I care about this and thought you might too

In my mind, more work needs to be done in schools, younger years in order to get to the parents who are probably fostering many of these “hate” ideas

Hi Tim and everyone,

I am glad to think together with you all about a community response to the violence that occurred at the Hollywood 20 in Sarasota two weeks ago, especially because this recent incident is disturbingly consistent with others I have heard described by friends and neighbors in recent months.

The confrontation that happened on Main Street is in such striking contrast to the interaction that was occurring among kids on my block on 15th Street within the same 24 hour window. Four young neighbors – two girls who identify as black and two who identify as white - showed up together on my doorstep in their dress-up ball gowns and invited me to play. After I changed into the ball gown that they brought along for me, we spent some time chatting in the living room while sipping water from the fancy glasses I inherited from my grandmother, which get used for special occasions.

I want to figure out what we can do as a community so that these girls I’ve grown to care about, and their brothers and cousins and other loved ones, will not get caught up in the very dynamics that swept up the two teenage boys/young men outside the Hollywood 20.

Seems to me this means figuring out how to disrupt and eliminate the local dynamics of racism (and whatever other “us-them” tensions were getting played out on Friday night), and also how to assist one another as fellow members of the community in developing the skills that can make it possible for each of us to respond in non-violent yet powerful ways whenever we are confronted with racism and other harmful community dynamics that still exist in Sarasota County.

Given that the incident on Friday night involved teenagers, I expect that teenagers of Sarasota are in a particularly relevant position to share their wisdom about what’s going on right now and to participate in efforts to change things for the better. I have heard about similar violence experienced by Sarasotans who are homeless and also by residents of my neighborhood in Newtown, so my sense is that their wisdom is especially important for the community to orient around right now as well.

I want to ask the teenagers on my block over for dinner to talk about what just happened and to explore together what the implications are for our block/street/neighborhood, and what we might do together to make things better. But since I haven’t gotten to know them all that well yet, I am unsure about what unspoken message gets communicated if the first time I ask them over for dinner relates to the recent incident of violence.

I also want to follow up with my closest friend among residents of Sarasota who are currently homeless, to figure out whether and how we might come together at this time to make sense of what’s going on, in order to respond in powerful ways, because I know that she has first-hand experience and wisdom that are directly relevant to the issues at hand. But I can’t find her. Her cell phone is not currently working (I expect that this is because she doesn’t have the money to purchase more minutes), and she hasn’t been at Resurrection House lately when I’ve called there asking to speak with her. When I’ve seen fellow Sarasotans on the street who know her, I’ve asked them to pass along the message that I’m trying to connect with her, but it’s hard to tell whether the message has reached her. Regardless, we haven’t been able to connect.

The reason it seems so important to me to connect at this time with the teens on my block, and my friend who is homeless, is because I believe a “community response” to the recent incident of violence becomes possible if responses are occurring at different scales (in homes, on the block, in the neighborhood, in the city, in the county, etc), across various sectors (civic, faith, education, social service, government, business, etc), and through a diversity of identity groups (age, gender, neighborhood, culture, etc). Then, if there were some way for all of us who live and work in Sarasota to communicate with one another about the various responses occurring throughout the community, and to communicate on an ongoing basis, there might be a chance for these responses to coalesce in ways that could be potent and forceful enough to disrupt the powerful, harmful dynamics that still have a grip on the community of Sarasota.

From my perspective, it would be presumptuous, inappropriate, and ineffective for any entity to take on directing or “managing” the variety of responses that could emerge. At the same time, I believe it would be helpful for some local entity to assist the community-as-a-whole in paying attention to the variety of responses that actually do emerge, so that the community can reflect upon, and through reflection amplify, its collective response.

I see SCOPE as the community entity that is in the best position to facilitate a process of community-wide communication along these lines. SCOPE has cultivated a relationship network, skill set, resource base, and vantage point that are particularly relevant to the needs and opportunities at hand. Would this be possible?

…Actually, upon reflection, seems this has already begun…

I am a student at SMA, the school the shooter attended. Speaking for myself, I’m shocked by what happened. Mike was the last kid anyone thought would
do anything like that, especially concerning racism. I didn’t know him all that well, but I did know him. I spoke with him about race and our views were similar. There times other cadets made comments about his skin color, it seemed everytime I was with him. I tried to explain to them he wasn’t a black kid, just another kid; a kid with individual qualities and abilities. Just wanted this blog to see through my looking glass. Mike, I’ll be praying for you.

This is such a heartbreaking series of events! I wanted to let interested parties know that the Southwest Florida Peace Alliance has arranged to set up a forum at City Hall to discuss the shooting and related events. The forum will be on Thursday, June 25 at 7pm. Joyce Raby from SFPA is putting together the speakers (she’s talking with people from the schools as well as the police department and the community), so please feel free to contact her or myself if you have ideas and suggestions.

