Hope

"We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" The words from Marianne Williamson's Return to Love rang in my ears as I drove past the very scene in the video below.

What started off as a routine drive to work quickly ended when I saw a myriad of SWAT trucks, ambulances, and police cars lining my street. Caution tape drapped the very courtyard that I used to walk down daily with my Me-Ma as a little girl. How unfortunate is it that I quickly assumed that "another" shooting had occurred? Yet, never before had so much law enforcement been on the scene. I later learned that a suicidal 28 year old man was holding the police at bay.

Yet, there is no outcry. Only humor from surrounding communities. How did this once prominent, historically African American community become the laughing stock of the Queen City? Even residents of the housing development where the scene took place admit that it looks like wet toilet paper when it rains.

The development was created decades ago under Roosevelt's administration for the engineers and workers who helped build the local General Electric plant. This village once had its own thriving economy and school district. Now, the effects of desegregation and gerrymandering are evident in my neighborhood. Many of the residents are not even aware of its rich history. Moreover, the illustrious citizens it produced like the Isley Brothers and Nikki Giovanni.

My thoughts go to the young women and men posted on block behind my house who will never have the opportunities I have been granted. Much like the young man involved in today's scene, they have lost hope. Their loss often made me feel guilty for being blessed. Yet, Willamsom's word bring me back to reality.

If I loose hope, who will carry the torch of those the self-less African Americans who created the village in the 1940s? If I loose hope, who will be the example for the students at Lincoln Heights Elementary School who dream of going to college or into the military? More importantly, if I loose hope, who will tell our story?

I cannot depend on the media to tell our story because they only show the footage you see below! Somehow they miss people like me who graduate from college Magna Cum Laude and proceed to graduate studies, the entrepreneur who mentors aspiring business owners, the minister who provides financial and spiritual guidance to his neighbors, or the woman who opens her home to parent-less children.

"We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?" Today, I say, "Village of Lincoln Heights have hope. Hope seeps from the infrastructure of this community. Peel away the boards, the misconceptions, and I promise you will find hope...I did."