prisoner's dilemma

So as I was listening to the Lyfe Jennings album, I had a thought recently about the prison system and the disproportionate amount of young black males populating said system. Not so much about the folks that keep going into prisons, but moreso the folks coming out of prisons. For every ten guys that come out of incarceration more hardened criminals, I'm sure there is one cat that just wants to straighten up and never go back, right? So according to Lyfe, it's very tricky to keep on the straight and narrow once you get out, because no one will give you a shot doing anything worth while. I've heard that story many a time before, but I started thinking about what role growahouse could take in the future to consider such a large and needy portion of the community as just that... part of the community. I have an idea for a program that would take 4 or 5 young non-violent, at risk, recently paroled, minority men or women and train them to build. When I say build, I'm not just thinking construction, I'm thinking holistically. I'm thinking... building homes, building relationships, building wealth, building personal health, building confidence, building responsibility...... building opportunities. Let me be clear, I am not interested in a halfway house program that tries to re-acclimate folks into society. I don't think that is what we should go for here. I want to think larger. I'm talking LLC. I'm talking one person is learning how to set the wood framing and pour concrete footers, one person is holding a community meeting to discuss the impact of the project on its surroundings, one person is securing venture capital, one person is at the zoning office filing for permits, and the other is coordinating everybody else.... you understand what I'm saying?

I think that in order to truly bridge the gap between growing a house and growing a village, we will have to elevate the manner in which we conceive of everything.

an open conversation

I was able to have a lengthy conversation with my neighbor across the street this morning. Nice guy. As usual, when I have conversations with my neighbors, I am exposed to the unedited reality of my block... a more and more frequent occurence that I am growing quite fond of. I often wonder who the person is that I project to people. I have found my neighbors to be, on average, very open and engaging. Is that a result of them, or me? Do I project an honest non-threatening persona? Or have I just stumbled into an honest and non-threatening community? What about the demographics of this possible pleasantville? For the most part, my neighbors are older and elderly black folks, many having southern roots. What does that say about the neighborhood's lifespan? Is it approaching a crescendo? Mr. Johnson, the man that sowed the structural seeds for this site, was elderly and relatively sickly when he passed. Was he a reflection of his environment? If so, what does it say about the new blood that the growahouse site could pump into this microcosim? I'm not sure. Apparently, when most of these neighbors moved into the area twenty or thirty years ago, it was largely comprised of white residents. Not so much anymore. But what role will history play in the near future?

My studies have helped me to appreciate the nature of how most communities develop as they react to the pressures of time, diversity, amenities, economics, and politics. Often the demographics of an area shift in cycles. Washington, DC, however has a slightly unique and somewhat civic workforce, which skews the easy reading of a pattern. On the Federal side, the population changes with administrations and this transient, but wealthy, group brings continual capital into the city's infrastructure. On the DC Government side... its mostly black folks... mostly middle to lower economic brackets...mostly life long DC residents.

This is an interesting mix in the current light of an unprecedented building boom. A mix that leads to two things, respectively:

Gentrification

Migration

But what if you're older?

What if you live in one of the few remaining enclaves characterized as a stable black neighborhood with good stable people, like yourselves? How do you ensure that the neighborhood will live on?

Or should you?

Should you take advantage of the real estate market, sell, and move out to PG County? Do you contribute to your community by having a well earned equity payout that you can pass on to your family... you know ... build some generational wealth? I'm not sure.

many questions remain...

How do you pump blood into the tangible fabric of a community that is fading without replacing it? How do you say that the buildings are important, as well as, the bodies that inhabit them?

I sang a quiet song for you, Rosa

As fate showered me with sunshine this morning, I was able to make it over to the Capital Rotunda to bid a fond farewell to Sister Rosa Parks around 8:30am. It was an encouraging start to a Monday, and by extension a foreseeably long week.

There are always sacrifices that we make for larger agendas, ideas, or beliefs. Those who answer the call to follow their convictions or hearts are often met with obstacles. Some obstacles are intended to stop you, others are intended to help you.

But they are both obstacles.

And they must be traversed, some more lovingly than others, in order to move forward. My challenge is understanding which battles require a kiss and which battles require a karate chop.

But as I said, those are my challenges... and today is not about me.

The growahouse family raises a righteous fist for a righteous sister.

bless.

"Its all happening"

Friday evening, I re-watched a not so old favorite movie... Almost Famous. While there are an overabundance of coming-of-age trials to speak of when referencing this particular film, there was one overriding theme that I found to be engaging as I breathed in the film once again.

The death of a musical genre, and the subsequent birth of "an industry of cool."

Although I may have some rock star aspirations (learning the play the guitar for example), I find that is more engaging a theme if I relate it to design.

There are so many things that I want to do with this house. Yesterday, I stretched myself out across the newly laid joists for the third floor. I looked towards downtown and found myself staring at the Washington Monument. I recalled that one of the incredible things I rememebered about being on the roof of the original house was being able to see downtown, focusing particular attention on the Washington Monument and the Capital Building. My current design doesn't capitalize on the view as much as I had originally wanted to. Because the site is on a hill, I knew that looking downtown would be pretty cool. How cool would it be to be able to show folks my view? How cool would it be to look at the city from across the river and then walk, ride or drive into it?

A few weeks back, I told the seventy-year old black man that poured my concrete that it was going to be cool cus I could see the city from the top of the house.

He said, "What do you want to see the city for? It's not for us."

His view, however dismal, speaks to a larger truth. Being excited about this house cannot and must not destroy the original agenda. The truth in his statement comes from feeling like a forgotten people. The truth in his words comes from the downside of gentrification, which originates from the latin gentrificus, which loosely translates into: Making poor or underrepresented people someone else's concern.

The city, not unlike an eight minute guitar solo of the mid 70's, is dying and giving birth to an "environment of cool."

This new environment is paved with camera phones in place of conversation, designer dogs in place of watching your neighbor's children until their parents get home, overpriced natural grocery foods in place of window sill herb gardens, ipod nanos in place of street performers, and ultimately... placing more value on your view of the city, than on the people in those buildings... or better still... the people that used to live in those buildings.

its a celebration...

Shout out to Kia and Bryan. Congratulations on the wedding this evening in Baltimore. I had a good time this evening, saw a couple vows exchanged, and met some very cool and interesting people that seem to like the energy that growahouse is trying to put out. Can't ask for much more out of a rainy saturday.

The Growahouse family wishes you blessing on top of blessing as the two of you walk through this life together.