liberty city

I had Professor Reisner last semester for Print News Workshop, which I can confidently say was the hardest class I've ever taken, partially because of Reisner's tough teaching style. He was harsh and honest, and I really wasn't used to this kind of verbal/playful abuse. I'm not trying to make him out to seem like a bad person. He really is just trying to psyche us out for how editors will be when we get out to the real world.

Towards the end of the course, he told us about his Print News Reporting class in the Spring semester. He said it was going to be this 'experimental' curriculum where we would create an online newspaper and cover a neighborhood that's not covered often: Liberty City. Right off the bat, I was excited. I was planning on taking a Reporting class with another professor, who was more tame and approachable. But this sounded pretty rad, and ten times more cool than what I would've been doing in the other professor's class. Sign me in.

I was excited, at first, because it was months away before I would be able to report from the city. At the time, it was just an idea on paper, and ideas always sounds good on paper. Well, winter break passes by and there I am, in the same classroom from Print News Workshop. Though, this time I chose a different seat, as to not rehash memories from the prior semester. Seriously, man, I never looked forward to Print News Workshop. But Reporting was a different beast in itself. First off, this class and its curriculum is Reisner's baby, so he's way more passionate about this class than he is with the Workshop class. Second off, Reisner knows most of the students in the class, and we know him, so we all understand each other and we're not being scared.

Usually, Reisner starts his classes with a long, long speech about his past and what he's done. He says the same jokes and stories from the semester prior so I'm kinda just in my own world. But then he starts talking about Liberty City and I'm all ears. This online newspaper could get huge. We could get press and a lot of awards. Most of all, we'll have clips of our stories published. This is great.

A few weeks later, a couple of students and I meet at the Martin Luther King Parade in Martin Luther King Park located on the West edge of Liberty City. I'm stoked, but nervous. Though, everyone seems to be nice and minding their own business. I'm feeling comfortable. There's also a huge group of police officers stationed around the park and the parade route. I'm more excited about food, honestly. I'm a huge food connoisseur so eating some deep-fried food was my goal. Other goals: phone numbers, sources, etc.

We met some interesting people. Some women from the NAACP, two young volunteers working the Children's Trust table (one of them is an art teacher who works at Poinciana Park Elementary in Liberty City... got his number), some church leaders, and some regular people. Everyone is nice, but I think it was because it's a holiday. I'm certainly not negative during Christmas.

We saw the parade and it was good. Parades aren't really my thing, but this one was interesting. Lot of cops. Found that pretty interesting as well. After the parade, we went and ate food. I ate some fried tilapia and fries. PERECT.

The next day, we all agreed to meet at this family-owned/white-owned restaurant called Jumbo's on NW 7th Ave by 71 St. I drove to the place by myself and parked. I immediately noticed across the street, a group of Black men just hanging around. They seemed pretty bored, and in my mind, I thought they'd find my car pretty interesting. But I held it in and walked inside the place. Saw my classmates and sat down. I was immediately introduced to the owner Bobby, who is white. Very nice guy who prides himself on the history of his life and especially the restaurant.

Shortly, everyone had arrived and we were going to be introduced to a couple of "community leaders". Ken Knight, the main person talking, is a lobbyist and, really, a jack-of-all-trades. He does everything. He's a maintenance guy and deals in construction. Though, what was strange about him is how often he, and the others, would toot their own horns. Ken Knight pulled out a copy of the South Florida Times with him on the cover. Shameless self-promotion, I'd say.

There was Dr. Fisher of the Joint Coalition and Dr. Preston Marshall, Chaplain of the Democratic Party and uh one of the few people to motivate Barack Obama to run for presidency? I don't know about that. There was also Marshall Davis of the African Heritage Cultural Center. Davis seemed like the most legitimate of the bunch, and that's because he was younger. All of these men were old old old. Preston Marshall was close to falling asleep. I guess they can be "community leaders" but I feel we won't be arriving to the core issues with them. With the exception of Davis. Dr. Fisher wanted us to put up a press release for his Study Abroad program that needs funding. These guys really wanted us to help them, rather than them helping us, which would ultimately help them? I don't know.

I was kind of disappointed with the trip to Jumbo's. Though, my catfish nuggets were AMAZING.

About a week later, I'm assigned to cover the Youth beat in our online newspaper. I'm driving around Liberty City and I'm seriously scared of it. I don't know a damn thing about reporting or this area. It's a brand new world to me and I don't know if they'd particularly like me. Maybe I don't need to be liked?

Hopefully I become more confident.