By Sgt. Patrick Swanton, Spokesman for the Waco Police Department
Let me be one of the first to welcome y’all to our city…Waco. There will be others that do that as well, such as the Waving Man, the Prophet, even the Statue of Liberty and the Wise Guy on Valley Mills Drive. The Waving Man won’t talk much, but take the time to stop and talk to the Prophet (he’ll be on the walk-over on IH-35 at some point). Not only will you find him quite the conversationalist, but you’ll get a blessing if you request one!! (Who doesn’t need that now-a-days?)
WHAT TO DO: Those of you that are the fresh fish out-of towners here are in for a wonderful experience in our city. I wholeheartedly encourage you to get out a bit and experience Waco as a whole. Take a break from all the school stuff and see for yourself what we have to offer such as the Cameron Park Zoo, Dr. Pepper Museum, Waco Mammoth Site, and of course…the Suspension Bridge. Oh…and YES…it is okay to throw tortillas to feed the ducks!
Grab a kayak and hit the Brazos, wet a line in Lake Waco (pretty awesome when the White Bass are running), do the dam run (dam…as in big thing that holds water back) or explore Cameron Park’s 416 acres and hunt for the legendary Goat-Man. Word has it the Spirit of the Cameron Park Witch still haunts the area as well. Visit the Farmers Market on the weekend…Mom will feel better knowing at least you are looking at the vegetables.
Wanna try something really different??? I double-dog dare you to do a ride along with us (Waco’s Finest). It’s a real eye-opener to the world and who knows…we may spark an interest in your new desire to become the Po-Po…NO!!! The yearning to eat doughnuts is not obligatory…it’s an acquired trait.
I’M HUNGRY: Now for food…if you go hungry here it is your own fault, as we have a fantastic variety of restaurants in all flavors and values. You will grasp pretty quickly we Wacoans really enjoy our Mexican food. It will take tries at several places to discover which one of those fit your palette.
Word of caution…the Margaritas are tempting but not worth the trouble if you are under 21 or driving!! We welcome you to get to know your local police officers but strongly encourage you not to experience our jails, and guess what…it really doesn’t matter to us who your parents are; if we catch you drinking and driving, that experience is really gonna suck!
EXPERIMENT!! For goodness sake…munch on some ribs from Momma and Pappa B’s, eat (TRY anyway) a 4×4 at Dubl-R’s, enjoy the best catfish around at Jim’s Chicken in Bellmead, and most definitely eat as many cupcakes and cakeballs from the Olive Branch as humanly possible.
SAFETY FIRST: Remember…your safety is paramount to us at Waco P.D. and as much as we like bustin bad guys, we don’t need “volunteer victims.” Statistically speaking you’re much safer in groups than you are alone. Your purse is not safe in your car, even if you were only going to be inside for a few minutes. The I-pad, I-phone, G.P.S. or any other electronic device Mom and Dad gave you so they can track ya (sorry Moms and Dads but like they didn’t already know!!) make great items for some crackhead to sell for a few rocks. They (dopers) really don’t care that you’re having a melt-down because you can’t “Instagram,” Update Status or “Tweet” about the cop fingerprinting your broken into car. That’s life and it does occasionally happen. Do what you can to make it inconvenient for them. Hopefully they will move…to like, Idaho. (Sorry Idaho)
Yes, we do have crime in Waco…we aren’t bad as some others, but we aren’t Mayberry either. The important thing here is to realize that you can make a difference in your own safety. Be aware of your surroundings, pay close attention to that “sixth sense”, try not to walk or jog alone (*remember*…you have heard this twice now!), lock up and hide your valuables and drive safe; this means no texting or distracted driving.
THINGS TO REMEMBER: You still have a Mom and Dad or others that care about you…CALL THEM!! You will run out of money at some point and it’ll be really nice to have made a few new friends to help you enjoy the “gourmet ketchup packet soup” you’re dining on. Hopefully new friends will have the Ramen Noodles to share. Gas really is expensive, cable is not a necessity, and college life can be a blast, and No…not everyone is doing it (insert whatever you need to here).
