Brilliant and Fabulous...in PRINT

I've made it into my neighborhood newspaper. Hooray for me! Woohoo!

Seriously - I wrote this mostly in response to some round about arguing on the neighborhood association listserv, and an edited version made it into the paper. You can get a hard copy at local businesses along MacArthur Blvd.

We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Our Response to Crime in Our City

There is nothing new about crime and violence in the city of Oakland. We live in a city with an underfunded police force, an underfunded school system, and an overstretched social network that can't reach everyone who needs it. The challenge falls to us, the residents, to find a solution and build a better, safer city.

Lately, the crime seems like drug-resistant bacteria immune to the past cures. But both the cure and the preventive measure are already inside the neighborhood. We simply need to take advantage of it by building our community.'

In the Laurel District, where I live, we are often vulnerable to some crimes because we are away from our homes so much of the time, creating an opportunity for criminals to act. There aren't enough residents out—walking, gardening, and even driving around—to keep them at bay. And because we're so often not at home, many of us don't know our neighbors—particularly the young men—and have no opportunity to keep track of who may or may not be causing trouble.'

First, we can address this by being active within the neighborhood—taking walks, tending our gardens, and patronizing our merchants—so criminals know that if anything happens it will be noticed.

Second, we must be nosy with a purpose. Pay attention to your neighbors. What kids and teens are on your street? Who are their friends? When are they around? This not only helps deter the troublemakers but also, should something ever happen to one of the kids (a lost child, an abduction, an injury, etc.), you know whom to contact.

Third, be the squeaky wheel. Don't just accept empty promises that cost officials nothing and us everything; demand (new) solutions and reject the status quo. Oakland probably won't get the police force we want for many years. We need to find alternatives that will address the problem with the resources we have.

Finally, be patient. When your doctor gives you a prescription, you are told to take the entire dose—even if your symptoms go away. Crime may fade or even get worse as we try to fight it, but we can't give up. The city will not get better if we leave.'

We can choose to live in fear and take actions that do nothing to break the cycle of violence, or we can choose to live in hope and take actions that create the better future we all want. In the words of the Hopi Elders, "We are the ones we've been waiting for."

Cat got your tongue?

"Never again must we be shy in the face of the evidence."

Bill Clinton said this in his speech when the U.S. finally got it's act together to respond to the genocide in Rwanda.

And yet, we are still being shy in the face of the evidence of genocide in Darfur, which is spreading into violence throughout Sudan and the region. We are still being shy in the face of the questionable human rights situation in China. We are still being shy in the face of our own duplicity in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Haditha, and elsewhere.

Yet we are outspoken in response to crises of our own American imagination and/or creation. We are outspoken against Iran. Against Cuba. We were outspoken against Iraq. We were shy in Afghanistan until the situation forced us to act.

And that, my friends, is the name of the game. We have a history of situational shyness. The western world, anchored by the U.S., in collaboration with NATO, and using the United Nations as its mouthpiece, selectively enforces its moral authority. It throws words like "genocide," "dictator," "rule of law," "victim" and "oppressor"around with no clear definition or set of standards. We use the names of the victims of past oppression to justify action (or inaction) depending on our whim. We will say that we should not do business with Iran, and do it in the name of the same economic sanctions used against apartheid South Africa.

Think back to the years leading to World War II...especially because in the last few weeks, President Bush and Senator McCain have decided to liken diplomacy with Iran to appeasing Hitler. But the truth of the matter is that Ahmadinejad is not Hitler. He's a (questionably) democratically elected head of state who, is yet to take any action, despite his hate speech. Yet, we must remember that in the run up to World War II, the U.S. did not appease Hitler, we ignored. More importantly, though, we actively ignored the plight of the Jews. Of course now, with the guilt of the Jews we wouldn't allow into the US on our minds, we blindly protect and advocate for Israel...ignoring the worsening crisis facing the Palestinian population.

I wish we would just admit that we will only defend our interests. That certain people and countries and resources are worth protecting and others aren't. That we will be shy in the face of some innocence. That the yelling and screaming that some of us are doing is in vain. That all the yelling and screaming in the world will not make the US act against China in asking China to step up against its human rights abuses in Tibet and being committed by their business partner Sudan. That all the yelling and screaming won't change the policy that identifies Iran and Cuba as a threat, but ignores real ones. That the women oppressed in Afghanistan didn't deserve intervening force until al-Qaeada flew planes into our buildings...at that point we grew concerned for the figures in the dark burqas.

Face it...we will always be shy in the face of the evidence.