I’ve been thinking about how I would respond to the recent events in Ferguson, MO. And then I realized, I’ve always been thinking about how I would respond to certain events. That this page responds to a lot of the ills that lead to what happened there and what has happened in different forms in other communities throughout the United States.
From a very young age (and that young age occurring throughout the 1990’s), I’ve known that things were always different in certain parts of town. That sometimes people did bad things and those bad things would sometimes lead to being shot. Or, sadly, the bad thing would mean being shot. As I grew older, standing on a field outside of my middle school after another copy-cat Columbine bomb threat, I realized that anybody could get shot, even in the nice places. The night my purse was stolen at my luxury apartment complex. At gunpoint. Many a night where I was surrounded by bad things, but those bad things never happened. Not to me at least.
Some bad things can be prevented though. We can work on trusting each other so we don’t automatically assume someone’s up to no good or could be a crime suspect. We could work on our economy, so that people can make a legitimate living, and not be tempted in a life of crime or bored by “having nothing to do.” We could make it so housing isn’t so expensive. We can fix it so our roads aren’t so un-inviting and allow for more than just speeding cars. So we don’t automatically assume all walkers are criminals. If someone is threatening us, we can use self-defense, but only to stop the perpetration, not take a life.
And finally, we can pray. That’s all I’ve been able to do, because I need my words to go somewhere where they can truly be heard and where massive, society-bending change can be made.
On a less serious note:
–I am switching gears somewhat and working on building up my “how I do it” website, Kristen’s Workshop. For those of you who don’t know, my background and primary work is in media, communication and marketing. Yes, there will still be a book of the material here on this site. There will still be my daily North Carolina news roundup. With the new site, through some of my words and tips, you too can affect change in your community or at least just throw a good community event. Some of those tools will have a price tag, but there will be flexibility for those of you who need help, but cannot pay.
–I was on Chuck Marohn’s Strong Towns podcast this past month. Check it out here.
–I’ll be in DC for the Labor Day weekend and I’ll be at the Strong Towns National Gathering September 12-13 in Minneapolis. Expect pictures, commentary and if you get to hang out with me, lots of fun. Instagram is the place to see all that.