We really are here to help and were young once too (some of us a lot longer ago than others). We can share with you some great memories or some that you would rather forget that can dramatically alter your planned path…that choice is yours.
Waco P.D’s goal is to keep you safe in your new surroundings. Help us do that by using common sense, being a responsible neighbor in your new city, and working with Waco to make us the kind of city in which you want to stay. Step up here, do something to help those less fortunate and importantly…be kind.
We welcome you to Waco and hope that you will consider this your home. The future is just beginning for many of you and you really are our future. Grasp that!!
Oh and now the shameless plug…Follow us on Facebook at Waco Police Department and Twitter @WacoPolice for happenings in and around our city and at Waco P.D. We keep ya updated on breaking crime alerts, funny happenings and general stuff we need to tell ya bout.
Stay safe, new neighbors, and take us up on the dare,
By Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, Waco Police Department spokesman, August 21, 2013 (See this letter as a PDF)
The flyer said: “Back-2-School Jam! – School uniforms, backpacks, and supplies for kids who need them! Entertainment and free food provided! Pre-registration costs $3.” When I arrived at 8:00 a.m. — an hour early — to set up the Act Locally Waco tent, there were already plenty of families waiting. At 9:00 a.m. Pastor Gaylon Foreman from Carver Park Baptist Church blessed us with a word of prayer, and a long line of parents and kids began to wind its way past tables stacked with donated pencils, and glue sticks, and backpacks, and all the other supplies a kid needs to start the school year. 
I’m not good at estimating crowds, but it seemed like we saw about a thousand kids by lunch time. I am talking about every possible variety of kid – girl, boy, Black, White, Brown, tall, short, fat, thin, shy, sassy, happy, grouchy, dirty, clean…each one beautiful. (We took lots of pictures so you can see for yourself if you visit the album on our Facebook page!)
These are not the richest kids. If they were, I imagine they would have been at Target or watching cartoons instead of standing in line in a parking lot on a blessedly “not-as-hot-as-it-could-have-been-in-August” Saturday morning receiving school supplies from nice ladies in bright orange t-shirts. They are not rich financially…but watching them in all their fidget-y, wiggly, sometimes giggly, sometimes whiney, sometimes sleepy, altogether normal “kid-ness”… it nearly made me cry to think how rich they are in potential.
It seemed so simple this morning in the parking lot: We all win if these kids win. We all lose if these kids lose.
Yet somehow it gets much more complicated when we actually have to decide how much of our state’s money we want to spend on education, and which districts are going to get more of that money, and which are going to get less. I’m not so naïve as to think that every problem in our current school system can be solved with more money. Still, the schools with more tend to do better than the schools with less. I think our schools — especially our Waco schools — are “doing a lot with what they’ve got,” and I think more money would help them. 
This morning, as I watched a steady stream of kids walk, or skip, or slouch, or run by …I couldn’t help but think we will all be better off in the long run if these kids live up to their potential. Really good schools make that more likely. I wish that we, as a state, would focus less on the cost of education and more on the return on the investment.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the recently completed session of the 83rd Texas Legislature restored $4 billion of the $5.4 billion it cut from K-12 education in 2011. That’s a start. I hope next time we will replace all the money that has been cut and add more. That’s my hope — and this is, after all, the season of hope — I mean, is there anything in this world more hopeful and full of promise than the beginning of a new school year?
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Many thanks and blessings to Mia Thomas and the folks at Road to Damascus Resource Center and Transition Home for organizing today’s terrific “Back-2-School Bash.”
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This week’s Act Locally Waco blog post is by Ashley Bean Thornton. If you are interested in writing a post for the Act Locally Waco blog, please email [email protected].
By Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, Spokesman for Waco Police Department
What!!?? The police want people to LIKE and FOLLOW us??? Absolutely!
