Highland Park

It is strange to be in a moment that you know is going to change you. When I first came into Highland Park i was amazed at the amount of houses that were condemned and abandoned; the next thing i noticed was despite this disrepair the neighborhood was still beautiful and had some sense of what it used to be. Rachel and I decided to go for a drive because it was such a nice day and she knew that I would love this area... she was right. I have such an addiction to places like this because they are so much more authentic and real than places like the Fan or Monument. Perhaps I just have a need to see things that are different from me to get some perspective but without a doubt, Highland Park did that today. I walked up to a porch where there were kids playing outside and there were three women sitting together talking. Two sat holding canned meat and crackers while the third, who i would find out was "Ms. B" smoked her cigarette. I was denied photos initally, which was fine. I just wanted to talk to them anyway and get an idea of where they stood on some things. All it really took was asking them how they felt about richmond and an hour later I was still there talking to them and they had agreed to let me get a few photos as long as I ok'd the ones i chose to use. I know im supposed to be objective but this was too much to keep that part of myself shut off. some of the things they said put a lump in my throat and made me want to punch someone all at the same time. Things as simple as being able to buy food that isnt rotten and overpriced, or being able to send their kids to a school that wont have teachers who bribe the students with good grades to give them drugs. My little middle class brain was spinning. I cannot understand this kind of life and quite honestly I felt ignorant when i was talking to them. Ms. B said that it was so different when she was younger and the neighborhood changed when the police got crooked and parents started losing control of their kids. I can't say that I have any answers for any of this stuff, she said that people only listen when there are a lot of them, but if its just one or a couple they get ignored... seems that most things work that way. Putting money into communities isnt always an answer and moving people out can't be the solution either because that just means theyre forced into their families homes, shelters, the streets, or a car. The halfway house on the corner of the block sits three houses down from a drugdealer who is kind enough to make housecalls. Its not an easy thing to walk into some of these places and can be downright stupid. But so far, these people have been incredibly warm and open with me, and its taught me a lot. Its forced me to look at my own ideas about what it means to be successful and the kinds of things that pass me by when i am not taking the time to pay attention to it. Its so easy to miss out on the things that Im not looking for and today was one of those days where I walked away with more hope instead of less. Near the end of our conversation Ms. B's daughter said "somebody gotta start somewhere" and I know meeting them today makes me feel even more determined to make this series work.