Real Hartford

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

Hartford Advocate Blows It

If the local mainstream media are trying at all to prove that they are “journalistic force[s]”, the Hartford Advocate just damaged their own cause. This week’s edition plays into the very sensationalist and inaccurate coverage that they have been critiqued for in the past.

The cover depicts someone painting on the side of a building. The cover headline reads: “STOP TALKING ABOUT HARTFORD’S PROBLEMS.” From the start, the issue is misrepresented. As a Hartford resident, I would love to talk about Hartford’s problems. Really. I’d like for us to be having honest, informed, intelligent conversations. Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of “talk” people are most interested in, and by people, I mean the anonymous people leaving comments at Courant’s topix boards which follow most articles posted online, as well as the journalists and editors who allow misinformation and inflammatory, one-sided, and sensational coverage to be printed as the norm.

In Bulger’s article (”No Comment: A rash of violence, intemperate online comments, and outspoken critiques sharply divides a city grappling with crime and its own public image”), the issue of responsible speech becomes hinted at as one of “the man keeping the free press down.”

This is not a free speech issue. As I have written before, Perez’s motives might be pure; they might not be. Perez is not the point. He’s simply a louder voice who is saying what many of us have been saying for a few years–be responsible. The Courant, and the Advocate, and virtually every other print media already censors. They do not publish every letter to the editor they receive. They usually select the more articulate items to get ink. Rarely are such letters published anonymously– in fact, the Courant requires a phone number be provided so there is some attempt to ensure the author’s real identity. (They also practice agenda setting, but I’m not going to go there this morning) Since this is the reality of how publishing works, why is it unfathomable for some to transfer this concept to online comment forums? Because there’s unlimited space, more voices can be heard, but a moderator can also weed through them to get rid of material submitted by the totally uninformed, ignorant (you can call that racist, sexist, heterosexist, whatever), or those who resort to name-calling. What’s happening on these forums is not people talking about Hartford– it’s people with ridiculous bias jumping at the chance to be obnoxious. I doubt those who are leaving comments like one that Bulger noted, classifying Hartford residents as “humanimals, wild sows and exponential breeders” (12) are at all interested in what is happening in Hartford. To me, it seems they just wanna hate. Continue reading Hartford Advocate Blows It…

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…

How to Build Community (Against All Odds): Part Two

This is a continuation from Part One:

Imagine other cultures through their poetry and novels: Although La Paloma Sabanera closed in December 2007, there are still many places in the city to explore other cultures through literature– the Hartford Public Library (main and branches), The Jumping Frog, and the Catholic Bookstore are just a few places where books can be found. There’s also several free book tables/carts in 56 Arbor Street.

The literature is just one place to begin.

Listen to music you don’t understand*Dance to it: The Artists Collective has dance and musical workshops for youth. Last year, one of my students gave a presentation about his involvement in The Artists Collective while growing up in Hartford, and after listening, not a person in the classroom could even entertain doubts that this young man was profoundly and positively affected by his experience.

The Charter Oak Cultural Center is home to many musical, theatrical, and other cultural events, ranging from Punk shows to Juneteenth commemorations. Continue reading How to Build Community (Against All Odds): Part Two…

Danger is in the Eye of the Beholder

Amy, who clearly has to answer this question often, explains how a person might figure out if an area is safe or not. The top three things she advises future homebuyers to do:

1. Call the local police department to ask about crime statistics in the area.

2. Walk around at various times of day and talk to the neighbors. Feel free to knock on doors. People will be happy to tell you about their neighborhood, both good and bad.

3. Visit the area at night. What’s it like? The noise level, traffic level, pedestrian level, street lighting.

I’d like to add a few things to this. For those who have internet access, crime statistics are sometimes posted on police department websites. The Hartford Police Department posts their arrest log almost daily (they slack off on the weekends, but are usually consistent during the week) and updates the crime statistics-by-neighborhood weekly. There’s no reason to get caught up in the politically- and ego-driven infighting between mayor, chief-of-police, corporate media, etc. when we can access statistics for ourselves. Continue reading Danger is in the Eye of the Beholder…

Retaining Water vs. Retaining Youth

Last Saturday (June 14th) there was some massive flooding happening in my area, no thanks to poor drainage. It took me twenty minutes to travel what should have taken me five because every street I attempted to drive down was impassable. People were up to their knees pushing stalled cars out of the ponds that covered many areas, like the intersection of Boulevard and Prospect. Can we work on cleaning out the storm sewers better?

