New Haven Independent: "Venga!" ECCOs on Richard Street

“Venga!” ECCOs on Richard Street

by Allan Appel | January 9, 2007 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Some 150 Fair Haveners banging on pots and marching in protest descended on a house whose occupants they accuse of committing crimes in the neighborhood. A defiant woman greeted them with this message: “Go talk to the niggers who sell drugs to the little kids next door. You got the wrong people. You’re talking shit.”

The march started Monday night from St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church on Blatchley Avenue.

“We’re going to keep it real and we’re going to build relationships,” said Father James Manship of St. Rose of Lima. He was helping to lead the procession in the cold to confront residents of a house on nearby Richard Street, which neighbors have been citing as the source of a growing local crime problem.

Coordinated by ECCO (Elm City Congregations Organized), the marchers carried pots and pans and candles to, in Manship’s words, “wake people up and to help them see the light of caring.”

Founded in 1993 in New Haven, ECCO is a network of 23 churches and other organizations that uses the organizing model of Saul Alinsky, the legendary community organizer in Chicago, to build grassroots leaders through training they are given in response to solving local problems.

The specific local problem at hand began when teenage residents of the house on Richard Street allegedly pelted Maria Susana Lopez with stones when she tried to stop them from breaking into her car .(Lopez and her brother Alberto Mendieto are pictured, with Manship on the left.) That was back in December. In the following days, as other problems mounted, like garbage being tossed onto the street, Lopez, a leader at St. Lima and a trainee with ECCO, knocked on doors trying to involve the neighbors in a meeting at the church to get to know one another and air the problems.

But the problems persisted and grew more serious. Lopez’s home was invaded. Her brother Alberto Mendietto was severely beaten with a baseball bat. Lopez went to Father Jim, and the direct action was planned. But would it work?

Along the march route, which went up Blatchley, across Wolcott, and then down towards the targeted house, songs were sung, including the Battle Hymn of the Republic in Spanish. “Venga,” called out the marchers to their neighbors. “Come join us.”

“A key part of the action, a secondary goal” said Pat Spear, lead organizer for ECCO, “is to let people know they are not alone.” (In the ECCO spirit of promoting grassroots leadership, Spear, Manship and the other organizer, Kevin Ewing of Mutual Housing, insisted they be photographed less, or not at all, and that the focus be on the community participants.)

“What I mean,” he continued, “is that Susana and Alberto are not alone when good hard-working people have bad things happen, and also that the people who did this need to know that the community is watching and caring. To let the good people know that they outnumber the bad, and to bring those other folks into the fold of caring. To do that they need to come to meetings so we can solve the problems, ourselves, not through the police, but through direct talk.”

For Victor and Elizabeth Ramos, who live near St. Rose’s, this direct action was important. “Here people are afraid to come to a meeting,” he said. “This will help keep the neighborhood the way it should be for families and for the kids.”

Ann Ramsey, of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Hamden (pictured as she turned onto Wolcott Street) came to hold her candle, in part, she said, because “we do parish sharing, our church with St. Rose.” By which she meant they support each other’s activities. “This is exactly what’s needed down here to get people involved. Look at this.”

Indeed residents were coming out of their houses, turning on porch lights, as the procession neared the house on Richard. Carlos Castleman, of East Pearl Street, marched in the lead carrying a sign that read: “El respeto a derecho ajeno es la paz.” (Respect for a person’s right is peace, he translated.) Castleman, who is also active at St. Rose’s, said this was his first direct action, and it is exactly what churches should be doing. “I think it’s awesome.”

Arriving at the house, Manship knocked and called out, “We want to start the new year being good neighbors. Come out Luz, come out Thaddeus,” he called. When they didn’t come out, Manship blew a whistle, and the assembled crowd banged pots and called, “Venga, come out.”

Eventually Luz, a young woman, emerged on the porch. Two teenagers, believed to be those involved in the criminal activity, dashed in and out. The large crowd unnerved her. “You’re in the wrong place,” she said. “Go to the crack house next door.”

Then she dashed back inside, but came out again in response to another call of the crowd.

“We want to help you make this a better neighborhood starting this year,” Manship continued. “You know why we’re here.”

But this time Luz responded with resistance and denial: “You’ll never get me to go to your church acting like this. Why talk to me? I’m not the problem. Go talk to the niggers who sell drugs to the little kids next door. You got the wrong people. You’re talking shit. We didn’t do it.”

With that, the door was definitively closed, and the marchers, in the disciplined style of ECCO, moved on, and back to the church for an evaluation.

