This morning we had three prayer vigils for young African-American males shot and killed in North Central Milwaukee. There was no family present at the homicide prayer vigils and there was little information in the news for who they were in their young lives. But we prayed for these young men, their families, the neighborhood around the site of homicide. There have been too many homicides in Milwaukee this year, 135 by Sister Rose’s county and over 110 by the city count.
This afternoon I drove my friend Ms. Lucille, 87, to her doctors’ office. After a trip to help Pat get her lost keys in a parking lot we made a trip to a Fish store that had what Ms. Lucille was looking for—a fish with bones and all. She found a Red Snapper with head, tail and bones. She was delighted.
Tonight for dinner we invited three neighbors over, a retired couple down the block and a neighbor from across the street. During and after dinner we had a long conversation about many things but especially our experiences in the area and gave each other a sense of who we are. One neighbor worked for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and the other two had retired from MPS. My fascination with Milwaukee and history was well fed today with stories by Ms. Lucille and my three neighbors.
In my driving around town today I heard on National Public Radio an interview with person who made the first ever virtual reality film in a war zone. It is called Welcome to Aleppo. Aleppo was an active and inclusive city in Syria that has been devastated by civil war. There is an eery presence all around you as you stand in a street in Aleppo. Of course you need virtual reality goggles to get the full effect but you can get a good taste for this short film at Ryot film projects. You can click arrows to get the 360 view.
The first and last event, homicide vigil and film about Aleppo speak about sorrow and death. The middle two speak about joy and life. All four experiences speak about how we are all connected, a young man being killed in a senseless death, an elderly lady looking for fish with bones, neighbors getting to know each other around the dinner table and a young girl welcoming us to her city destroyed by war. Moments of joy give us hope for moments of sorrow.
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