Inner City "Representing," or the lack there of...

Marginalizing our people:

I recently read the article regarding the Dillon’s store on Huntoon and Lane. I shop there sometimes. This last Christmas there was caroling there to show community support. We all, Black, Hispanic and white showed up to show support.

The thing that I keep seeing is this though: In every incident I can remember the newspaper has seemed to choose as a representation of the minority communities the same faces over and over again, If at even talk to them at all.

On the evening the two officers were brutally shot and killed at the Dillions, I was on the corner talking to a neighborhood resident. A car stopped at the lights and two older black women, seeing all the emergency vehicles and lights asked what had happened. We explained that some officers had been shot and we believed at least one or both had died. Both the women expressed shock and horror at this and one of them even began to cry. I was surprised, but also moved.

There are many people who live in the area around the Dillions store. Many of course are African-American, Hispanic and more. My question to the news organizations is simply this: Do these people have a voice?

My experience in Topeka over the years has led me to believe that the poor, and minority population have been marginalized. We are not interested in their feelings, thoughts, lives or much else of what they do. One of the few places I’ve seen a diverse mix of people, (like what I’d been led to believe America was about as a child) has been the Democratic organizations around Topeka and the public schools. Other than that, my feeling is that minorities have become invisible.

And by the way, Yes the Dillions needs a make over and expansion in the worst way. They ignore the fact that improvement in the community could be the start of more profits for that store, a better day for the area in general and some real community pride. What better way to anchor the neighborhood development at 17^th and Washburn than with a renovated store at the other end!

Revitalizing the inner city is about reinvesting; you’ve heard that said by some, a few of our council members understand that. With out some pressure and some evidence to show the Kroger Corporation nothing will change. The flight to the “New City of Topeka,” being built between here and Auburn will continue and the inner city will die as shortsighted individuals and groups kill off the city for fun and profit…

I do believe this… media and other groups who might reach out and better represent a picture of a fair and free America are not doing their job. There are a lot of stories out there and a lot of really wonderful people. You might be standing next to one and not know it. Prove me wrong!


Link to video: Christmas Caroling @ Dillions (:30)
http://bit.ly/YVJ7XX 

Slavery: Why it's so ingrained and why we still attempt it.

Slavery: Why it's so ingrained and why we still attempt it.

I wanted to briefly address the issue of Slavery.

It was called to my attention today by an article pointing out how a speaker (kari Ann RInker) from NOW had angered a panel (what specific members were never made clear w/ the exception of committee chairman Steve Brunk) by her use of a rubber stamp to symbolize the ready acceptance by a largely conservative legislature of Anti-abortion measures.

Brunk went on to complain of how Ms. Rinker had impugned the integrity of the committee by her implication of their ready acceptance.

I have this to say in her defence: Western, mostly conservative religious males are the status quo here in the United States. These same men fought for years to ensure that women would have no rights, to vote, to own property, or much else with their overt approval. In the few years past I have had, (thanks to CSPANN) the opportunity to watch as legislator after legislator trotted out many of the same tired bon mots to prove their points regarding “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” legislation and it’s repeal.

We live in a society that has it’s roots in English law. A system of law in which women were property, children were property and could be bought, sold and given away at the whim of a man when ever he wished. Have we forgotten about the horrific conditions of child labor, indeed slavery imposed on the lower classes in England. These very same laws and views were imported to the United States where women, minorities and children labored and died by the thousands under them for hundreds of years.

Slavery, that’s what we are talking about. A form of slavery imposed on women by men, and by religion. A form of mind control that says life is so precious that only men (or those properly initiated) may make the call as to what can be done with it. This need to control has been a part of the American mind set since the nations inception.