Jul 28 2008
Yesterday was my first day back at the PG since last Tuesday; I went to Chicago to attend Unity 2008, a conference for journalists of color.
While I was away, PNC Financial Services Group and the Landmarks Community Capital Corp. announced that PNC has made a loan to Landmarks that will allow Landmarks to lend $5 million to urban non-profit organizations. The announcement was made at the Homewood branch of PNC Bank, and the comments by Landmarks CEO Howard B. Slaughter, Jr. suggest that someone in Homewood will receive some of those funds (he was less specific here). But given the number of non-profits operating in the neighborhood, the question is, "Who?"
What do you think? Which non-profit(s) should receive funding from Landmarks, and why?
Real Estate Watch
Just one transaction reported by RealSTATS last week:
7144 Hermitage, for $10,446, by sheriff's deed to Deutsche Bank National Trust Co.
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Jul 23 2008
With all of the energy being expended to design and implement programs, with all of the calls for government action about this or that, it is easy to forget that no non-profit and no government agency can do what we ourselves can do, one by one.
For me, the letter from Cora Mae Raiford that her granddaughter, Carmella Raiford, read at Ms. Raiford's funeral, was such a powerful reminder of that, that I asked the family's permission to publish it here. Despite the personal references, its core message is universal.
Or at least, I think so. What do you think?
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Jul 17 2008
Deon Smith is dead.
I know less about him than about Cora Mae Raiford. In fact, I know nothing about him.
Except this: he was someone's son.
Will there be another vigil, another press conference, another call to "take back the streets?"
Will 1,000 people attend his funeral, or 100?
Or 10?
Oh, and I know this about Deon Smith: he was gifted.
I have no idea what his gifts were, but I know that he was gifted, because he was human.
He had some ability, some talent, some skill that could have produced more value for the world had he lived longer.
Even those of us who did not know him have lost something.
They say you can't miss what you never had. Most of us, who never knew Deon Smith, won't even feel the loss. Unless we pause to consider it.
And so I pause.
It hurts.
If any family or friends of Deon Smith are reading this, I am sorry for your loss.
I am also sorry for mine.
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Jul 15 2008
The printed program did not call it a funeral; it was called a "Homegoing Service for Our Beloved." It began with worship, proceeded through celebration and remembrance, and ended with challenge.
As I write this, the family and friends of Cora Mae Jones Raiford and Kenneth Joseph Raiford may still be en route to their burial; the homegoing service ended just half an hour ago.
At 11 a.m., the auditorium at Petra International Ministries in East Hills was full enough for a Sunday morning; there were men in suits and boys in T-shirts and jeans; black folk and white folk.
The service opened with a praise song: "You deserve the glory and the honor, and we lift our hands in worship as we lift Your holy name..."
Kevin Raiford, the youngest of the remaining Raiford brothers, gave an opening prayer. William Raiford read selections from the Bible.
The service was punctuated with laughter, as when Norma Jean Raiford Kelley proclaimed herself the deceased's "favorite niece" and "favorite cousin."
But it was punctuated more so with declarations of faith, as when Ms. Kelley recalled Ms. Raiford's cooking secret:
"Always start with the best ingredients. She got that because she belonged to Jesus Christ and He is the best."
Shelbia Randolph Sorrells, remembered Ms. Raiford as "the Kedron Street greeter": "I must have heard her say a hundred times a day, 'Hi, my baby.'"
Even, she noted, to strangers.
Granddaughter Carmella Raiford brought Cora Mae Raiford into the gathering, in the form of a letter that her grandmother had written years ago, to be read after her death. The letter was a charge to her family, and to all under the sound of Carmella's voice as she read it:
"I want people to learn how to love ... love those who are hardest to love ... we have not completed what God has in store for us unless we have learned to love."
After reading the letter, the granddaughter asked for a response: "find somebody and hug them, and realize that's all there ever is in life."
"That's all there ever is in life."
It was a dual homegoing, and Kenny Raiford was also remembered and honored and celebrated as a man of faith and joy, "God's expression of love" and a role model for his younger brothers.
Cornelius Raiford recalled his mother telling him, as a 12-year-old boy, what song she wanted sung at her funeral. Then he began to sing it, alone, a cappella, softly yet clearly:
"This is the time I must sing,
This is the time I must sing,
Be quiet you mountains
you fields and you fountains
for this is the time I must sing."