Recently the Waco Police Department has opened up several new lines of communication with our citizens. We have jumped feet first into the hi-tech world of Social Media and so far have been greeted with an abundance of likes and followers. Social media geeksters are even sharing and re-tweeting our stuff!!
In our computer savvy, fast paced world we felt a need to be able to provide an instant information source for our citizens to keep them abreast of our day to day activities in and around our area. What better way than to use the already invented wheel of Social Media such as Twitter and Facebook?
Our detective division was the first to guinea pig (easy on the side comments!!) a Facebook page and we realized almost immediately how popular this would be. Detectives posted videos and photos of suspects committing crimes and were immediately able to receive tips leading to the arrest of those individuals. It is really quite amazing how much our community wants to help in making our neighborhoods safer.
The main Waco Police Department page at www.facebook.com/wacopolicedepartment is also entwined with our Twitter account @wacopolice so we can serve two totally different sets of our community. This page is designed to give our followers an up to date line of communication for news worthy events, and emergency communications such as weather, breaking criminal activities, traffic hazards and events that could immediately impact their lives. We also give you snapshots of common day to day on goings inside your police department.
Sgt. Swanton speaking at recent Social Media Day event.
The detective page www.facebook.com/WPDNSS is designed to allow our followers to see individuals that commit crimes and to help make identification so we can obtain warrants of arrest. The administrator for this page also injects appropriate humor and fun! Fans and followers of our Social Media accounts can expect to be not only enlightened but at times appropriately entertained as well.
The sites may not be for the faint of heart. At times we will provide a peek into a world that, quite honestly, some folks would prefer to not know about. Examples of this can be radio traffic quotes from officers or a bit more detail on crimes committed in our community that some may find disgusting. We do, however, keep it on the level of making our citizens aware of the real life that unfortunately does rear its ugly head in our fair city. We always try to have a learning point as well. For example: Stay away from crack as it tends to make you forget things…like your name!! Or, in the case of a wife-beater’s mug shot whose family does not like the fact that it is public information and posted for all to see, we kind of look at it like this… do the crime your mug makes primetime!!
On the light side, our pages really can be a bit amusing from time to time. Some of the things we see in our cop world will not only make you laugh but will simply amaze you with what some folks are capable of, good and bad.
We invite all to be our friends, followers, fans, and, yes, even groupies as you, our citizens, are truly what we are about. Making you, your family, your neighbors and neighborhoods safer is a responsibility we will all need to take on to be successful. We can do this, Waco! A big part of making our city safe is opening lines of communication never before tried. We welcome feedback and responses and look forward to chatting with you on the World Wide Web!!
This week’s Blog was written by Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton, Spokesman for Waco Police Department. (Facebook: WacoPoliceDepartment; Twitter: WacoPolice)
If you are interested in writing for the Act Locally Waco blog, please email [email protected].
By Ashley Bean Thornton
We had a terrific day in the Act Locally Waco tent at the Waco Downtown Farmer’s Market yesterday. The music was especially good. My friend MG was volunteering in the tent with me, and she and I couldn’t help dancing around a little bit in between visiting with friends, eating breakfast burritos, laughing at dogs and babies – and of course spreading the word about ALW.
It was an altogether pleasant way to get the weekend started. In the midst of all the fun, however, there was just one thing that kept bugging me – I got tired of hearing people talk about Austin. Here are the kinds of things I got tired of hearing: “I love this place. I feel like I can come down here and get my two hours of Austin.” Or, “Can you believe this is Waco? I feel like I’m in Austin!” These were enthusiastic comments, meant as compliments, but by the time I heard “Austin, Austin, Austin” about a dozen times, I confess I began to think grumpy thoughts, “Austin, Schmaustin — I am sick of hearing about Austin.”
It’s not that I don’t like Austin. I like Austin. My husband and I spent a weekend in Austin for our anniversary this year. Austin is a fine place. There are lots of things about Austin that I would love to see come to Waco in some form or fashion.
