By Mel Dyer
At ease, with our own...
Knowing our own and what it took to get us here, to this moment. Having respect for that...that's Sevenbeeism. That's part of it.
The last three and a half decades, post Civil Rights Movement, post-desegregation, post-riot, post-urbanism, post-inflation, has been rough on Penn Branch ..and the rest of Seven Bee (ANC-7B), generally speaking. We want commercial development - now, it's here - and always have, ..but, not the kind that attracts people, who don’t respect or appreciate the wholesome, small-towny, slightly Cosbyesque thing we’ve got going here–the Brancher Way. If gang violence, over-crowding, loitering and the pungent fragrance of urine wafting up Carpenter Street is the price of having a cineplex and steakhouse burgers and a proper bar in the neighborhood...
No thanks!
We also like people! We like music, color and laughter in the air!
We like carefree retirees, newlyweds, families and big, goofy dogs! We like to work hard and play harder. If you're here, wherever you're from, however you pray, whoever you love ..and whatever you look like, we know you're here for a good life...to live well. We know our own.
The spirit's still pure, unadulterated Seven Bee optimism, even after all these years...the spirit of this marvelous in-between place, my Jefferson Junior High School classmates once jokingly called 'CAPICOSTIA'. It's historically reverent. It's grounded in, but undaunted by consensus reality! The same optimism that got us through the worst of times, into these great ANC-7B neighborhoods, still keeps us flying.
We will never forget it.
[Based on thoughts published in "To Fight Another Day" and other posts.]
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