Last night, as we toiled to get this issue out, Stephen interrupted some people breaking into one of our interns' cars. Fortunately, they didn't get away with much—they threw his backpack filled with school notes only useful to him into the bushes. But his window did get smashed, the police came, took fingerprints, and a bit of drama ensued. And he has a hassle to deal with today, and the emotions that go with being a victim of crime, any crime.
I learned this morning that Que Sera Sera, one of our favorite hang-outs, was robbed around the same time. I haven't heard all the details on it, but suffice it to say, it wasn't the best night in Fondren.
So we've decided to blow this cookie stand, to pack up all our belongings and to hightail it out somewhere to the suburbs and start the Rankin Free Press. We can set up our offices in a gated community, where only people we know can come by and see us. We've decided it's just not worth it to live in such a place like Jackson, where you can't walk outside out of fear of getting robbed. We now believe that Orley Hood was right in his recent column when he said that you can't rebuild a city, and make it cooler and more vibrant, until you take care of all the crime, and all these people running all over us. And, hell, we sure can't live and work somewhere where we can't leave all our coolest stuff on the seat of the car anytime we want. We give up.
I'm joshin' you, of course. Had you going, though, didn't I?
We love Jackson to pieces. To coin a phrase of someone out there with a slightly different take on crime than we have: We ain't packin'; we're stayin'.
That doesn't mean we like crime, or believe that it isn't real. We just don't believe that it's an either-or world. That either you believe that crime exists or that it doesn't (that it's a "perception"); either a city has no crime whatsoever or it's overrun; that you want to put all criminals, of whatever age, behind bar for life or you're some pandy-butt, pinko liberal who loves to be a victim of crime. That either the police are sitting on the end of your block (or cul-de-sac) all the time, or they're completely ineffective. Or that, as Hood argued in his column, you have to take care of all the crime before you can rebuild a city.
This is exactly wrong. Urban renaissances happen despite crime, and they help to lessen crime because more people are out on the streets, communicating, shopping, looking out for each other. The best thing that can happen for city crime is for neighborhoods to be brought back, as right here in Fondren. I know this well from my expatriate days living in places like downtown Manhattan. It took more than police to clean up tough drug areas; it took whole communities. It took businesses. It took determination. And it took the police.
Remember, bar none, the coolest artistic communities always grow up in areas that were poor and tended to be hot spots for criminal activity.
My friend Knol—whose car was broken into recently—called me this morning to tell me about Que Sera. I told him about our break-in. He told me about the McRae's Meadowbrook closing (which is just tragic, in my view). "So, what do we do?" he asked. Note that he didn't say he was leaving the damned city, or that the police sucked (although they can, as when we were trying to get good crime statistics for our Poindexter feature this issue. There's a woman who answers the phone at the Second Precinct who needs to be paroled from that duty, and fast).
Knol had exactly the right response to crime (and other community maladies): "So, what do we do?" And the answer is not to flee, or to fire the police chief, who is doing a pretty fine job here over all. The statistical crime drops under Police Chief Robert Moore have been impressive—but they're not all his doing. Or the mayor's. Just as it isn't all their doing when crime spikes. We're not on a roller coaster here, or shouldn't be—it's not healthy, or realistic, to be so all-or-nothing when it comes to anything, including crime, not to mention other issues of community safety and well-being.
Building healthy communities is a multi-pronged process—that goes from the top of the political process (electing folks who care about public education, fiscal responsibility and attacking the roots of crime) to the criminal-justice system (watchdogging, but not unfairly sensationalizing, court and police activities) to the bottom, where you and I sit.
We have incredible power if we realize it. Knol said that he plans to get involved with his neighborhood watch group. These are all over the city, and a great place to start (and a good place to meet folks). He wants to help find a good tenant for the McRae's spot since it's close to his home. He already heavily participates in the city's renaissance in all sorts of ways and in community activities. He means it.
Next time I talk to him, I think I'll suggest that he mentor a young person in Web design or photography. Or, go volunteer somewhere to teach those skills to young people who have too much time in their hands, and too little money in their pockets.
It may sound hokey, but so much of fighting crime involves building hope in a community. Now, don't take me out of context (as folks who work for our competitors tell you to) and say that I believe crime is only a perception. That would be a bald-faced lie. Crime is real, and I've been a victim: here in Jackson (car break-in), in Manhattan (mugged), in D.C. (an insurance company refused to pay for damage a contractor did to my car) and back in Neshoba County (a sexual crime).
I know the pain of being a victim, but I also refuse to live as a victim. I have that choice. I can get up every day and work to make my city safer and more exciting by doing the things that I love: connecting with people and supporting local business.
So, we'll see you at Fondren Unwrapped this Thursday night as we all Think Global, Shop Local just in time for the holiday season—and fight crime at the same time. Please come by our table in Fondren Corner and say hello.
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