The choir and congregation had joined by the time he ended.
Elder Milton Raiford, the oldest remaining son, gave what the program called the eulogy, but which came nowhere close to the typical eulogy. Rather than using his time to praise the dead, he praised, blessed, and some might even say prophesied over, his three living brothers. Then he turned his attention to the body of Christ (that's the phrase he used. Not "church" - body of Christ).
Drawing on Jesus' words to Peter in John 21, he said that on the morning his mother and brother died, God took him by the hand and led him where he did not want to go - to his mother's house, and into the experience of grief and suffering that awaited him there. But when he got there, and saw the emergency personnel, and the neighbors and the friends who had come to the scene, "I saw the glory of God magnified through people helping ... I was seeing God in their actions."
Reminding us of the pain in the world that still awaits healing, the people who need help, he left those of us who claim God with this question, "Will you let Him lead you somewhere where you don't want to go?"
And after a prayer, the service was ended. And as we made our way out, the choir sang:
"God give us a heart, give us a heart, give us Your heart
God give us a heart for the least of these...
...break my heart with the things that break Your heart."
****************************
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Jul 14 2008
When I was awakened by the sirens of fire trucks at 5 a.m. Friday, I looked out a couple of my windows, but did not see where the trucks went.
I looked out the wrong windows. The fire was just a couple of blocks away from me, on Kedron Street, and took both the home and the life of Cora Mae Raiford that morning. Her son, Kenneth Raiford, died afterward of burn injuries.
I did not know Ms. Raiford well, but I had met her, and knew enough of her work to know that her passing is a loss, not just to her family, but to the community. Her obituary provides details on the arrangements. Those of you in the diaspora can also share condolences and remembrances in the guestbook there.
Or here, for that matter.
Real Estate Watch
Only one item in the 13th Ward reported by RealSTATs last week:
10 Crestline Court, for $125,000
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Jul 10 2008
The results are in from our poll about wills, and they do not look good.
Only 35 percent of 724 respondents said that they have a will. Of the 65 percent who don't have a will, 46 percent gave this reason: "I keep putting it off."
That's a reason, but it's no excuse.
Full disclosure: I'm in that 46 percent, making me, at least in theory, part of the problem. So now, getting a will done is on my to-do list (the short one - not the long one, which includes things like, "build a movie studio in Homewood").
I'll let you know how that goes. Meanwhile, here's our...
Real Estate Watch
Several of you have asked about how to pursue the opportunities that you see in foreclosed properties. Never having done it myself, I cannot give you a detailed how-to. However, beginning today, when we list foreclosures in "Real Estate Watch," I will include the name, and if possible, a Web link, for the lender that took possession of the property, so that you know whom to call.
The latest report from RealSTATs shows the following sales in the 13th Ward:
7307 Bennett Street, to US Bank National Association, by sheriff's deed, for $2,528
8336 Bricelyn Street, to Fannie Mae, by sheriff's deed, for $2,863
1308 Sterrett Street, to Fannie Mae, by sheriff's deed, for $1,506
7148 Upland Street, for $15,000
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Jul 02 2008
Welcome to our new format. If you've visited some of the PG's other blogs lately, like Seth Rorabaugh's "Empty Netters" or Rob Owen's "Tuned In Journal," you may already be familiar with some of the features, such as the ability to post comments and have them appear immediately, or to rank my posts on a 1 to 5-star scale. But if not, log in or register here to explore them.
Real Estate Watch
RealSTATs reported only one real estate transaction last week, and it was the largest that I recall hearing or reading about in Homewood in years. It was listed this way:
Mark Sindler, et al. to Tolliver Thompson Group LLC, 7817-7823 Madiera St., and 425-447 Rosedale, $358,000
I'm sharing more detail than usual to have you note that the sale 1) involves two sets of addresses, 2) is for a whopping price for Homewood, and 3) was made to an LLC, which, as it turns out, is located in Bowie, Md., a little town in Prince George's County.
Some of you probably know this property; it's a complex with about 15 units that sits at the intersection of Madiera and Rosedale. Dianne Swan, executive director of Rosedale Block Cluster, Inc., referred to it as "the bungalows," and said that there is some history there, because they were once used as housing for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Do you any of folks know any of the history? If so, please share. (To post you must log in or register here.)
In any case, have a great holiday weekend, everyone. See you Tuesday.