DP: Week 2 increase the peace

My plan for week two was to understand attitudes, observe habits, and find potential spots.

This week I took the bus around town so that I could observe everyday people in their habitat while also looking at the city itself. The bus ride was a quiet one at times. There were people that were having a hard day, people that were doing the daily routine, and people trying to stay out of the cold. Its a great example of Kansas City itself. It is a very eclectic town.

I wandered into a pretty sketchy neighborhood on the east side because a bus wasn't coming around for 35 minutes. I didnt think too much of it because personally I am kind of used to it. Later in the night I was watching the news and realized that homicide after homicide was being reported and crime after crime. I know our world isnt perfect but I am sure we can try harder than this. A reported 22 homicides have taken place in the first month of 2013. Its a bloody start.

Generally, the east side of kansas city has a reputation of poverty, crime, and violence. Although there is more to the east side than these generalizations, it is a problem that made my soul hurt. Getting back on the bus, this time on the troost max I dove into the neighborhood a little.

Four people I talked to siad they were on their way to work. Two were running errands. One man told me about his extra long day filled with obstacles and stress. It seemed like most people were just trying to survive. Doing what they can to make ends meet looking at like day to day. People that are trying that hard to give the next generation a better day shouldnt have to worry about so much crime and violence. I watched an interview with a girl from paseo academy that had a friend murdered for being in the wrong place at the wrong time earlier this January. Its really unfortunate. Because of this I think I can tweak my DP to still be about optimism and hope in the community while trying to bring awareness to the rising violence in our communities.

Before this I thought of wordings like:

Everything will be okay
Love thy Neighbor (reference to the bible because of the number of religious people in the area)
Have a good day
Today is yours
Youre making it a good day
Remain positive
stay humble
stick em up, no mas homicide
Hows it goin? (a simple hello and hows it going seemed to brighten peoples day)
Survive KC

Implementation:
Projector showing stats
Posters wheat pasted showing crime rates
booklets in the news paper vending machings

Here are some photos from my trip on the bus for a quick minute