Last night I talked about the belief that God has given all his grace and blessings to poor and marginalized and we needed to with them to receive them. Proof came today. Our friend Joe who normally goes with us for a Friday Fish Fry came with us last night to serve a meal in a family shelter. Joe also has a real passion for hot peppers and has told me the hottest pepper in the world was something called the ‘ghost paper.’ To make my “Uncle Bob’s Hot Joe’s” spice even hotter I have searched for the ‘ghost pepper.’
Today I went home to Growing Power, the source of my Growing Power home model garden to seek some kale plants. They had some and when looking over other plants for sale saw they had ‘ghost peppers.’ Sometimes what you are looking for is right at home. Joe came over to the house today to fix a broken kitchen faucet. I showed him the ‘ghost peppers’ I had already planted. He warned me how careful I had to be handling them, using gloves and protecting my eyes, since they were so hot. He also mentioned he just heard about a possible hotter pepper, the scorpion pepper but the search for it will need to wait till Joe and I get some more blessings from the homeless at the shelter.
In a recent posting I had mentioned about how once again three of the four basketball rims in the County Park were down again. (Do the Right Thing for African American Males. Today I drove in the park and eight African American males were playing four on four basketball on the one rim left. Two teens were standing around since they had no place to play and one other young African adult male. We started talking about the courts and the hassles created when African American Young Adults starting to use the basketball courts. It turns out he lives nearby at the other end of the park and, as I felt it was just all about discrimination since there were no were problems before the African American young adults started playing basketball at the park. We started to talk about what to do and both agreed that my ‘making noise’ about it really does not work since there is always someone else who can make more noise to the politically powerful person. I asked for his thoughts of what to do. Somewhat surprised but should have been expected he mentioned the only way change would take place if people would protest the racial discrimination and the ‘powers to be’ would be embarrassed and change things. I am sure he was not born before the sixties and remembers the great civil rights movements but that was the tactic that worked at the time and could work now, although it would be harder now since the ‘powers that be” have learned how to not react, control, marginalized and divide the messengers.
His reminded me of Dr. Luther King and his famous Letter from the Birmingham Jail where he outlined such a tactic, calling in nonviolent practices was the only way to make change effectively. I know this but kept thinking that ‘common sense’, research, speaking out and writing would make a difference. I can get everyone in the neighborhood to sign a petition or show in research how crime in the neighborhood is not related to young adult African Americans playing basketball in the park.
On the way out of the park I noticed the woman who lives in the house next to the entrance of park and right behind the remaining backboard and rim cutting her grass. I knew she was the former sister in law of a friend so I stopped and struck up a conversation with her. Her major complaint about the park was not the young adults playing basketball but of the poor upkeep of the park. She pointed to the grass she had just cut along the country park driveway and said unless she cut it, it would not be done. It reminded me of another neighbor’s remark, one with children who lives behind the basketball courts and was opposed when the behavior of players was bad but after last year when all four rims where up had changed his mind. He had told me that his biggest complaint now had been the poor condition of the par three golf course when he took his children there last summer to golf.
It is now quite clear to me that this young man is right, that the way to resurrect the rims is to expose the racial discrimination of those who oppose the use of courts for African American young adults. Direct Nonviolent Action remains the best way to end discrimination.
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