So why did these comments annoy me so? It took me awhile to figure it out, and it turns out it doesn’t have that much to do with Austin. When I hear those kinds of comments I feel like we – the people who live in Waco – are the very ones who have the most limiting image of Waco. The story we tell ourselves about Waco does not include things like a bustling farmer’s market. We believe that other places, like Austin, are “that kind of place;” we don’t quite believe we are “that kind of place.” But we are. We are exactly “that kind of place.”
I am impatient for the story we are telling each other to catch up with our potential. I am impatient for us to believe more of ourselves.
We are the kind of place that attracts and grows new businesses. We are the kind of place that builds a great school system. We are the kind of place that college students want to stay in after they have graduated. We are the kind of place people want to move to with their families. We are the kind of place that great people come from. We are the kind of place where new things are invented. We are the kind of place where people decide what kind of city they want to live in and then make it happen. It’s time we believed these things about ourselves. We are exactly “that kind of place.”
By Ashley Bean Thornton
When I opened up Facebook this afternoon my friend CS had posted a link to a video with the note: “For my friends on BOTH sides of the “pro-choice” “pro-life” debate. This amazing dialogue is one of respect, intelligence and progressive thoughts on the reality of the debate. I highly encourage you to take the time to listen, if you are passionate about this issue.”
Now, I do have passionate opinions about the Pro-choice/Pro-life debate, and to tell you the truth those opinions are pretty well set. They haven’t changed significantly in the last 30 years, and I doubt very seriously they are going to change significantly in the next 30, so why on earth would I want to spend even a moment of my precious Sunday afternoon watching a video about the Pro-life/Pro-choice debate?
The word that grabbed me in my friend’s Facebook note was “respect.” That notion of respect is important to me, because as passionate as I am about “my side” of this argument, I have friends and family on “the other side” who are just as passionate. I would like to find a way that we can have a conversation about this topic – and a range of other controversial topics – that is respectful. Also, to generalize beyond my own circle of loved ones, I believe if communities of people are going to be able to work together productively, solve problems together effectively, and live together peaceably we have got to learn to talk with each other about controversial topics in a respectful way. Even when we disagree passionately; even when we are never, ever, ever going to agree; even when we are not even willing to compromise; even in the face of intractability — we have still got to be respectful with each other. Even when the “other side” is not respectful – I have got to be respectful. I have got to take responsibility for respect. I am not always perfect at that! But, I’ve got to try.
So I watched the video.
I’m glad I did. I am left with a renewed faith in the idea that “respect” is based on understanding the other person as a whole human with doubts and fears and complexity of thought. The way we ask questions of each other, and the way we listen to the answers, can either contribute to that understanding or diminish it. So how do we start? Even one respectful question is a good beginning. Here are some of the questions from the video (paraphrased somewhat) that I want to remember for future respectful conversations:
Questions for the other person:
- In your earliest life, and in the path your life has taken since then, where do you trace the seeds of your ideas around this issue?
- What is at stake in this issue for you?
- What questions do you have for me?
Questions for myself:
- What is it in your own position that gives you trouble?
- What is it in the other position that you are attracted to?
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Interested in the topic of respectful conversations in general? Here are some websites:
- The Civil Conversations Project – http://www.onbeing.org/ccp
- Public Conversations Project – http://www.publicconversations.org/
- Living Room Conversations – http://www.livingroomconversations.org/
- National Issues Forums – http://www.nifi.org/
By Jodi Terwilliger-Stacey
Waco is the research and technology corridor between Dallas and Austin. It boasts top quality education in science, technology, and engineering at its local colleges and universities – Texas State Technical College (TSTC) (offering students approximately 100 certificate and degree areas), McLennan Community College (MCC) (offering students cutting-edge technology and opportunities for field research), and Baylor University. It’s the home of the Central Texas Research and Technology Park with its most recent project – the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC)! It’s the birthplace of the Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy, offering academic programs and workforce readiness in a variety of fields to high school students from local ISDs. Waco’s Drop Back In to School Initiative connects those seeking higher education and better jobs to representatives of these local colleges and universities, as well as representatives of local job readiness programs!
