The Neighborhood

Learned where to drop the land mines

My neighbors had a party in their driveway. I guess, because it has the best sun exposure during that time of day. They set up lawn chairs and a canopy, and mingled. Kiki occasionally ran to my room, stood on the bed, and threw open the curtains to look at the crowd. She'd rap on the window, shouting, "The neighbors are having a party."
Horrified by the sudden audience, I'd crouch low, under the window, and plead, "Leave them alone. Stop doing that." Then she'd jump a bit, and eventually plop down on the mattress, out of sight from the neighbors.
The last time the neighbors had a party, I woke up to screaming and a fight breaking out around 11pm. The screaming didn't stop till well after midnight, and by that point I realized this was the scene of drunkenness rather than horrible violence. If someone was going to truly bring a beat down, then it would last much shorter than an hour and a half. So when the guy who seemed to not want to go home, even after being attacked by what sounded like a group of fifteen people, started shouting, "I'm going to get my gun, and come back to shoot all you people!"
I took Kiki and headed to the back room to sleep. The next day when I saw my other neighbors we discussed the spectacle. Both of them took guard of their house. Grabbing a baseball bat, sitting on the front porch. I was impressed by their bravery, and desire to get involved in a rather ridiculous situation, and said, "Really! I went and hid in the back bedroom."
They both had the sense to know that drunky-pants couldn't even manage to get himself home, based on his lingering, so even if he left a Hansel and Gretel trail of joints and Coors Light, he wasn't making it back to shoot anyone.

Last night I watched Straight Outta Compton. Aside from feminist politics, I found the film to be good. Personal bubbles need to be confronted with truths about other ways of life, ways that are hidden from mainstream media. NWA brought attention to the people left abandoned and harassed by the government. The fearlessness of the group was what stood out to me the most. Violence would erupt from out of nowhere, like riding an escalator to the building lobby, and everyone just starts beating the shit out of each other. No one runs to go and hide in the bathroom stall, or stands very still next to a ficus plant hoping to blend in.
Ice Cube is The Man, not taking shit from the systems constructed to take complete advantage of his art. I resolved their inhibitions to engage in conflict is because they grew up in a war zone. There is no hesitation, no fear. For the excessive levels of violence, I was surprised how easily resolution and forgiveness were accomplished. Forgiveness was not something the members of NWA withheld from each other and maybe it is because they have a deeper understanding of the delicacy of life, and their bond was so strong, much like solders who fight in the same unit.

The nineties was an eye opening time, and the following 2000's have been more eyes-half-massed. There has been a shift in coverage, where the ghettos are not reported on as much as they should, and this lack of coverage by the media, leave troubled cities to fend for themselves.
Take Flint, MI where a pediatrician compared lead levels in children to past data, and discovered an increase in lead poisoning, leading to exposing the city's negligence and disregard for its citizens. Flint, MI is one of the top 25 most dangerous cities in the US, and has an unreliable government to protect it. They are left to suffer, and the celebrities who drop flats of clean water into their neighborhoods get more publicity than the actual crime, disasters to follow, and how this wrong will be made right. I'm sure shamelessly greedy attorneys are lining the streets looking to take advantage of people who need to seek retribution for damages, and in the end their fees will eat up the entire hefty settlement, and citizens will be left even worse off. There is not protection from the aftermath, but a continuation of wrong doing. Attorneys will buy more vacation homes, Leonardo DiCaprio will send Flint, MI some clean water, and The media will only cover the ghettos when making Top 10 Worst Cities in the US to live in lists. NWA brought a voice to a group of people who were not being heard, and it was a voice that came from within, not from an outsider, or an observer.

My neighborhood is far from a ghetto, but there are still things that piss me off. Like the people across the street having rowdy parties, or the next door neighbors crack head grandkids, who don't ever seem intent on moving into their own place. I show my fearlessness when eating raw garlic cloves, and don't have to worry about tainted water, I think. I will always avoid confrontation with my neighbors who let their gross dog shit on my front lawn, and alleviate the problem by letting my lawn guy deal with it, walking on the cemented path to the mailbox, and refraining from having get togethers in my driveway. And my neighbors, unbeknownst to them, do not have me as an ally. I will not go into battle for them, but run to the back of my house and hide. They can rely on the other neighbors around us, the one's who don't have land mines of dog doo in their front yard.