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Powderhorn has problems, yes. And it's a wonderful place to live.
by Haddayr Copley-Woods
I knew we were in trouble again when I saw those horrible white news vans on the side of the road. Those vans never show up for the Art Sled Rally or the MayDay Parade.
But they appear, like jackals, whenever there's violence in my Minneapolis neighborhood.
What most people know about Powderhorn is what they see on the news. People who should know better have asked me if I'm afraid to live here. They don't seem to realize what an insulting question that is.
I'm not naive. I know we have our problems. My own husband was held up at gunpoint on our front lawn. But that kind of isolated violence -- what the news plops unceremoniously in our faces -- it's not the Powderhorn I know.
The Powderhorn I know is a warm place. It's a place with deep community involvement, where we actually get to know each other. And why wouldn't we? We are a seriously interesting bunch.
Where else will you find hippies rubbing elbows with punk bicycle Holy Rollers whizzing by Somalis playing soccer with Guatemalans? When your son asks you: "What's a lesbian, Momma?" where else could you reel off a list of friends and neighbors who just happen to live on your block?
Where else can you welcome the sun every May with a huge group of goofy, singing, wild, silly creatures dressed as bears, hawks, birds and antelope? Where else will you hear a heavy metal band shriek out ear-rending guitar riffs while little children pound happily on drums next to grandparents handing out peacenik flyers?
Where else would a woman assaulted in front of her children refuse to be a victim and instead write a public letter filled with compassion for her attackers? "I see those boys as hurting, scared children," she wrote. "Please send them all the love you can muster. I think they really need it."
Where else? Nowhere else. Nowhere but Powderhorn. Like it says on the banner that flies from my neighbor's balcony every May Day: "Powderhorn and Proud!"
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Haddayr Copley-Woods, Minneapolis, is a copywriter, blogger and mother. She is a source in MPR's Public Insight Network.
Comments (17)
Wellllll.....I don't know if naivite is the issue if one lives where armed robbery is an expected occurance and loving sexual predators is the victim's desire.
Celebrating such behavior in essays does seem naive and counter to Darwin, however. If we love these criminals, then they are more likely to breed, aren't they? Can the City afford that?
It is good to read of our own local San Francisco, however--it fits with the City. Ewes leading the lambs to slaughter, so to speak, on a parade for forgiveness.
We know that living in a community as a community where people are out on the streets and in the parks and interacting with their neighbors make those communities brighter and better and safer.
It's inspiring to me to hear Haddayr and the woman who was assaulted in the park not only refuse to be victims, but refuse to allow their community to be victimized. This is the kind of thing that makes for good community and it sounds like the Powderhorn is a fortunate place and I hope it continues to thrive.
What a wonderful celebration of a neighborhood, in all its flaws and strengths. This kind of clear-eyed, courageous approach to city life is a great antidote, not only to crime but also to divisive fearmongering from those who take shelter in gentrification. I hope your community can continue to come together with such pride.
As an infrequent but regular visitor to the Powderhorn Park neighborhood, I agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Copley-Woods. Powderhorn has a great community, made strong in large part by its diversity. It's palpable even just walking around in the streets or in the park, and it's a dynamic that any neighborhood should aspire to.
It's a shame that the media and others seem to reduce this neighborhood to a simplistic caricature, but hardly surprising. Thanks for doing your part to bring a little bit of depth and humanity to the narrative.
Contrary to what the media coverage suggests, what happened last week, less than half a block from where I live, was not about geography. It did not happen because of who or what the Powderhorn neighborhood is or is not.
These crimes were about desperation, dysfunction, and hopelessness, things which are not unique to any particular neighborhood, city, or demographic group. There is poverty in Powderhorn, just as everywhere else.
These crimes were also committed by children, despite what the attorneys and legal process appear poised to say. Extensive science testifies to the fact that a 16-year-old brain simply cannot fully comprehend the implications of such actions. This does not excuse what these boys did, but it is important to acknowledge and remember so that the system doesn't turn these already damaged lives into lost ones.