Check out MCC’s LEAP classes (Learning Environment Adaptability Project), serving to develop full-time, first year students’ skills that enable them to adapt to college life and to be successful in their courses of study. LEAP classes teach learning strategies, as well as emotional intelligence skills, such as self-management skills (being motivated and managing one’s time), intrapersonal skills (self-esteem and stress management), leadership skills (problem solving and conflict resolution), and interpersonal skills (managing anxiety and anger and being assertive). LEAP is innovative and broad-spectrum, making MCC a leader in the development of strategies to increase student retention and success in higher education.
Watch for more information about the BRIC’s 45,000 square feet workforce development and training center to be used by TSTC – a BRIC partner. BRIC scientists, engineers, and technicians will be developing technology for BRIC business clients. TSTC Waco faculty will be on site working with those developing the technology and consulting with BRIC clients to design workforce training as products are being developed. Now that’s innovative!
Would you like to join the workforce with a career upon graduating from high school? The Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy will be offering academic programs to high school students from local ISDs in the fields of welding (fall 2013), precision metal manufacturing (fall 2013), brick laying and construction (fall 2014), HVAC (fall 2014), and pipe-fitting (fall 2015)!
Waco is paving the way for its citizens to come back to education, to achieve their higher education goals (certifications, 2-year degrees, and 4-year degrees), and to begin careers in a variety of science and technology fields where workforce needs are greater. Waco is connecting the dots among industry leaders, the STEM community (science, technology, engineering, and math), college and university faculty, and other leaders in workforce training. By doing so, there’s only one direction for Waco – FORWARD.
This week’s post was written by Jodi Terwilliger-Stacey. Jodi founded the Low Income Families In Transition (L.I.F.T) workshops at First Baptist Church in Waco and worked at the Greater Waco Community Education Alliance as a community resources specialist. She and her family now live in Colorado, but she still has a warm spot in her heart for Waco. If you are interested in writing occasionally for the Act Locally Waco Blog, please email Ashley Thornton at [email protected] .
By Ashley Bean Thornton
I was lucky enough to get a tour of the BRIC (the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative) a few weeks ago. It is inspiring! As an old English major I love the symbolism of the BRIC, representing our hopes for a prosperous future, rising from the ruins of the Old General Tire building, an artifact from our economic past. As an old English major I also feel compelled to say one more thing: I have seen the future, and the future is – math.
With the WISD Advanced Manufacturing Academy, TSTC and the BRIC we have a nice little conveyor belt developing for moving our young people into good paying high tech jobs. The ticket to get on that conveyor belt is a decent ability to do math.
Waco needs to be a math town. I need to be a math cheerleader! This is a new role for me. (Did I mention I was an English major?) I may not be able to do much to help make Waco the math capital of the Southwest, but I can change the way I talk about math to the kids I know.
From now on when I hear a kid say, “I hate math.” Instead of saying, “I know, I hate math too.” I’m going to say, “Math was hard for me too, but it feels good when you finally figure it out; it gets kind of fun if you stick with it.”
When I hear a kid saying, “I’m dumb in math.” Instead of saying, “I know! Math stinks! Let’s eat ice cream.” I’m going to say, “It’s probably not that you are dumb in math; you probably need more practice. Nobody is that good at it at first. You’ll get better the more you practice.”
Yes, I know a kid’s success in math depends more on her teachers and her parents and probably a jillion other things than on my little pep talks. But, it is something I can do, and I’m going to do it. Join me? We’ll think of something more significant to do later, but we can at least do this. As an old English major I believe the words we speak into our young people make a difference. Go math!
