and yet little seeds of new beginnings have sprouted from the same ground that tears up sometimes to think of leaving. the Peace Art mural unveiling and community rally was the first public action that i have had a hand (and a good chunk of my mind and heart invested, too) in actually organizing and emceeing!! rather than just participating or attending. possibly the beginning of a beautiful friendship, me and my buddy community organizing...i loved it! numbers in attendance were a little disappointing, because it was a weekday afternoon when a lot of people were still at work, and only a half day of school at St. Anthony's so we lost a lot of parents and kids who might have been there otherwise. but the message came through strong and clear, and apparently a few people thought it was worth listening to. !!!
the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article on the front page of their South Jersey/B section;
the Courier Post posted a series of photos here;
more photos can be found on the St. Anthony's Flickr photostream;
and there's a fantastic video on facebook that my boss, Katie Sullivan, program director of FVM, put together..don't think i can link to it, though..
so, Monday's celebration marked the culmination of our work, but only the beginning of the LOC's work to take back our park. we have to follow up with the city police who have put forth their intention of cooperation...we have to cuss out (politely) the county police and county parks management who assured us of their attendance and then called our organizer 20 minutes before the event and cancelled..because they're getting millions of dollars to put into renovating two waterfront parks...why would they care to come to an event that's trying to restore a little place in Cramer Hill? a little place with a big purpose, big needs, and big heart, which they obviously don't understand.
it's evident from the mural itself that this place is ready for new beginnings: the garden being tended, a kid being coached in baseball, a family posing in front of a sunrise, butterflies floating in the clouds, people holding hands around a beautiful tree...and these are not just pretty pictures, but these are the things that were 'won' from this process so far:
- Camden City Police Chief Thomson and representatives from the Mayor Redd office came together to publicly commit to keeping Von Nieda Park safe and clean.
- Camden City Police created bilingual flyers for the first time explaining illegal activities and fines in the park.
- Camden City Police will begin enforcing parking, littering, and public drinking ordinances in Von Nieda Park the weekend of July 10th, after a community relations campaign.
- Camden City Police impounded over 15 ATVs since the action County Parks Dept put up 10 new “No Parking/No Drinking/No Littering” signs around the park.
-Camden City Council passed an ordinance making parking illegal on the west side of 29th Street, where it has often been a hazardously congested area.
it's exciting that we have these commitments and possibilities, but i do confess my sadness that i won't be around for the next year to see it unfold...because, as some of you readers probably already know through different channels, i will be living in Belgrade, Serbia starting in mid-August! i'm excited to see what kind of mixture of darkness and light will be shed on my life there..and what kind of light and shadows i will be called to share...
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