I've lived in Powderhorn for 15 years, and seen it through many ups and downs -- mostly ups, as Ms. Copley-Woods beautifully describes. But, with two small children, my wife and I regularly ask ourselves, "Stay or go?"
To date, we have always answered "stay" because there is no place we could go where there is no desperation or poverty. There is no place we could go where there is no crime. And Powderhorn (the park and the neighborhood) has far too many beautiful things about it to abandon. It's our home. We love it. And, in staying, we hope to contribute in some small way to giving hope to those among us who cannot otherwise find it.
Jim,
Darwin? Really? It's far more nurture than nature that creates predators. I'm not denying the existence of sociopaths, even in Maple Plain, but hate breeds hateful people more than does DNA. People change. With work and understanding, society can change too.
I'm not saying I could "love" someone who attacked me, but there are reasons behind people's behavior. Murder? Castration? Revenge is sweet, but useless if you want to stop violence and sexual abuse. The existence of violence and sexual abuse in any country correlates directly to the level of acceptable violence in that country (including corporal punishment of children), to sexual repression of men and women, to the marginalization of women and children, to economic disparity and to the lack of overt parental affection that characterizes a country. Really. Here's a non-politicized place to look at where some of this research comes from.
http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/digest6e.pdf
But regarding your mischaracterization of awesome places like Frisco and Powderhorn. Yo! Sexual abuse, violence, drug abuse, and just sheer boredom is as prevalent in the 'burbs than it is in the city, maybe even more if you look at some recent sociology. You lambs and ewes can have Maple Plain. I've never been robbed at gunpoint in Powderhorn, not even close, not even the eighteen years I lived in New York. But the awful stuff that happened to my friends growing up in the 'burbs I never want to see again.
Wow. I grew up next to powderhorn park and after reading that wow comes to mind first. That area has been this way since the late 80's and early 90's. Multiple people were shot there growing up and I personally knew some of the people in the neighborhood who were commiting the crimes or were victims of crimes in the park and near it. Everyone around knew the ones causing problems and little was done then and clearly little is done now. Criminals are treated far too lenient and the opinions here clearly show a problem with our society. Giving criminals more money, or love or entitlements does not stop them from being criminals. Only tough punishment works and until people wise up this will continue to happen. I feel for the woman who was attacked the other day but I disagree with her in the sense that these people are monsters and should be dealt with harshly.
"Criminals are treated far too lenient..."
According to a story published today, the US makes up less than 5 percent of the world's population, but incarcerates almost 25 percent of the world's prisoners. That's the opposite of "lenient."
"...and the opinions here clearly show a problem with our society."
Are you referring to the wish for restorative justice (rather then retribution or revenge)? No one has suggested that the perpetrators not be punished. But "throwing away the key" destroys lives. The real problem is the notion that one solution, lengthy imprisonment, works for all criminals.
"Giving criminals more money, or love or entitlements does not stop them from being criminals."
Studies show that most crimes are committed by people lacking money, love, or a sense of entitlement. Curing societal ills starts with economic justice (reducing the gap between richest and poorest), and must include protection for people at the margins of society. Believe it or not, giving love to a child is a proven way of reducing the chance that he will commit crimes later in life.
"Only tough punishment works..."
Blind punishment without rehabilitation has been shown repeatedly to turn casual criminals into chronic repeat offenders.
"...and until people wise up this will continue to happen."
Wisdom would suggest that compassion and forgiveness must accompany justice or it can never be effective. "Monsters" are not born, they are made -- often by the conditions of our society.
Well, well, a spirited defense by some, of what used to be considered indefensible--criminal behavior. And here I thought the topic was (explicitly) the media portrayal of a reknowned neighborhood, and the implicit topic the defense of Liberal political values.
If we all join hands, City Neighborhood-and-Exurb-alike, we can sing "what the world needs now...." and finish off the demonstration with a round of "kumbaya, M'lord...."
Unfortunately, I do not have time for it. I'm off to picket the Long Lake McDonalds; they are still putting toys in the Happy Meals.
Ewes and lambs to slaughter, and fish in a barrel. What more could a good criminal want? Girls in a garage? Juvenile court?