Julie, over at Live in Hartford, writes that there will be a public hearing this Tuesday evening from 6-7:30 at City Hall about the issue of keeping youth in Hartford. Apparently, while we’re good at retaining water, Hartford (like all of New England), is not faring so well with keeping its youth. I find this hard to believe, maybe because I work with many young people who live in Hartford. At any rate, this hearing is geared towards young professionals.

Shut Up, Haters!

Thanks to Heather Brandon for spreading awareness about Susan Campbell’s column. Now, let’s see if the Courant can run it every day for the next few weeks in an attempt to undo some of the damage the paper has recently done (but of course, not alone. many other media outlets have helped) to my city’s reputation. Here is Campbell’s column, with my favorite parts highlighted in bold:

To Hartford Bashers: Step Up, Or Shut Up

Susan Campbell

June 11, 2008

Dear Haters,

The hit-and-run of Angel Arce Torres was upsetting and sad — and, as it turns out, the perfect opportunity for people to stew in their own prejudice and fear. As if we need that kind of thing. As if that serves a purpose.

Since the 78-year-old man was run down on Park Street in Hartford May 30, the noise from the cheap seats has been a cacophony of commentary lite — all the venom without the facts.

“No Good Samaritans in Hartford,” says one headline. “What Have We Become,” says another. Swarms of people — online and off — are taking vicious delight in comparing Hartford residents to wild animals and calling on Darwinism to weed them out.

Please. Do us all a favor: Shut up.

When the second of two cars swerving to the wrong side of the road hit Torres, at least four people called 911. In Hartford, residents don’t always think of the police as Officer Friendly. Then, too, the fear of gang retribution makes any crime, any aberration, something to avoid. Yet four people quickly called.

And rather than factoring in the shock that a bystander would feel at seeing an elderly man sent flying through the air — a good man known in the neighborhood for his kindnesses, the haters decided that Hartford residents are heartless and worse.

Continue reading Shut Up, Haters!…

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:

How to Build Community (Against All Odds): Part One

The Syracuse Cultural Workers created a poster which I’m sure many readers have seen before, but which I feel compelled to discuss regardless. The items in bold are on their list of ways to build community, and my comments are in a regular font.

Think of no one as “them”: Creating categories based on difference allows individuals to more easily justify the unjustifiable, to excuse the inexcusable. The result? When some kind of crime or wrongdoing occurs in an certain area or to a person who belongs to a different group (race, class, sexuality, ability, gender, religion, political affiliation, you name it…), it is not thought of as something that might concern all in society. Thus, it’s remains to be addressed in a productive way. The “answer” goes something like this: “avoid Hartford,” “bulldoze it and start over,” “more prisons,” “send criminals/undesirables to Springfield.” Those sentiments are not productive by any stretch of the imagination.

Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety: In my walks to work, I have felt discomfort. In my old neighborhood, I would pass a homeless shelter and park where people who were basically up to no good, or had no other place to go, would congregate. Even with the verbal street harassment which made the trip sometimes irritating, I never felt unsafe. Continue reading How to Build Community (Against All Odds): Part One…

All I Want for Christmas is One Giant Parking Lot

Why stop at tearing down the former MassMutual Building? There are many other buildings around that can be torn down and made into parking lots! For instance, there’s the Twain and Beecher Stowe homes. Those aren’t really being used anymore, and they certainly are not bringing in tons of revenue. To hell with them! Rather, to asphalt with them! Also, I heard that the Wadsworth Atheneum was becoming obsolete. I think I read that in the Hartford Advocate a few months ago. Next, there are a number of old factories. They could be converted into something meaningful, like affordable housing, but I think it’d be better to pave.

See, it’s not like any of this matters. Not the history, the architecture, the art or culture. Hartford is perceived as a dangerous insurance capitol. If it does not pertain to making money off of people’s fears (accidents, fires, rape, robbery, or murder), then it has no place in the city.

My only objection is that they are not planning to call it the Traveler’s Phoenix Parking Lot Supreme.