McFerrin Park Has Always Been Home

Communities are often defined by geographical boundaries and socioeconomic factors such as education and profession. In re-gentrifiying communities such as McFerrin Park certain folks tend to highlight the distinction between “the haves and the have nots”. Leading one to believe that there is no history and or relevance of the community neighborhood that is not shaped by White DINKs (dual income, no kids) and real estate investors. However, if you take a closer look (and listen) to the experiences of the diverse residents in McFerrin Park you will learn about real people with histories, some distinct and others quite familiar. Before there was an interest in Saving the Roxy Theater, there were Black parents that walked their children to and from the neighborhood schools. There were Black male coaches with booming voices directing young boys in the fundamentals of football. There were children inundating McFerrin Park Community Center for pro-social activities and outings. Working parents picked up infants from the child care center at Salvation Army’s Magness Potter Center while teens crowded the same building for leadership opportunities and help with homework and senior citizens gathered in a safe space. There were immigrant and refugee families learning new cultural norms while preserving their own. There were foster parents and halfway homes that provided some type of permanence for those in need. And always, there have been grandparents and elders on front porches with a knowing eye for “who belongs around here” and “who is here to cause trouble”. McFerrin Park is a community neighborhood of working, non-working and retired people, native born and transplants from other cities, artists and stay at home parents, social workers and entrepreneurs. It is a community neighborhood whose residents are inclusive and cautious and hopeful. Hopeful that as the property values increase, the real value of McFerrin Park will remain in its racially and economically diverse people and their willingness to appreciate that all of us do not share the same story but all of our stories are worth telling and documenting. McFerrin Park has always been home.

Are you serious? My only choice is race and class, what about community?

I must confess I am a transplant from DC. I’ve lived in Nashville for 10 years and I still long for the community feeling of Eastern Market or Mount Pleasant some 20 years ago. I’ve been back and both of those communities have changed but in my mind there isn’t a Starbucks and for $20 I can buy fresh flowers, Ethiopian coffee beans, and a piece of jewelry, maybe even some Batik. Anyway, I didn’t buy a 105 year old house on “this side of the river” in a malnourished community (yes, malnourished applies to communities too) to be relegated to conversations solely about race and class. I bought this “money pit” to save money for the boy’s college tuition; to soothe my disappointment at my social justice income’s inability to purchase a shell of a brownstone in DC, let alone renovate it ; I bought over here because the front porch had a swing. Never mind it was raggedy and unsafe- it fed my sense of community building in the south. I had images of neighbors gathering with sweet tea (well, okay, with wine) and talking about projects like a community garden. Never mind someone stole the swing the first two weeks we were in the house. I bought this never ending renovation project because my sister’s voice “location, location, location” prompted me to research the urban development plan of this city and to decide how I wanted to be included in creating that vision. I bought this house because I refuse to commute 30-45 minutes to anywhere if I don’t live in a major metropolitan city- remind me to tell you about public transportation in this city! I bought in McFerrin Park because it wasn’t full of DINKS (dual income, no kids) and the streets were very wide. And now, several community leaders (official and non official) are attempting to hijack my love affair with this old a** house and all of its possibilities for race and class wars- are you serious? Listen, we replaced the swing immediately and dared whomever to steal it again and told the boy that we would replace it as many times as they stole it. I’ve got every tool I need to replace your limited and unenlightened conversations about who lives in this neighborhood and why. I build community everyday I walk out of my door and speak to my neighbors. I build community by creating opportunities for self-determination for a malnourished ‘hood. I build community by showing my African American male child that when and where we enter conversations will only be determined by our voice or our silence. And Audre Lorde said that “your silence will not save you”. I’m expanding the conversation from race and class to include community and I’m inviting some other voices to the table. You thought you were was sick and tired of me complaining about drywall and leveling floors, you ain’t seen sick and tired yet. My father’s initial career was in the Air Force and my mother’s was a Black Panther- watch how I blend the duality of my childhood and switch the conversation to include community.
Blackberry wine at 6pm. You know the porch.