Honoring the Past, Building a Future
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
This morning, I looked at this gorgeous photograph of a green craftsman bungalow, its symmetry softened by shrubs, its porch pots blooming., I purred like a kitten. The reaction was instant and familiar. I have a grand passion for bungalows, one that never fades no matter how often I've written about them or pass one … Continue reading From Rocky Mount NC: A Love Letter to the American Bungalow
Main Street Rocky Mount 