Kevin Ewing, stopping with Lopez, said he deemed the action successful. “We got what we wanted. We let them know we’re here. Yes, she was embarrassed, but in the process we also learned about the other problems on the block.”

Then he motioned down Richard Street, which was quiet in the cold eight o’clock air

“It’s quiet now, but at 2 in the morning it will be full of kids running alone, wild here. Parenting is a little out of control, and we need to help.”

Mutual Housing owns about eight houses on Richard Street, although not the problem house where Luz is renting. “This is not the first but the fourth direct action,” Ewing said, “that we’ve had on Richard Street. We’ve only just begun with her.”

Indeed, back at the church, Manship thanked all the participants. Did the direct action work? “Well, we’ll see on Thursday,” Manship said. “Several of us, the leaders, and those in training, will be going back to the building to talk to her. But look at all these righteous people,” he said. “There’s so much good in the neighborhood, and we know it’s hard for parents to always maintain control. There’s no crime wave in this neighborhood, but if you don’t attend to little things, things can spiral out. And this is fun too. The most important thing is to remember the star in the night sky there, like we celebrated on Epiphany the other day. The worst thing is to be alone in a kind of darkness with no light. Look around you. Look at all this light.”

Then Father Manship excused himself to go back to the basement of St. Rose’s, where a formal evaluation of the direct action, closed to the press, was being conducted.

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Comments

Posted by: Cedar Hill Resident | January 9, 2007 10:19 AM

I am so impressed!!!! I mean really impressed! You did what people in so many areas want to do. BRAVO You did nto just march but you let the people you where marching about no it was them. I wish this was something city wide. If we could as a city go to each area and march to the house we all know in our communitys are creating an unsafe place for the rest of the community I wonder what would happen to the crime rate. I in a hear beat would march in someones area if I could get them to come to mine. Do you guys have a web site set up??

Posted by: baile27 | January 9, 2007 11:06 AM

I appreciate your story and commend ECCO for their efforts. I take issue with the use of the "N" word that is repeatedly used in the article. You should refer to it that way whether you are trying to build the story or not. Please refrain from allowing the "N" word to become an accepted word in your online periodical. "To accept unacceptable behavior makes it acceptable"! -author unknown

Posted by: nfjanette | January 9, 2007 2:29 PM

If the quote was accurate, why not print it? The fact is the use of the "n-word" is common among urban blacks and Latinos ; I find that unfortunate, but that doesn't change the fact.

Posted by: Paul Bass | January 9, 2007 3:54 PM

I always wrestle with when, and whether, to use the word. On the one hand, I don't think journalists should gratuitously add swears or racial epithets into stories. That just fouls the atmosphere. Sometimes, though, I consider the use of the word by others as newsworthy -- and in this case, I felt as an editor that the harshness of the word, in context, conveyed the reality of a newsworthy encounter better than a stripped-down reference to the word would have. I don't know that I was right; these are judgment calls. I do know we need to be careful how we use language. So thanks for raising and debating the question!

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | January 9, 2007 4:23 PM

Hey Nfjanette Caucasian Urban And Surban Youth Call Themselves Wiggs Which Is Short For The N- Word The Rap M&M Use This Term,The Diference Is That Youth See This Word As A Fad And The Media Upholds This Word. As Far As Mr. Appel I Met Him Oneday And He seems To be a Good Journalist And He Was Just Reporting The Facts Which If This Was How It Was Said I Agree That He Should Wrote The Way It Was Said To Him.Also Use Of This Word Is Due To Self Hate. Now In My House This Word Is Not Used. Also Here Is a website That Some Friends Of Mine Have Put On Line to Deal with The Use Of This Word It Is www.abolishthenword.com Check It Out.

Posted by: Cedar Hill Resident | January 9, 2007 5:01 PM

I read it and took the use of the word as proof that the people were just not good people. They not only used the word (which should not be used and I am a preacher of that to kids that think it is just a slang when so many people died because of that word) but they used it with a priest and women and children standing there. It was proof of the disregard these people have in there area. Showing if they were able to be so free spoken with that word they can truley be causeing problems in there area. But I to, was a bit taken by it when first read untill I read the whole story.

Posted by: Ned | January 9, 2007 7:51 PM

Having experienced a horrible neighbor myself (complete with threats and vandalism), I can sympathize with the marchers; however, if there is a criminal problem, why is it not being handled by the police and the courts? Mob action, with a religious gloss, is a bit disturbing; can we expect a mob of non-Catholics to march to a Catholic church and demand an end to the sexual explotation (and brainwashing) of children by Catholic priests? How about a mob of Catholics marching on a Planned Parenthood clinic or a Gay person's house? Perhaps a mob marching to the house of an "illegal" immigrant? What criteria determines who gets the attention of this vigilante group?