By Ashley Bean Thornton
Sometimes people wonder about the things that get included in the Act Locally Waco newsletter. Why do we include things like “Art on Elm” or “Do Well, Be Well with Diabetes” or “First Friday Downtown.” What do these things have to do with reducing poverty?
It’s because poverty is not a problem like a weed that can be pulled out. Poverty is a vacuum. It’s a hole where something good should be, but isn’t. The only way to make the hole smaller is to put the good things in, things like healthy lifestyles, a booming economy, art, beauty, opportunity. To make Waco a great place to live we need to focus on what we want, not just on what we don’t want (poverty).
With that in mind Act Locally Waco uses the following twelve aspirations as a guide. They are a slightly modified version of the aspirations adopted by the Poverty Solutions Steering Committee and presented to the Waco City Council in June of 2012. They express what we want for Waco. Is this what you want too? If so, join us! Get informed. Get involved! Get a great community!
What we want for Waco…
1. To improve the health of our children and to support healthy, safe lives for all. – More children in Waco will be born healthy and more residents of Waco will be healthy throughout their lives. We will all be safe.
2. To prepare our children for success in school and beyond. – More children in Waco will start school ready to succeed, and more children will succeed through high school graduation.
3. To launch our young people into productive lives. – More young people in Waco will successfully make the transition from school to productive work that pays enough to establish a satisfying quality of life, and more will know how to manage resources wisely to sustain that quality of life.
4. To gainfully employ our working-age population. – More Waco residents will find and keep jobs that pay enough to sustain a satisfying quality of life without the need of government assistance, and more will know how to manage their resources wisely to maintain that quality of life.
5. To care for our elderly population. – More of the elderly people in Waco will have the resources they need to live out their lives with security and dignity.
6. To support residents who face special challenges. – More Waco residents who face physical, mental and social challenges will have the resources they need to live their lives with security and dignity.
7. To align our social services effectively. – Social-services and policy will be coordinated to effectively support upward mobility from economic dependence to independence where possible, and to effectively and respectfully serve those for whom independence is not possible.
8. To strengthen our neighborhoods. – More of our neighborhoods and residential areas in Waco will be clean, safe and attractive. Neighbors will work effectively together to accomplish common goals.
9. To make our shared spaces beautiful. – More of our shared public spaces and commercial spaces will be clean, safe, attractive, accessible and accommodating.
10. To energize our economic base. – Our local economy will create more job opportunities with the living wages needed to help employees achieve their goals.
11. To empower our residents. – More residents of Waco will have the cultural, political and leadership skills and sense of responsibility to advocate effectively for themselves, their families and their communities. More people will participate in the collaborative work of making our city a great place to live for every person of every income level.
12. To enjoy life together! – Waco residents and visitors, regardless of socio-economic status, will enjoy opportunities to appreciate natural beauty, to have fun, to enjoy the arts and to grow socially and culturally.
By Ashley Bean Thornton
After attending two Juneteenth celebrations and the terrific mural celebration party at the East Waco Library, I have seen far more Black people in the last month than I have seen in the 24 months before that combined.
Does that last sentence make you cringe a little? It made me cringe a little to write it. Do I sound like I’m bragging about being the cool White person who hangs out with Black people? Am I supposed to say “Black” or should I say “African-American?” Was I intruding? Would the Black people have liked it better if no White People had come? Should I write a post that focuses only on Black/White racial relationships? How will that make people of other races and ethnicities feel?
When it comes to race, I second guess myself coming and going. That’s OK though. If Waco is going to be a great place to live for every person of every level of income, more of us have got to wade into the sometimes fun, sometimes fascinating, often uncomfortable waters of learning more about other races and ethnic groups. I think Maya Angelou’s advice applies here, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” With that in mind here are five things I’ve done in the last few years that I feel like have helped me “know better.” I recommend them to you, my fellow White people.
