Block 7: “Be Careful, Baby”
Block 7: “Be careful, Baby”
It used to be that when I’d leave the barbershop in Chatham people would tell me, “Be safe!” Today nobody says “be safe.” The phrase is outdated. Now, the caution has been elevated to, “be careful.” I didn’t realize it back then but that word “be” is doing work!
Most people don’t think of it as an action verb. “Be” should be effortless. You don’t wake up and say, “okay I’ma go outside today and just be,” but nowadays, in Chicago, we can’t take just “be’ing” for granted. Not when something as simple as pumping gas at night can be a gamble for your life.
I’ve talked about the importance of block clubs when it comes to safety and that’s born out on today’s block. A University of Chicago Crime Lab study on areas around our block clubs found that a tighter community meant less violence. This block in particular, 75th and King, is a great example as they’ve seen a marked reduction in gun violence since joining our One Block at a Time program. Tonya Hooks is the Block Club Captain and she’s a superhero around these parts.
Tonya was actually the very first person we worked with on our Be A Part of the Light campaign.
Every year we hang holiday lights on 500 homes along King Drive at no cost to the homeowner. It’s our way of interrupting the everyday trauma and inspiring hope. It’s a huge undertaking, but it all started with one home. Tonya was so excited that we were going to decorate that she told her neighbors on the Next Door app and now we’re lighting up homes in the entire community.
Tonya knows communication is key and will talk to anyone willing to listen. On our walk, we ran into one of her neighbors. Lisa’s been living on 75th and King for 62 years! She told me the block is nice and quiet and all the elderly folks look out for one another. She says this block itself doesn’t seem to be a problem but, “you know, Chicago is block-by-block,” meaning one block could be well organized and safe and the very next could be drug infested.
As we left Lisa's porch she told me to “Be careful, baby.”
Tonya doesn’t meet with her block club residents monthly. Instead she’s built a text message tree and stays in contact as much as she needs too. I like this strategy because not every community is the same, not everyone has the same needs. You have to go with what works for your block. Scheduled meetings might make sense for the Alderman but if your block needs to meet more often, there should be nothing holding you back. Tonya tells me that, “whenever anything notable happens, I let [the neighbors] know.”
Tonya is concerned about the long-term health of the block club though, “it’s getting harder to create camaraderie.” She gets frustrated with a lack of participation sometimes. “Who’s gonna carry the torch when I get tired?” That’s a fair question, even from the block club superhero. I love that she’s thinking about her community even when she gets tired, but no one can do it forever.
There is hope for the next generation here. One of the block club members told me that he notices new families in the neighborhood. It’s nice to see children growing up on 75th and King. And like many block club captains, Tonya has also noticed new folks moving onto the block. Some folks in the city call them “migrants” but Tonya refers to her Venezuelan neighbors as “new arrivals.” Tonya puts on a jazz festival on the block every summer and this year she incorporated some Hispanic music. She wants new arrivals to feel welcome.