I woke up New Year's Day and noticed a small article about a murder that occurred two blocks from my home. I didn't know Shannon Harps, who was stabbed to death a little after 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve. She sounded like a lovely person, well liked by her co-workers and people involved in the environmental movement.
Later in the week, my dog Meggie and I took our usual stroll down 16th Avenue and discovered television trucks with their cameras lined up in the parking lot of the Christian Scientist Church across the street from the crime scene. I noticed memorial candles lit alongside the co-op where she was assailed.
Part of me doesn't want to admit this act of violence happened in my own neighborhood. I think of the people who live along this tree-lined block as private, but once you've become acquainted they are friendly and kind. Many of us walk our dogs up and down 15th and 16th avenues at all hours of the day and evening. We wouldn't think twice of not venturing out for fear of being robbed or attacked.
One late evening last October I'd taken Meggie out for a walk when we encountered a man sauntering down the middle of a pitch-dark 16th Avenue. When Meggie, who is deaf, dawdles I often talk to her in a higher pitched tone so I can move her along. The man passed by and called me a faggot. I was so shocked and irked I phoned 911 and asked if the name-calling constituted a threat. While the operator noted the call, she said unless he followed the epithet with physical harassment there was nothing she could do.
By and large, I feel safe in my neighborhood. The fatal attack on this young woman doesn't change my sense of security. A friend in my running group mentioned the murder and made a passing reference to moving off the Hill with his partner, who has children. He had told me of a neighbor held up at gunpoint several weeks earlier, who fought back and screamed, thereby frightening off her assailant.
"The Hill isn't the sort of place you want to raise kids," he muttered. I countered, "Well, if you want them to have a backyard to play in, I'd agree."
I didn't say I think the Hill is a great place to raise kids because they are exposed to the wonderful diversity of the neighborhood with singles, married couples, elderly people and the gay and lesbian population. Not to mention the cross cultural influences of people recruited here by Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing and Starbucks.
While the loss of Shannon Harps, who shared with me northeastern Ohio roots, is heartbreaking for her family and friends, I won't let it change my view of a neighborhood that has given me great joy, a strong sense of community and deep and abiding friendships over the years. I hope and pray her attacker is brought to justice.
The election
Switching subjects completely, last Thursday brought a glimmer of hope on the national front. A clerk at the Madison Market checkout line asked me before the Iowa caucuses if I still supported Barack Obama for president, a passing reference to a column I wrote about seeing him speak in November 2006 and being duly impressed. With a glowing "Yes!" my enthusiasm was affirmed later that night by the people of Iowa, who attended Democratic caucuses in record-breaking numbers (more than 200,000 statewide) and catapulted Obama to victory with a 9-point lead over candidates John Edwards and Hillary Clinton.
Over the last year I've grown gloomy over the Democrats' inability to alter the Bush agenda, so much so that I no longer feel great affinity with the Democratic Party. I still think our country needs a break from the 20-plus years dominance of the Bush-Clinton clans.
What impresses me about Obama, besides his passion and natural ease connecting with a variety of people, is his ability to listen and break out of the same old arguments we've fought since kingdom come. So he may not be perfect on gay marriage, maybe his health care plan isn't as good as Edwards', and quite likely he hasn't had as much foreign policy experience as Clinton. But one thing Obama does have is authenticity and a strong sense of his core. He is solid in these areas and has the potential to grow and mature in office, whereas Clinton in particular feels like a lecturing school marm whenever I hear her speak. She trumpets experience, but I would argue her judgment is poor and not what this country needs at this time in our history.
So this is a clarion call for those who've fallen out of touch or lost hope with politics in the United States. Whomever you support, there is a chance to make history during the Washington State caucuses, which take place on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 1 p.m.
Take one Saturday afternoon out of your life to gather with your neighbors in nearby church halls, school basements and other community centers (the Web sites below list the locations) to talk about the candidate of your choice and why you think they're equipped to lead our country to a better place.
Better yet, if your choice is Obama, I'll be there, old windbag that I am, making the case for someone I think can really bring people together and offer a fresh perspective, turning away from the old, brutal ways of the past seven years toward a more constructive, engaged approach.
For more information on the Feb. 9 caucuses and how to get involved, visit www.wa-democrats.org or www. wrsp.org.
Jack Hilovsky's column appears in the second issue of each month. Reach him at editor@capitolhilltimes.com.[[In-content Ad]]