Honoring the Past, Building a Future
Stand on one of the streets in Wards 1–4. There is no crime happening before your eyes, no sirens or flashing lights. But its presence is everywhere, in the silence, in the shuttered homes, in the caution that has settled into the air. Crime is not visible in the moment, but it lingers in what … Continue reading Rocky Mount, NC: You Fix Neighborhoods By Making Them Safe:
The Prosecutors Summation to the Jury. It is not easy to hold two truths at once. That OIC has brought real good to this community: yes. That the tutoring programs, the workforce training, the wraparound services have helped people climb out of hardship: yes again. But it is also true that when council members sit … Continue reading The Prosecutors Summation: OIC and the Question of Public Trust
Some days, it feels like we’re living inside a Southern novel. Not the kind with porch swings and sweet tea, but the darker kind, where power and corruption hides in plain sight, and self-preservation outweighs public service. The longer I write about Rocky Mount, the clearer it becomes. We are not just observers in this … Continue reading When Real Life Reads Like a Southern Novel
On a recent post about Rueben Blackwell and the condition of Happy Hill, a reader left a comment that spoke directly to what many in Rocky Mount have quietly hoped for: "We need City Management to assemble a group of smart, hard working, caring, professional staff members who will look at every neighborhood in the … Continue reading Rocky Mount,NC: A Neighborhood, A Task Force, A Future
Star Street I don’t rattle easily. But last Thursday evening, after sharing a slice of pizza and plenty of laughs with Denise, the energetic Fun Director at Sky-Vue Skateland, I drove to the Happy Hill neighborhood in Rocky Mount. I had my phone camera in hand, planning to check on the state of things since … Continue reading A White Woman with a Camera: My Happy Hill Mission
Main Street Rocky Mount 