Pay attention
At 9 p.m. on March 11, I observed a man walking eastbound on Cornelia from Wilton toward Halsted carrying a dark metal baseball bat. A man wielding a baseball bat on a public way in any neighborhood at night is a matter of concern, but becomes a more significant issue in the Boystown neighborhood because of the possibility of anti-gay violence. I watched as the man crossed Fremont, Reta and then Halsted in the crosswalk in front of Caribou Coffee.
This incident becomes problematic because as the baseball bat-carrying man crossed Halsted at the Cornelia crosswalk on the Boystown strip, he passed directly in front of a marked Chicago Police Department SUV ( Beat 2324 ) stopped at the crosswalk stop sign. The two uniformed officers appeared engaged in casual conversation and took no action as the man proceeded eastbound with his baseball bat while Beat 2324 continued southbound on Halsted.
When a man with a potential deadly weapon is literally standing on the other side of their vehicles' hood and the police officers take no action, it demonstrates both an inattention to duty and overall deliberate indifference toward the people in Lake View. District 23 police personnel should be especially cognizant of potential anti-gay violence, yet they ignored the man. The man may have had a perfectly valid reason for carrying a baseball bat—or not.
The two police officers had legitimate legal justification to briefly detain the man, verify his identity, ascertain his reason for carrying a baseball bat and examine it for signs of recent criminal activity ( blood, hair, glass, etc. ) , and complete a field-contact card. This small effort in preventive, proactive patrol may have paid off if a battery-not-yet-reported at the time comes to light, if a crime later occurs, or if a pattern of local bat-beatings in Lake View or on the nearby lakefront is already known to the department. This on-view street stop is what community policing and crime prevention is supposed to be all about.
Bob Zuley
Chicago
On Susan Frazier
There is a dwindling breed in the world, the record-store owner so passionate about music that they urge their customers to try out new songs like an Old World mother pushes visitors to "Eat! Eat!" Susan Frazier ( WCT, 3/10/10 ) is that kind of music dealer. She is an intriguing mix of wild-eyed music fan and hard-nosed business woman in a hot pink shirt. I picture her most clearly in her packed booth at Michigan Festival, wearing her ever-present headset, clipboard in hand and eyes sweeping the store to see if anyone needs help, through the curtain of her long golden-brown bangs.
Back in the early '90s, Susan at Goldenrod and Reggae Dodson of Ladyslipper were the two who made BETTY music accessible to the masses. Through the many ups and downs of our 24-year-long musical career, Susan has been a steadfast supporter. After BETTY's first Michigan appearance, when the band was misunderstood by some women who were horrified about our use of a whip as a prop, outspoken gender politics and sex-positive exuberance before it became the norm for so many later performers, Susan patiently explained what BETTY was about to some touchy festigoers, playing them our music and pointing out our tongue-in-cheek humor. More than one fan has told me that they 'didn't get it' at first, but Goldenrod got them to take a second listen.
Susan has cheered each time we release a new album and has made me feel always that BETTY's music is a vital part of the timeline of both womyn's music and indie music made by women.
When I heard about her diagnosis, I was shocked. Susan is tall and strong, capable and cool; she is not what you picture as sick. Her illness pisses me off. I am enraged that she has to deal with such a debilitating change in her life, not because of the sickness, but because of the cure. The fact that anyone in the United States, when faced with a life-threatening, game-changing, get-on-your-knees-and-beg-for-mercy condition then has their soul crushed by the cost of trying to stay alive is infuriating. Why is Our Great Nation's most precious commodity not its citizens? Why is it considered un-American to want every one of us educated and healthy, in order to perform as a more perfect union? So we sisters are rising up and standing together for one of our own.
Alyson Palmer
Alyson Music Projects
New York
