Community Diving

(Originally posted for 4.16.09)
Tonight was the area Block Club meeting and our discussion was about safety for the community around one of the neighborhood high schools. I was given the heavy task of chairing the meeting. It was ok. I've spoken in front of crowds before and somewhat on a whim, but this was a passionate and upset group of folks that wanted some answers from the principal and the local police districts. I've attended two meetings prior to this, and neither were in that space, had that many people attend, and it was to be held like a panel discussion. The most compelling piece was when a woman dressed in a very sensible pantsuit with a bag carrying a baseball bat, a broom handle, a thick steel metal pipe, a knife, and assortment of other smaller weapons that may have been used or were intended to be used by students passing by. She then pulled out a rock about the size of a softball and proceeded to demonstrate how the "group" would gather keeping watch on a certain car parked on the block and once that car was driving past the "group" then they would throw these rocks at the car. Compelling. There had been no hard evidence to be proven other than the calls that are actually made to the police, until now. The whole meeting now has pitted the principal of the problem school become very defensive and uncooperative. This post comes after several Chicago Public School children have been killed in drive bys and then preceded many that have been killed since.