Photo By John HoffSo I've been reading in the STrib about Dyna Sluyter's dare and how it resulted in the "Dyna-Mite Party" attended by a number of individuals on the North Side...
As per my usual policy of refusing to post Star-Tribune links (because they are scheduled to go dead) I won't be posting a link to the article, but the deal is Dyna Sluyter is often found commenting on chat threads about North Side conditions. She's not a blogger, per se, but a prolific commentator.
Arguably she SHOULD be a blogger. The technology at blogger.com is amazingly easy to pick up and I feel like the more people we have blogging about North Side issues, the better. In any case, Dana issued a kind of dare for people to come and party for one night on her block. And this resulted in people actually showing up and having a party, though not in Dana's yard but nearby.
Somebody who was at the party told me about it--I won't be revealing this source--and passed on a colorful anecdote. Apparently there is a woman who lives on that block with six or so kids, and her house is one of the main sources of ongoing unsavory activity which makes life crappy for the decent people trying to live nearby. Seeing people just having a party on a vacant lot, this woman promptly tried to invite herself. So she was told with polite, smiling restraint that, um, well you have to be invited and you have to bring a dish to share.
Sluyter's main contention appears to be a general lack of law, order and quality of life, with not enough public officials listening or doing something. My source told me that Sluyter and I might share many of the same views, with one key difference: I see urban utopia on the horizon. I see improvement and progress happening constantly.
But Sluyter has suffered for a long time, and she is simply fed up, and has lost that positive frame of mind. She sees herself living in a pile of (expletive) and she's had it with people telling her roses will soon be growing in the brown heap.
Other than Dana being absent at the party--which was sparked by her discussion, her dare--it sounds like a good time was had by all, except the one uninvited guest who was--in a certain sense--one of the main reasons for the "dare" and the party in the first place.
I want to know who these crappy North Side neighbors are, what they do, and (if possible) I would like pictures. I have not lost hope. I am full of hope, and I believe in the power of the internet to turn North Minneapolis into something different and better than it is now.
2 comments:
You bet this party was great - the food, the conversation, taking all the folks on a little tour of the neighborhood. Most of the people weren't from the Northside, so I think it was a real eye-opener for many as to what issues we're facing up here. There's talk on another forum about holding another event sometime in September, maybe in the Harrison neighborhood, but I think someone from Linden Hills also offered to host one. We'll see.
Yes! The incident with the party crasher was interesting. When I saw her loading up some plates with food and the kids raiding the soda coolers for arm loads of cans to take back home, I almost had to be restrained. This was the same person doing a drug deal not more than 20 feet from my kitchen window a week before. I'm all about being neighborly and inclusive and welcoming, but give me a flippin' break.
Luckily, someone else handled the situation.
Thanks for confirming the substance of the party-crasher report.
The next time she's dealing 20 feet from your kitchen window, take a picture and send it to me along with the juicy details.
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