy toward fellow human beings
2. trauma from witnessing a kind of violence
3. ignorance of first aid (most people are not required by their jobs to be trained in this)
4. lack of cell phone (that would have been my reason for not calling 911)
5. assumption that someone else had already alerted authorities

In times like this, we can’t trust the media or total outsiders to carefully assess the situation. For all of the judgments cast on witnesses, one could ask why journalists, who routinely capture violence (sometimes preventable) on camera do not put their cameras down to help. Just saying.

There have been a few more sensitive and sensible responses to recent highly publicized incidents, as well as to other misinformation distributed by the media:

breaks it down for you on her blog:

What’s happening in Hartford is happening “to us all,” it’s just that you may not see the same kind of hit-and-run just anywhere as a case-in-point demonstrating the ills of today’s society.

The city does not have a monopoly on purely self-interested behavior. That’s an issue we can all own, rich or poor, highly educated or not, wherever we dwell.

sent out a press release days ago:

Mayor Eddie A. Perez is calling on the people of the City of Hartford to turn
their outrage into action in the wake of recent incidents that have plagued the Capital City.

In a news conference with city leaders, business owners, clergy, and family members of victims,
Mayor Perez says, “We are here to stand together as a community and a city and send a clear
message: We are not going to let anybody take away the progress we have made to make
Hartford a safer city.”

The group was unanimous in their feelings that the “City of Hope and Opportunity” is filled with
law-abiding citizens who partner with police every day to make Hartford more vibrant. That
was made clear by announcing the fact that four 9-1-1 calls were made within one minute
of an elderly gentleman being struck on Park Street.

Joining Mayor Perez were Council President Calixto Torres, Majority Leader rJo Winch,
Minority Leader Larry Deutsch, Councilman Luis Cotto, Angel Sierra of SAMA (Spanish
American Business Association), businessman Carlos Lopez, Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts,
Superintendent Steven Adamowski, and Bishop Jeremiah Torres. Together they shared their
feelings of devastation about the acts of violence and prayed for the families. Angel Arce, whose
father is the victim in the dramatic video, shared in this collective plea for Hartford to continue to
show compassion and bring this and other crime cases to justice.

Mayor Perez says, “As a community, we have made the city safer over the past few years,
however, it is also true that these terrible acts that have harmed our community show we still
have a long way to go. Again, we as a city must turn our outrage into action and become full
partners in the drive to build on our progress.”

When I write about these issues, I feel like I am in my classroom, teaching about logical fallacies. It’s no surprise why quite a few students enter with the belief that one can only be entirely for or entirely against something–society emphasizes this kind of thinking. It is possible to have many emotions while at the same time understanding facts and statistics.

reminds readers that witnesses might be hesitant to act because they could be sizing up the situation. If it is true that the hit-and-run happened after a car was following another at high speed, then there’s a chance that the situation was not over. Last year I called the police when there was some kind of dispute happening on the street. Of course, the cops never showed for that one. After the people involved seemed to disperse, they reappeared in the same location a few minutes later, having raced around the block. Thing is, it’s easy to judge a situation when one is not in the middle of it.

explains why there can be hesitation to call the police. This is something that I have experienced when witnessing various activities that could have been crimes, or could have been something totally innocuous. Obviously, someone hit by a car would need help, but we can’t pretend that everything that happens is that cut-and-dry. And, most importantly, I think is that we can’t pretend that Hartford is an island experiencing unique problems. Again, let me remind that insidious crimes occur in the suburbs, and people routinely turn their heads. Instead of it being a hit and run, maybe the crime is domestic violence, a young teen developing a drug addiction, or incest. To be honest, I’m more understanding of someone being emotionally paralyzed after witnessing a singular horrific accident or crime, than I am of someone who refuses to act during a long term problem.

So, while Hartford is being (once again) cast as the villain, wonderful things are happening here. I’ll get to that in a minute, but I think we can’t lose sight of this. Last week, someone was brutally mugged, someone else was hit by a car, and someone’s decomposed remains were found in a basement. But, I think the norm here is to help others out, to not rob, to not ignore a situation, to be friendly. From now on, I might keep track of how many days I am able to safely walk to work or elsewhere. I should document the ways in which people do not behave like barbarians, because nobody is going to get this perspective from reading the newspaper. My neighbors hold doors for me. They’ve helped me when my bag of groceries bust in the elevator. People say hello when they pass. It’s not perfect. There’s broken glass and dog shit on the sidewalk; people crank their music and drive recklessly…but the extremes of gross behavior that we hear about are not the norm. Not by a long shot.

On Thursday there was a discussion at the library about discord between gays and transfolk in the GLBTI community. (And for the record, I spent a few hours there beforehand, and did not come upon anybody having sex in the bathroom, looking at porn on the computers, or stealing books) Not everyone agreed on where the problem was or even how to resolve it, but the conversation was civil and interesting. There was talk about youth outreach (to prevent suicide and keep kids off the streets), being a triple minority (black, female, and gay), recognizing the different pieces of ourselves, not letting others define us (coming up with our own labels, whether they be “queer,” “trans,” “genderqueer,” etc), and how being a parent can complicate how and when we decide to come out. I forget who said it, but my favorite thing said was this: “People who were happiest were living their lives in an uncompromising fashion.” Amen!

I left the discussion a few minutes early to get down to the park so that I’d catch some of the blues festival. Talk about diversity! There were bikers, bicyclists, families, teens, and that after-work crowd. Between the police presence and ample portapotties, event planners went out of the way to make concert goers feel safe and comfortable.

There are plenty more reasons to come into Hartford this summer. The City of Hartford website lists some upcoming events. On Tuesday, CCSU’s Institute for Regional and Municipal Policy, Soujourn Theatre, and HartBeat Ensemble will be having a presentation with time for community discussion on why “Connecticut has lost more young adults ages 25-34, since 2000, at a faster rate than any other state in the country.” This will be from 8:30-9:45 in the Hartford City Hall Atrium, and from noon to 1:15 at the Legislative Office Building in room 2B.

There will be a series of free events at the Riverfront, including: