The Humanity in Overtown, Florida: In $.25 Increments

My formal "report card" on Overtown will be done soon, but I wanted to report on something that happened there today while I was busy collecting photographs and interviews.

The fellow reaching into the cooler in the photo on the right was very reluctant to talk to a white guy with a recording device and a still camera, so I put the camera back in the car and mostly made idle conversation while I ate my $.25 icee. His icees are homemade frozen Kool-aid, frozen in a small plastic cup like the one you see in his left hand.

What tore at my heart was his passion for the kids there at Theodore Gibson Park, next to the Frederick Douglass Elementary School.

The vendor didn't want to give me his name, so I will call him Raymond.

Raymond was deliberately trying to be vague, but he was apparently struggling financially. All he shared with me was, "We all do what we have to t' get by."

And kids will be kids. Even if they didn't have any money they would still come up and ask how much the icees cost. If they had a parent nearby, they would rush back and tell their mom or dad, but most of the kids either were there without a parent, or they knew the parent would have no money.

As it turns out, Raymond's personal ethic got in the way of his business ethic. It was his habit to pass on any of his tips to the little kids, so when somebody like me comes along and tells him to keep the change from a dollar bill, Raymond would allow three kids to have a free icee. I saw one fellow on a bench give a young boy a dollar who was bold enough to ask for a quarter, and Raymond was observant enough to give the young boy one icee and then three more freebies to three more youngsters within the next few minutes. To me it looked like the fellow who gave up the dollar looked like he needed it even more than Raymond or the child, and if he was related to the child he must have been a grandfather. I got the impression that he was a stranger to the child though.

Raymond is not just an entrepreneur. He is also a leader, and a teacher. These children were being taught important lessons by this big-hearted man. After giving away a free icee these kids were told who to thank. The gifts were never allowed to be anonymous. After I gave Raymond a dollar the next three kids who said "thank you" to Raymond for the free icee were told, "Thank this man. He bought it for you."

And they did, with very generous smiles.

After the man on the bench gave up his dollar, Raymond told the kids to go thank the man on the bench. They would holler "Thank you," but the sounds of the overhead freeway nearby drowned out the sound. Regardless, the kids knew that they were the beneficiaries of a generous act.

With a demonstration like this, I see that the community already has the will to create a future for the young people. They just don't have the means.

And people like Raymond are doing what they can to train the future leaders - at a very young age - and in $.25 increments.

Indexing for This Topic:

"The Culture"

"Reparations"

Tampa, Florida: One of the Longest MLK Blvds in the Nation

I found another little tidbit of information while searching which MLK Blvds have the most hits on Google, and this is one much closer than Portland, Oregon.

Tampa, Florida appears to be one of the longest MLK Blvds in the nation. Take a look at this map. You will have to scroll left and right to find the ends of it.

View Larger Map

I do much of research with Mickey Rowe. He and I are avid cyclists, so we are now planning a trip to Tampa that will explore not only a famous bike trail that starts north of St. Petersburg, but also the length of this MLK Blvd. We will report back to you later this year.

Portland, Oregon: The Most Hits on Google Trends for "MLK Blvd."

There is one interesting tidbit that has made me curious ever since I started this blog. Whenever I looked up the search terms "MLK Blvd" on Google Trends, the sister cities of Portland and Beaverton, Ore. kept being returned at the top of their list. Not only were they at the top of the list, but the combined hits were probably five times more numerous than Tampa, Fla., the next closest city on the search terms.

Only after I did an in-depth look into where MLK Blvd runs in Portland, Ore. did this make sense to me. It is a very long MLK Blvd.

In addition to that, it is a prominent commercial corridor.

View Larger Map

I have not driven along MLK Blvd in Portland, Ore., but I look forward to the day when I do. It looks to me like this is a city that was willing to do it right, and it looks like the businesses embraced the change because, unlike other businesses here in South Florida and in Muncie, Ind., the businesses actually use the name MLK Blvd rather than the old name from before it was changed.

I will keep you posted with a formal "Report Card" when I get enough information to complete one.

Indexing For This Topic:

"Renaming Resistance"

"Report Card"

Sistrunk Boulevard: The Cultural Heart of Black Fort Lauderdale

Long before there was an MLK Blvd in Fort Lauderdale, there was Dr. James Franklin Sistrunk. Born in 1891, Dr. Sistrunk settled in Broward County in April 1922 after World War I. Although trained and qualified as a surgeon, he was barred from the all-white hospitals in formally segregated Fort Lauderdale, so by 1938 he had joined with Dr. Von D. Mizell to establish the areas first hospital for Black patients.

Provident Hospital was located on NW 6th Street. The photos at the right, from the Fort Lauderdale Observer web site, give you an idea of how humble the beginnings were for a couple of Black doctors. (If you click on the image you can see an enlarged image.)

NW 6th Street was renamed after Dr. Sistrunk passed away in 1966. The Sistrunk District, as it came to be known, had remained prosperous (at least for a Black neighborhood) until the end of segregation allowed Black-owned businesses and the Black clientele to shop further afield. Many moved a bit further west, which is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Avenue is now located.

One of the last of the original Sistrunk District shops to die was P&G's Shoe Repair. P&G's was originally known as Bud's Community Shoe Shop until Bud retired in 1988. Matthew "Bud" Walters is thought to have been Fort Lauderdale's first Black cobbler in 1939 when he moved here after studying his vocation in Atlanta. Bud opened his own shop in the Sistrunk District in 1955 after having worked his trade in the shops of others.

