Willie Mae Gibson, 96, and Mary Rodgers, 84, sat next to each other in the listening circle and when it was their turn to speak, relished the glory days of when they used to run the Prest Street Block Club in the 1970s − back when there was one.
Prest Street was beautiful and clean when Gibson was president of her block, she said. Neighbors respected each other, families barbecued, there were activities for the kids.
It’s where she raised her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and she was proud of it.
“Now, it’s different. Very different,” Gibson said.
Abandoned homes, uncut grass, trash – and, apparently, an after-hours club where three people were killed and four others injured in a mass shooting on Sept. 27 over what officials say
was an argument about a missing cellphone. A 25-year-old has since been charged in the killing.
The police chief has said officers were previously called to the house seven times this year.
The listening circle was held on Monday, Oct. 5, in the aftermath of the tragedy at the community violence intervention group Detroit 300’s headquarters on Grand River Avenue.
Behind the circle on the wall were photos of Black revolutionaries – from Malcom X to Rosa Parks.
As neighbors expressed pain, frustration, anger, fear, helplessness, and numbness, representatives from the city’s neighborhoods and community safety departments, as well as Council President James Tate, listened and acknowledged that the city has failed the Prest Street community. Tate promised the city would do better.
But what Gibson and Rodgers demonstrated was hope. Rodgers still plants flowers for her neighbors and proclaimed in that circle that she will stay on Prest Street until she dies.
And as for Gibson, she said Prest Street can return to its golden age, noting that she’s 96 and still showed up that night to advocate for her neighborhood. But those in the room must now grab the torch from her and take the lead, she said.
“There are babies on the block,” Gibson said. “Do it for them.”
At such an age, Gibson – or as many call her, Mother Gibson out of respect – could still energize the room.
The group left with an action plan:
The Prest Street Block Club will return. They’d make sure of it, they vowed.
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at asahouri@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Neighbors to bring back Prest Street block club after mass shooting