Posted by: Edward_H | January 10, 2007 12:02 AM

I am an American who happens to be of African desecnt and I find no problem with this article if the person was accurately quoted. Sadly the so tcalled "N-word" is a deeply entrenched part of the culture and is not going away anytime soon. The quote gives tremendous insight into the type of person this neighborhood is struggling to deal with. I also don't see where the charge of vigilantism is supported. As far as I can see these people just wanted to talk to this Luz person. Is it now politically incorrect to ask someone to please stop your child from engaging in criminal activity?

Posted by: Cedar Hill Resident | January 10, 2007 8:38 AM

Ned I see your point...but I really get thereâ€™s. In my area we have given the the chief, the asst. chief the district manager and down the line. a map with every drug house in my area and they have done very little. There reason is that; us telling them is not enough to do anything and the people in the area are not calling them in. So when you watch this happening day after day and watch good people selling and moving away and the police not helping, this becomes your last resort. It is without a doubt a vigilante group but a peaceful one. And just plain marching does nothing. But if you let the people know that 150 people are now watching you and 150 people know what you are doing you may think twice about doing it. One person called my area the McDonalds of drug dealing, that is how open it is. And most people here are just afraid, the bad guys have been here for so long they feel like they do own our area and the police seem to be afraid to. If we had a group of 150 people helping us maybe just maybe we could help with the fear of just walking out your door. I support this for that one reason. But I see what you are saying a group starts off with all the right intention and stands up for what they believe to be right but can someone else be there next target. But I do have to say in this day and age that a lot of catholic priests are a little more open mind to the real world and I would say that one that runs a church in fair haven would have to be a little more of a progressive priest.

THREEFIFTHS thank you for posting the web site

Posted by: Tosha | January 10, 2007 6:02 PM

This comment is in response to Ned's comment. I understand your concern, but the community needs to step up, and let their neighbors know that we will not allow you to live in our neighborhood and do these kind of acts. And that is the focus here, that a group of not only churches, but community members got together, to march the streets to let the problem houses know that yes we are here, and yes there are some people who will no longer sit behind our doors and act as if the violence doesn't affect us, but instead we are joining forces and coming to let you know that we are taking our streets back, and we want to live in a peaceful environment. ECCO is an organization that consists of many different faith based organizations, and churches that want to focus on the needs of the community, so maybe thats something you might need to look into, and remember it takes a village. So we all have to do it, not only the cops.

Posted by: MRSK | January 13, 2007 9:35 AM

You know what...the outcry for so long has been for parents to step up and take control. For communities to step up and take control. For the inner city of New Haven to take back its streets. Well, this is one example of concerned citizens doing just that. I applaud and respect the community for being angry enough to stand up to the people that make their neighborhoods unsafe. If someone in my neighbor hood was creating an unsafe situation for my children you better believe I would stand up and fight. Those are my kids in danger. These people are doing the same. We asked for ownership of the problem...this is it folks.

Posted by: Fr Jim | January 14, 2007 4:32 PM

Unfortunately, the press was unable to cover the other action we had on Thursday night. That action was directed at the residents of the Richard Street Neighborhood. Approximately 75 marchers left St. Rose of Lima church "to gather up" representatives from several households of the neighborhood who have committed to working with one another to make our neighborhood even better than it is.

The fear and terror that people feel are real. Acts of intimidation are used to keep good people from coming together. We have already experienced this. The leaders have established an alert system that can turn out 20 to 30 people in 30 minutes with one or two phone calls. This happened very early Wednesday morning. What would have been just another broken window was given a context by the 20 of us on the street until 330AM. We wanted to let the police and the neighbors know that this was not another isolated event. (I think the officers investigating the act of intimidation by a minor were given some energy to follow through with an investigation because we told them that we would follow this through with the prosecutor.)

As the reporter noted, St. Rose of Lima, Mutual Housing, and our allies of ECCO conduct disciplined, well researched actions to acheive specific outcomes. These actions are not the undertaking of a particular person, but a result of a collective of people who know and support one another.

Saint Rose of Lima is one of the founding congregations of ECCO. The leaders of St. Rose of Lima shepherd me as their pastor, giving me the courage to stand with them.

The collective of congregations may not agree on every aspect of Scriptural Interpretation, Doctrine, morality, and ecclesial structure. But what we have found through our deliberate conversations is that we have so much more in common.

New Haven Independent

“Venga!” ECCOs on Richard Street

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