Bud's, and later P&G's, was known as the place to stay current on what was happening in the community. I guess it isn't just the barber shops in the Black communities where a person can keep up with the news.

Indexing for This Topic:

"Report Cards"

"The Culture"

Rep. James Clyburn Exposes GOP Pledge to America

Without apology, I will admit that this blog is political.

It is not political in the partisan sense, but rather down a policy line that just happens to demarcate liberals from conservatives.

In my heart I know that the Republican Tea Party of 2010 is a party led by bigots and racists who have the financial backing and media intelligence to marginalize and oppress minorities through coded hate.

This "code" is necessary so that certain people (a significant segment of white Christian folk) who would not otherwise be racists will at least be complicit in voting for policies throughout America that will, at the end of the day, have the following outcomes:

• gut the inner-city education budgets,
• strip cities of the funding to revitalize blighted neighborhoods,
• and favor the zero-sum thinking where all the good jobs would go to Americans that are already in a position of advantage.
• (updated: November 2010) There were 111 sitting or hopeful Tea Party / GOP candidates who pledged to abolish the Department of Education in the next congress, if they take power.

One politician that I follow in order to see what is being done for the folks who live along the MLK Blvds of America is Rep. James Clyburn, D-SC. This is from a press release that went out yesterday.

GOP "Pledge to America" is a "Plague on Americans"

Indexing for This Topic:

"Complicity"

"Zero-Sum Thinking"

Report Card: MLK Blvd, Pompano Beach, Florida

Pompano Beach

Broward County, Florida

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard

(formerly named: Hammondville Road and Third Street)

Zip Code: 33060

Overview:

MLK Blvd through Pompano Beach starts at Dixie Highway, which is the historical center of the city that divides east from west at the railway tracks. Heading west, it is a four-lane road with commercial zoning fronting the road. To the south is the commercial core of Pompano Beach, and immediately behind the commercial zoning to the north is a viable but hurting residential neighborhood. The locals, including the Black locals, still refer to this section of MLK Blvd as Third Street.

After about a mile one drives under the I-95 freeway (no entrance to freeway) and enters the industrial corridor. This section of MLK Blvd is still referred to by the locals as Hammondville Road. On both sides of the freeway the area has a hard-core inner-city feel to it and I would not be anywhere near here after dark. From here (the 1100 block) to the end, the area to the north is pure industrial, with the exception of the Sunshine Health Center at 1711 MLK Blvd. This is a health center that caters to Medicaid and Medicare recipients and also offers dentistry. The area to the south is residential, and a sheriff’s substation is located on the corner of 18^th Avenue.

Once past Powerline Road (2100 block), you are in NIMBY land, where there are two strip joints and three prisons within blocks of MLK Blvd.

MLK Blvd ends at NW 31 Avenue, where there is a Florida Turnpike entrance.

Length:

Approximately 3 miles

·000 Block (Dixie Highway) to 3100 Block West.

Category:

Residential Neighborhood (houses fronting MLK Blvd) = 0%

Commercial Corridor: Main Street = 0%

Commercial Corridor: Mom & Pop Shops = 20%

·Blighted and Ignored = 30%

·Blighted but Not Ignored = 30%

·Gentrification Failing = 0%

·Gentrification Succeeding = 10%

·Viable with Room to Improve = 20%

·Vibrant and Car Friendly = 10%

· Vibrant and Pedestrian Friendly = 0%

Industrial Corridor = 80%

·Blighted and Ignored = 50%

·Blighted but Not Ignored = 30%

· Gentrification Failing = 0%

·Gentrification Succeeding = 10%

·Viable with Room to Improve = 10%

· Vibrant and Car Friendly = 0%

·Vibrant and Pedestrian Friendly = 0%

Community Assets:

1) The E. Pat Larkins Community Center at 520 MLK Blvd. It is a brand new facility built in a relatively safe area. It seemed well staffed with a broad variety of programs for all age groups. (http://www.mypompanobeach.org)

2)Churches: Along the length of the boulevard there were three significantly large and well maintained churches, and perhaps a half-dozen small “store-front” churches.

3)National Chain Grocery or Department Stores: None were encountered.

4) Brand Name Franchised Restaurants: At the far western end, where the ramp to the turnpike is located and you are within a block of Coconut Creek, there is a Wendy's Restaurant.

5)Other National Franchises: None, not even an auto parts franchise.

NIMBY Items Encountered:

1)Three prison facilities (within 3 blocks)

2)Two strip clubs

3)Two major rail corridors

4)Three major overpasses (only two with access)

Indexing for This Topic:

"Report Cards"

Bishop Eddie Long and Homophobia in the Black Church

My husband is a news junkie and he posts some very interesting things on his Facebook wall. If you really like the kind of material on this blog, you should follow him as well.

In case you haven't been following my blog from the beginning, you should know that my husband is an African-American descendant of slaves. That means that his perspective on the news is still very different from mine, so the things that grab his attention are things I often would never otherwise read.

I am very nervous when I approach Black folk on MLK Blvd because the first obstacle I face is explaining to them the common ground that I share with them, which almost always mandates that I tell them about my own "othering" process. To do that effectively without lying I can't get around the fact that I am married to an African-American descendant of slaves.

This news story explains a great deal about why I am so apprehensive doing this. The article won't exactly be "news" to the Black community, but it should help to indicate the need...and the possibility...for change.

The picture is taken from a cell phone shot sent to one of the teens that Bishop Eddie Long traveled with, and who is one of his accusers.

Bishop Eddie Long News Story

Indexing for This Topic:

"Black Church"