Hopefully, the discussions that stem from this will help to bring more understanding and clarity to the racial disconnects that exist here in Sarasota. Disagreeing and discussing things openly is challenging, but I think that we can all agree that the difficulty is worth it if it keeps things from getting violent.

I appreciated this post–the way it holds carefully both sides and emphasizes the importance of addressing underlying issues as a community…

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090506/COLUMNIST/905061008

(Herald Tribune, by John Sims, a local artist)

Yes I am surely concerned about our communities and families All of what I have heard is good , very good. My comment to this solution is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, as you probably know, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I feel also concerning other comments I read here, this attitude problem with our children can be made better by going back to the old landmark where the word of God is taught to them “AT HOME”
Sin is rampant in our world, and I feel we are living in the last days the Apostle Paul spoke of, concerning what he called: “perilous, or dangerous times” It looks that way to me and I feel Jesus is the answer to whats wrong with the world today, I feel the Apostle’s summary is to the effect that people are ever learning,and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” I think sometimes Satan has too many “HoodWinked” When Hearts are fixed,Minds renewed, souls are transformed, we will see people appropriating Matthew 6:33. God bless and keep on Believing!!

Greetings,

I am pleased to see the diversity of responses thus far on this blog. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute.

As a peace activist and Board member of the Peace Education and Action Center (PEACenter) in Sarasota, I have unfortunately found through some of our efforts that “peace” is a bad word among a number of entities right here in our own community. With the reason often offered being that “peace is too political,” it strikes me odd that the language, community conversations and media coverage of issues related to war, violence and intolerance are perfectly acceptable - they are everywhere. These things are noticeable during everyday life and are palpable, often resulting in the embodiment of acts of bullying, fighting and outright violence, such as the shooting at the Hollywood 20. Peace is not a political idea. It is a way of life that just about everyone, I believe, would find most desirable.

So, where can change begin?

Some things that I’ve witnessed first-hand include a lot of mixed-messaging and structural support for violence. For example, “Peace Education” is not allowed in schools, but military recruiters can have offices on high school campuses; individuals who are currently homeless are not afforded the same rights as other citizens because when they walk the same streets and state their views, they are viewed as a menace and in some cases are blamed for “disturbing the peace”; and children carry weapons to school, but are not allowed to create banners that honor Veterans who, having served their time of military duty, are encouraging of more peaceful ways of living.

With these few local examples of the underpinnings of violence that we face as a community in mind, it seems that some true fundamental changes are needed. Would it not be better to instead focus on creating opportunities for the learning of nonviolent communication (for students, teachers, parents and all community members), to foster tolerance for a diversity of views (including activities that allow the experiences of mutual respect and tolerance for difference, etc.) and to work toward the development of healthy relationships through honoring all members of our community? These are the fundamental roots of social networks that can make a difference through positive change!

There are a number of community groups striving to do these very things, but when we make attempts to partner with governmental agencies, school systems, and other political/hierarchical entities, suffice it to say that no good deed goes unpunished and our attempts are often thwarted. At best, we can achieve incremental change, if we can persevere the bureaucratic red tape. At worst, we are stopped somewhere mid-process. Hence, we’ve got to find alternative routes for creating change. With any luck, those most influential individuals in the hierarchical system(s) within our community will take an interest and find ways to support our efforts.

I plan to attend the forum being organized by some of our fellow community citizens & groups. I commend them for their efforts in trying to get a broad spectrum of community leaders involved and I wish to join the endeavor. It is my hope that the Sarasota community will self-organize in a way that shows that we care, and are willing to work for local change through grassroots efforts that will be sustainable. In keeping with the words of anthropologist, Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Let’s just hope that the small group grows so that the most basic of human rights can be enjoyed by all.

Paying attention over the next six months to the various ways in which the community of Sarasota is responding to the April 25th incident seems like a good idea to me too. However, I hope that this will be referred to as the violence at the Hollywood 20, rather than the shooting at the Hollywood 20. Referring to it as “the shooting” focuses on the actions of one of the teenagers involved, while “the violence” seems to better recognize that both teenagers were caught up in and acting out a dynamic of violence. This might also help us to recognize other situations and circumstances in which the dynamic of violence is manifesting in Sarasota, even when it does not culminate in shooting.

When I started thinking of conversations about the Hollywood 20 incident and racism I immediately thought about what is missing - our community deficits. As one blogger noted we need discussions that include honoring all members of our community. “Honoring” includes discussion of our communities assests - sometimes harder to note. Let’s use the “violence/shooting” at the Hollywood 20 as a launching point for discusion. The conversation must be larger than a single incident.

da best. Keep it going! Thank you

I really like your post. Does it copyright protected?

Some of us even don’t realize the importance of this information. What a pity.

It’s a pity that people don’t realize the importance of this information. Thanks for posing it.