Visit to a Food Bank & Barbershop

On Friday I spent time visiting a food bank held at Tuskawilla United Methodist Church (TUMC) followed by a visit to DJ’s Barber Shop and Hair Salon. Both the church and barbershop are not in Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3), but both serve constituents that are from the district.

Food Bank Provides Hope
The food bank was started by Bishop Ron Johnson, who has is own ministry, but due to the large need, he found a helping hand from Reverend Dwayne Craig, Senior Pastor at TUMC, to distribute the food. The Bishop made an astute observation to me that the people must really have a need if they travel far to sit for two hours to receive less than two boxes of food. I confirmed his statement by talking with some of the recipients. Some were unemployed, others underemployed. While the food was not enough to last a week, it helped to keep the food bill down, especially so when there may be several generations under one roof. Typically, the matriarch was there to receive the food, but there were a few men as well. Also, all age groups and races were present.

The last person to go through the line left a lasting impression on me. The person was a middle aged woman that was dressed slightly nicer than the rest. She had been keeping to herself in a far back corner of the room with her head down low fiddling with a small notebook. Her actions alone spoke volumes. I believe she once had a stable income, but with the recession lost the ability to make ends meet.

Like this woman, I believe all would prefer not to be there, but there may be nowhere else for them to turn; however, seeing the smiling faces upon leaving, one could tell that the food helps the recipients to worry less. As the Bishop told me, the food gives them hope when there is none. With hope, the people should one day find a way to once again support themselves and eventually help others that are in a similar need. The Bishop introduced me to two women that had made that journey and were now helping to distribute the food.

Barbershop Talk
After visiting the food bank, the Bishop introduced me to a good friend of his, DJ, at DJ’s Barbershop. I was very fortunate to be introduced to DJ because he gave me wonderful advice and additional insight into the community. Some of the things we talked about were:
1. The youth not having hope;
2. Keeping my word; and
3. Other politicians courting the community’s vote, but later turning their back after being elected.

In reference to the last point, I think as politicians try to appeal to as many different constituents as possible, some may make too many and/or lofty commitments that they end up satisfying no one. While the African-American community may have had more than it share of broken promises from politicians, I believe America as a whole has had it share of broken promises, too. Per DJ, what is different is that the African-American community places a greater emphasis on a person’s word because for a long time, the only thing of value in the African-American community was a person’s word.

While there are differences between the many cultures that make up America, I think people in general want to find common ground with each other so we can work together to help make things better. Obviously, CD-3 is more in need than other parts of the country, but it does highlight some of the challenges we face if the economy continues to remain anemic for an extended period of time.

Should We Hide Inmates On Work Release Programs?

I occasionally go to The Jacksonville Landing for lunch at the food court since it is a couple of blocks from my office. Upon leaving the food court this past Thursday, I noticed several women wearing bright orange outfits with “Jail” emblazoned on the back performing work around The Landing (which sits on city property).

Since crime is more common in Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3) than the other surrounding congressional districts due in part to high unemployment and poverty, I picked up a conversation with one of the inmates in an attempt to learn what led her to commit a crime. In the process of talking to the inmate, I learned that she coincidentally lives with her mother in the district. However, I did not have the opportunity to learn more because a fellow patron and fellow resident of CD-3 took offense of me having a conversation with the inmate thinking that I would place her in further trouble. The gentleman also shared with me that he thought the Sheriff Department's decision to place her and her fellow inmates on display via a work detail was bad because it could negatively impact the inmates’ morale.

While I respect his concern that I may have placed the inmate in further trouble, I see nothing wrong in a properly supervised work detail comprised of low risk inmates for several reasons, which are:
1. The inmates committed a crime and owe a debt to society. More specifically, taxpayer dollars are used to house criminals; therefore, why not use inmate labor to maintain city property?
2. Should not the visible display of a work detail made up of inmates serve as symbol to others that crime does not pay?

I rhetorically asked the gentleman should not our interest lie more in helping to prevent a crime from ever taking place than worrying about an inmate’s psyche?

Crime prevention requires a two-prong attack, the stick and the carrot (in other words, fear and desire). A work detail just happens to be the stick; it should induce fear that crime leads to unpleasant things for the perpetrator. The perpetrator may then have desire to find work, which arguably would lead to a more satisfying and enjoyable life. If the person cannot find work then we need to find out why. Typically, the reason is lack of a proper education. However, in this case, I never did find out the real reason because the work detail moved on.