Then the Gunshots
They say gunshots sound like firecrackers. They are right. I heard them myself today. And felt the fear.
This was my first time to witness a shooting and I didn't see it coming on a perfect Spring day that was filled with people doing good for Mobile.
It started with Kate Teague, director and producer of the popular Thacker Mountain Radio show on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. She grew up in Mobile and wants the show's first remote broadcast outside of Mississippi to be here, in her hometown that she once took for granted. She is also a musician and about to record her first album of songs she wrote and will open soon for St. Paul and the Broken Bones at their show in Oxford. 2018 could be a big year for her.
The Souls interview today was with Valerie and Melanie, bartenders at the new Lit Cigar Lounge. They are neighbors, co-workers and best friends, despite the 23 year age difference. Melanie was one of the 20 best bartenders in New Orleans before she moved to Mobile and invited me to see the sideshow posters in her backyard and drink homemade lavender lemonade made from the ingredients she grows herself. She is excited about the creativity she can bring to drinks in Mobile.
The final stop was to drop off a care package with Mary at AltaPointe that was sent by a reader to a homeless woman recently featured on Our Southern Souls. The note said, “Things will get better.”
Then the gunshots. We went to the window and saw the shooter walking our way on Spring Hill Avenue yelling and firing the last shot, then he disappeared down the street beside our building. That was 1:00 in the afternoon. We were that close, but I don't know who he was shooting or if there were injuries. I couldn't recognize the shooter if I had to but I saw his anger.
You may hear about it on the news and think "another day, another shooting in Mobile." We hear about shootings so often that we are numb to them. But there is nothing numb or normal when you hear those shots. Just fear.
Last year I interviewed LaTistia and Rodney Hamilton about their daughter Raven who was shot and killed while she and her friends were picking up a friend in the Roger Williams projects and going to a birthday dinner. She was 16, the same age as my son. Gun violence is something they worry about every time their kids leave the house. They said, "You don't have to think about guns in your world, we have to think about it every day in ours." They are right, out of all of the things I worry about happening to my kids, getting shot is not one of them.
Today after we settled down, Mary said, "I know this is scary, but this happens around here. That one was really close, but this is life for all of the people we work with. You just got a very real and honest look at what happens on the streets on a regular basis."
My first instinct was not to write about this. Don't stir anything up. Focus on the good and pretend like the rest didn't happen. Everything is fine. But when shootings happen, everything is not fine. If we are going to be the "safest city in America" like Mayor Stimpson campaigned on, we have to make Mobile safe for everyone. We have to go after the tough issues like poverty, education, unsafe neighborhoods and the underlying issues of violence. If your child isn't safe, then my child isn't safe.
Downtown Mobile has become a safe place to eat, drink, listen to music and have a good time. But that isn't good enough. We also have to be a city where kids like Raven can go out with friends to celebrate a 16th birthday and parents don’t have to fear about them coming home alive. Where Mary doesn't have to worry about gunshots down the street as she is helping homeless people get back on their feet.
Things have to get better for all of us, not just some of us.