1. Shop for kids’ books – Go to Barnes & Noble and try to find a baby book or a kids’ book with an other-than-white person on the cover. I did, and it was shocking to me how few choices I had. Once this opened my eyes I started noticing Black/White differences in all kinds of advertising, especially local advertising. Books and advertising influence our thinking, especially if we don’t notice that they are slanted.
2. Read Some of my Best Friends are Black by Tanner Colby and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander – The Colby book is an easy read by a white man who grew up in the South. It’s a very accessible, somewhat irreverent, look at some of our foundational institutions – education, housing, church – and how they have contributed to our current race relations (or lack thereof). The New Jim Crow is a challenging read. I didn’t agree with every word of it, but it broke open my thinking about crime and race. Everyone should read this book.
3. Watch “Race the Power of an Illusion” – This is a 3-Part documentary about race in society, science and history. It’s a little hard to find, but they have it at the Baylor library. (The Waco-McLennan County Libraries have ordered a copy. It should arrive sometime July 2013.) The information on the science of race and the section on housing were the most interesting to me. It shares a historical perspective that I bet most White people don’t know, but should.
4. Attend a Community Race Relations Coalition (CRRC) meeting – Waco is lucky to have a thriving group of people who care about promoting good conversations about race. I recommend their regular “Dinner and a Movie” meetings as a good way to ease into the conversation. Last Valentine’s Day, for example, they had a full house to watch “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” Steve and Kathy Reid, of Truett Seminary and the Family Abuse Center respectively, led an honest, thought-provoking conversation about bi-racial marriage.
5. Attend a Black church…more than once — A few years ago the CRRC organized a “Church Swap.” Black people went to White churches and White people went to Black churches for three months. Attending a Black church for several Sundays gave us time to get past the initial shock-factor of a completely different worship style, to meet a few people, to learn some of the songs and to get to the point where we were actually worshipping instead of just observing. That experience did more to make me comfortable with being “the only white person in the room” than anything else I have ever done. I highly recommend it.
That’s my list of five? What are yours?
By Ashley Bean Thornton
The week after Father’s Day is a terrible time to talk about your Dad’s failures, but I think my dad would agree with me on one of his: he did a terrible job teaching me about cars. To be fair, my mom didn’t do any better. I got my first car the summer after my sophomore year of high school. One weekend during my junior year of COLLEGE I was visiting my dad in Houston when he randomly asked, “When was the last time you got the oil changed on that car?” “Never,” I said. “What’s an oil change?” And so it came to pass that five years into car ownership, and after a quick and LOUD lesson on the purpose and desired frequency of such, I got my first oil change.
That afternoon, driving in the middle of traffic on Loop 610, I noticed the red “check engine” light in my dashboard had flickered on and was now glowing steadily. “Good grief,” I thought. “I just got my oil changed. There must be something wrong with that light.” So, I kept driving…until I started hearing a horrible banging sound coming from under the hood. By the time I negotiated my way through a half dozen lanes of traffic and off of the loop…well… that little car was never the same. Evidently the oil-changers hadn’t put the oil filter on correctly. Evidently that’s important to do.
My mistake in this situation was that I thought there was something wrong with the light when it was far more likely, and more concerning, that there was something wrong with the engine.
To some extent poverty rate is the “check engine” light on a community’s economic engine. Ours in Waco is glowing brightly. It’s tempting to believe that there’s something wrong with the light – that there is something wrong with the people who find themselves in the situation of poverty. On a case-by-case basis it is pretty easy to find evidence that seems to support that theory if you are looking for it.
When you look at the overall percentages, however, it seems more likely, and more concerning, that there is something amiss with our economic engine. Our poverty rate of 30% is more than double the rate for the United States (14%), and 13 percentage points higher than the Texas rate of 17%. Our close neighbor Temple has a rate of around 13%. It doesn’t seem likely that we have double the percentage of people with something wrong with them. Why would we? We need to be careful not to convince ourselves that the problem is the light when it’s really the engine.