Thought I'd share a quick story from last week. I was sitting at the bus stop waiting to go to work at Spender. The bus seemed to be running slow and I was going to be late.
A police vehicle pulls up and stops next to the bus stop for a red light. The officer rolled down his passenger window and looks at me quizzically and says "Are you okay?". I said I was fine, just waiting for the bus. "But why are you here?" he wanted to know.
Hahaha. Another person thinking I'm crazy or asking for trouble by being in my neighborhood.
I kind of told him the gist of what I'm doing, and then he offered me a ride! Pshyeah!
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Anyway, Bert had a real hard time understanding why I wanted to live in East Garfield Park. I explained that our host church is next door and that they own our house, and that we "live where we work". Bert was still mortified.
Over the course of our five minute conversation, he told me multiple times to be careful. "there's a lot of bad stuff that does on around here". I assured him that I knew there was bad stuff happening on my block, and that I had some street smarts.
Bert's been in Chicago for over 20 years. So when you think about it, he's used to the whole neighborhood segregation thing, and he's probably not really used to people attempting to break down those walls. As a police officer, he probably only sees the bad things that go on in my part of town. So, it kind of makes sense that he would be hesitant about the idea of a little white girl hanging out on the west side.
I don't know if my living in East Garfield Park is really breaking down any walls or if it's really meaningful to anyone else, but I can say that I'm happy to live here. I'm not just another white person on the north side. I'm trying to live in this community to see half of what it's like for the kids that grow up here and the people who have no choice but to live here. It's more about me learning than anything else. This whole program is about opening yourself up to new things and humbling yourself to a new way of life. If I lived on the north side, I don't really think I would get that to near the extent that I would by living here. As hard as it is for people to see that and respect that, it's where I'm at.
***DISCLAIMER: I don't have anything against nice neighborhoods. In fact, if I did decide to stay in Chicago after YAV, I don't think I would stay in East Garfield Park. Everyone has a right to choose where they live- where they feel safe, where they can refuel after long days at work. I'm just trying to say that at this point in my life, I'm right where I need to be. In the hood.
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