This evening I went to a Neighborhood Association meeting in the Washington Street Neighborhood.
Washington Street Neighborhood is a community in High Point, North Carolina, located about 40 minutes from Elon. The neighborhood has foreclosed homes, drug dealers, and unemployment.
As one of the very few Caucasians in the neighborhood, I certainly looked out of place. If I wasn’t already aware of it, stares from locals gave it away.
I went with a classmate and a professor who teaches a course at Elon about community empowerment. We were there to propose the idea of a community newspaper that would be written by and for community members.
I’ll admit I was a bit apprehensive about attending this meeting. I wasn’t sure how we would be perceived by residents. I found that they treated us with respect and took our ideas seriously.
This visit made me think that perhaps I take The Pendulum for granted. As Elon students, we have this venue in which we can express our concerns, ideas and opinions. The Pendulum is delivered to the same locations around campus every week. We expect that it will be at these various locations and it always is. We have this form of mass communication that allows us to be connected as a community. We don’t have nearly the multitude of problems that Washington Street Neighborhood has, but if we do have an issue, at least we have an outlet to express our concerns.
Washington Street Neighborhood has no such outlet, so I am working with my classmate and professor to help give them a voice and hopefully empower their community.