Links to the stories, editorial about me, my activism, my eviction


Overwhelmed with things to do but I figured I needed to get something up here for my regular readers to get a sense of the context for all that has happened. I literally went to a meeting February 6, emerged a full-fledged community activist...and ultimately ended up evicted from my apartment. More about that later.

It started a page 1B (local news) story in February in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. I literally went to a meeting and emerged a community leader. My life was transformed by this story. Having said what I said so publicly, I HAD to live up to it!

Then, this Monday, a FRONT page story, which led to a long editorial in support of me on Tuesday.

And today, well, I was interviewed by Fox Cable News (national) reporter Todd Connor. I am hoping that the professionalism Todd demonstrated during the VERY LONG interview ends up in the final cut. To be truthful, I don’t think I could have asked for a better tv reporter. Even if it IS Fox. He allowed me to focus on the issues in depth and I managed to cover about 80 percent of my “talking points.”

Well, we shall see how the segment gets cut and shaped.

Gender, race and poverty issues play heavily in the events. When possible I have focused on the race and poverty issues, but not much on gender. I will get to that eventually.

Anyway, here are some links for people to check out:

Feb. 11 story by Patrick Flanigan. It’s no longer available on the paper’s website, so I have made a pdf and placed it on my own. I included the advertisements, and I am hoping to get away with this as “fair use”:

June 5 story also by Patrick Flanigan:

June 6 editorial (btw, my “baby’s” 34th birthday!):

Eventually I am expecting to write a book (yeah, yet another book idea — let’s hope this one actually gets finished!) about the history of this neighborhood and its struggles — it represents a microcosm of American inner city urban neighborhoods transformed by “white flight” since the 1960s. (It is now 85 percent minority, mostly black, but some Hispanic.)

Somehow I fell in love with the people and ended up putting my life on the line. But instead of being hurt myself (not even a scratch on my car, which sits on the street all night), my friends ended up being targets.

Nothing serious so far. But people are afraid. Understandably. Still, evicting me was the wrong choice. It will not make my landlord's building safer. Chances are good the dealers will come back the minute I leave. They have already tried, but I stand and stare at them, and eventually they leave again. I don't even have to call 911 anymore.

Chances are the Fox cable news story will air 6/9 in the 7-8 p.m. segment. Connor is supposed to give me a heads up on the exact time/date.

I could write reams about the media issues involved here. Still, though I have some concerns about the way the June 5 story was framed (particularly the pull quotes used — a decision that is always made by the page layout and editorial staff, not the reporter), the reporters I have personally encountered so far are, in my estimation, among the best in the business.

I do need to address some of those impressions made by the June 5 story.

As a I said in a letter to the editor, which apparently is not going to be published, I must take issue with the impression left by a quote from Hanif Abdul-Wahid, saying “I admire Georgia for what she is doing, but you want a whole group involved, not just one person.”

I would never have taken on this fight against the dealers on Union and Weld alone. I am working closely with neighborhood groups, including the Marketview Heights Communty Action Group and Rochester Interfaith Action. I have sought the advice of members of my own faith community, the Rochester Society of Friends (Quaker), including others who have been involved in organizing against the drug trade.

And among my most ardent supporters, at least until very recently, was my landlord’s own mother, my backyard neighbor, who would often say, “[The dealers] are paper tigers, Georgia!”

Beyond that, I have been developing several other strategies to address what I know to be deeply entrenched, system-wide problems. I have been trying to organize the Union Street Gateway Block Club. I wanted to have a community garden. I wanted to have a story hour this summer for the children in the neighborhood, and I had begun collecting donations of books to provide each child who might attend. I have spoken to city council and passed on CDs of my photographs. I have participated in PAC-TAC and Police Citizen Interaction Committee meetings. I went on the “Reality Tour” with Monroe County legislators and other politicians, also handing them the same CDs.

I have also been developing good relationships with people from the neighborhood who pass me as I work in the yard, pulling weeds, picking up trash, planting flowers. I say hello to everyone, including the dealers!

I have since learned from Abdul-Wahid that he meant the statement to apply to anyone involved in issues like this, and did not intend to disparage me in any way.

In addition to clarifying the extent to which I have been working with others, I must also correct the statement that my current disabilities include depression. The truth is that I have conquered that depression. If I were still depressed, I would have moved instead of fighting back.

While I am not the least bit ashamed that I was depressed at one time, it is important for people to understand that it need not be a permanent condition.

As I said on my weblog recently, I stand as evidence that fundamental change is possible. And if fundamental change is possible in an individual, it is also possible in a community.

Posted: Fri - June 9, 2006 at 11:49 AM          

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