First block club meeting

We had a good turn out for our first block club meeting at the home of Kathleen, who lived next to me. Fourteen people crowded into her living room and Ronald and I had to go back to our houses to get chairs so everyone could sit.

It was a good turn out except that Donald was the only black neighbor and Sid Cutney came and ranted that he couldn’t afford to move because his property value had dropped on account of the coloreds moving in and what were we going to do about it?

Ronald argued with him until they both stood up with fists clenched and Donald had to get between them and talk until they calmed down and sat down.

Then Kathleen started talking. She had called the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Program and got some information. The kid who’d shot at the car had been identified and talked to by the police and the gun had been taken away from him. He had gotten the gun from his older brother and this was the third time the police had taken a gun from this particular kid. The gun was not registered, none of the guns he’d taken from his older brother were registered, and the older brother was known to the police.

We were appalled by the news. We pressed for details, we wanted to know where were all these guns coming from, what was being done with the older brother, who were the parents, and what more were the police going to do?

Kathleen didn’t know. The boy and his brother were both minors, so nothing more could be told us, she’d been told.

What about our rights? asked a neighbor. We fussed for a long time, rocking in our chairs. A couple people needed to smoke and Kathleen directed them outside. The people who remained inside complained about the police, the justice system, the system in general.

When the smokers came in, Kathleen said she’d call the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Program again. She thought the program had people who would help us organize and work with the city departments and police. We all agreed, we needed help.