Then put up your fence Jim Hanson of Maple Plain...very high...lock your doors and TRUST NO ONE, especially if they don't agree with you...ride in fear and live in fear...no asked you to come along.
Jim,
You'll need to be more specific.
Where in any of these comments do you see defense of criminal behavior? Where do you see anyone providing excuses for criminals or suggesting that they not be held accountable for their actions?
Do you view forgiveness as some sort of dismissal of culpability? Is offering compassion somehow inconsistent with holding someone responsible for their actions?
Has anyone called for the unconditional release of the youths followed by a big group hug?
You are not reading what you think you are reading.
Are Powderhorn residents not allowed to love and care for where they live and for their neighbors? Are we not allowed to discuss the causes of the crimes which have led the media to repeatedly place labels on our neighborhood?
Why would you view a call for forgiveness as some sort of weakness? How is that a boon to criminals?
I won't impugn where you live because I know nothing about it. The implicit suggestion made by Ms. Copley-Woods in this post is that others should realize that what they think they know about Powderhorn is a very tiny sliver of the truth. That is all the media is capable of providing.
And the white trucks with big antennas and bright lights only seem to come out when the news is, well, sensational.
Discussion of such complex issues is only possible when we all agree to at least consider one another's notions.
I have a friend in the suburbs who never opens her garage door until she is in her car and the car doors locked. She is afraid someone will ambush her. I on the other hand have been walking through my Longfellow neighborhood at all times of the day in night for over 40 years and have always felt safe. And I am happy to be a neighborhood away from Powderhorn, and all of it's glorious diversity.
I'm not sure where some of you are going, but I can see where some of you come from. Fortunately, Haddayr herself supplies a good analysis of that thinking. It's in her essay from February 16, 2010: although the topic is vaccination, the subject is "motivated reasoning."
It applies here, I think. This the link:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/16/woods/
It applies here, much more than any speculation some of you have about my fears, or whether or not one should open their garage door in suburbia. (FWIW, I lived in the city, probably before a good number of you were born. Back then, the Powderhorn criminals' parents hadn't moved into Minnesota, much less into that neighborhood.)
BTW, what percentage of Powderhorn Parkites have carry permits? You know, to protect themselves? Anyone know?
Back to the McDonald's demonstration. Since it's getting colder, I gotta demonstrate faster, I guess.
Jim,
I never respond to people like you but I just had to thank you for providing me with a shining, glorious example of why I would never, ever again want to live in the suburbs. Anytime I start to even consider the idea of living there, from now on all I'll have to do is think of your words and beliefs and philosophies and I'll remember exactly why I left the suburbs. Because of values like yours.
It seems as if this conversation is quickly dissolving into an us and them (city folks, suburban folks). I don't see how that is helpful. I think what is core is that Powderhorn folks feel under siege sometimes with the negative media portrayals. I get it. I raised my family in, and lived in, Powderhorn for over 20 years and am still close by. It is near and dear to me. There are many wonderful things happening as is evidenced by how the neighborhood turned out the other night. But admittedly Powderhorn has it challenges. It is an inner-city neighborhood with a huge park that draws good and not-so-good folks from all over the city. Lastly, having compassion and forgiveness is pretty admirable. I would think it is the basis for most world religions. It doesn't sound like anyone here is saying these kids should not suffer consequences. But understanding how we as a society fail some children is valuable in helping us to provide resources and raise standards for all kids - keeping them safe and growing compassionate, active citizens.
I NEVER respond to stuff like this but, as a neighborhood resident, just have to thank reporter and "mom in the news" for articulating much of what I love about this neighborhood and the people who make it such an interesting community. The debate about punishment vs. rehabilitation (or at least making the effort) is old and and highly polarizing. Interesting and sad that such articulate expressions of love and tolerance push the "hang em high" button for some. I guess we'll have to keep on talking. Thanks to Copley-Woods for a fine contribution to the dialogue.
Let me see if I have this right:
Her husband is robbed at gunpoint and a mother is assaulted in front of her children in a "wonderful place to live." News vans are "horrible." Ummm, Uhhh...I'm at a loss for words.
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