Much has been said about the housing redevelopment projects that will be taking place in the Clay Street neighborhood in the coming year. There have been plans, studies, meetings, etc. that have taken place and soon the practical application of all that will begin. The theoretical will become real in the winter when the first construction crews start setting up their port-a-potties and revving up their bulldozers and jack hammers.

Now for Clay to become the neighborhood it deserves to be, it won’t be enough to give it a housing face-lift. The area must once again become sustainable and regain its vibrancy. To do that there needs to be economic redevelopment.

On this front Clay has just begun to take its first theoretical steps with the publication of a commercial market analysis. Prepared by Randall Gross from Randall Gross / Development Economics for the City of Annapolis, this study details possible investment opportunities for entrepreneurs looking to set up shop in the old Fourth Ward.

The parking garage is a big issue to tackle when dealing with the neighborhood. On one side it is a strength and on the other side it is a weakness. It can attract people seeking parking in a crowded city, but it can also hide Clay and kill its visibility.

In his research Mr. Gross determined that:

• Most of the investment opportunities in terms of retail are in convenience stores with a total potential of $ 318.1 million by 2013. Now this is for the general population that could shop on Clay, which would only capture a portion of that expenditure potential.
• This warrants a demand of 24,900 square feet of “retail-mix” that focuses around 9,000 on a CVS-like health store, some 3,000 on convenience food store, 2,100 on fast-food, and up to 3,000 on a heritage restaurant that honors the history of the neighborhood.

However, this discussion was only the beginning. There was a brief proposal for revitalizing the entryways to the neighborhood to increase visibility by capturing traffic at the gateways of the neighborhood.

For us on iliveonclaystreet.com there is one good challenge and call to action. One of the key points made during the presentation was that there was a need to change the public perception of Clay Street if any business initiative was to thrive and return vibrancy to the neighborhood. One of the ways we can help is by letting people know: Clay is Good!

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Martin Luther King Jr. said “The true testimony of a man is during times of adversity, not during time of plenty.” Currently, young Black Men in Annapolis face a multitude of adversities, for example, 50 % of all Black Students drop out of high school, over 75% of prison inmates are Black Men, almost 70% of Black Children are born to single mothers, and about 43% of all Black Children grow-up in low-income families. The question becomes, how will the people, families, communities, institutions, organizations and businesses of Annapolis address such desperation? One way to deal with adversity is to face adversity- reach out – and then make a difference.

The 17-Under Summer Basketball League “Get Real With Yourself” is a good example of organizations partnering together to face adversity; and there by, making a difference in the everyday lives of young Black Men in the City of Annapolis. Hence, the Annapolis Recreation and Parks Department, Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis and the Crusaders Inc. all joined together to create an on going summer event for nearly 60 young men who otherwise may not have participated in any positive summer activities. Robin Wood, a City of Annapolis Housing Authority community is where all games take place. The regular season games are played each Saturday at 6:30 pm, they started June 14^th and will end August 23^rd.  Playoffs will begin August 30^th and Championship Game Day will be September 13^th at 6:30 pm. The various neighborhood teams in the league consist of Robin Wood, Bay Ridge Gardens, Stanton Center, Annapolis Gardens and Eastport. However, this is much more than a Basketball League.

Bringing young people and the community together

Each Saturday, both teams that play the first game immediately proceed to a mandatory workshop which is held in the Robin Wood Recreation / Community Center at 7:30 pm. All five teams will participate in several different workshops. There will be a total of ten professionally facilitated workshops. Teen Age Pregnancy Prevention, High School Graduation Requirements, Career / Job Readiness, Drug Prevention, Conflict Resolution, Sports Psychology, and Gang Awareness are workshops that have been facilitated thus far. In addition to the workshops, the league perpetuates many other benefits, these benefits may not be systematically measurable, but they are obvious to the inquisitive observer. When one observes the games and all that surrounds them it is easy to see the spirited friendly competition and sportsmanship among players, the community satisfaction and community support by way of volunteerism, also, one can see the elementary school aged children who flock to the games to observe; some of them work as league maintenance personnel by setting-up chairs and tables for a payment of free hotdogs, sodas and potato chips. Old-School neighborhood basketball legends come out to see the new-school style. Mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles, sisters and brothers, old and young come out to support the league. The 17-Under Summer Basketball League “Get Real With Yourself may not be in the same spectrum as the Rutgers League in New York, the Baker League in Philadelphia, the Dome in Baltimore or the Berry Farms League in South East Washington DC, but it is our league and it has generated a level of excitement that we have not seen in a very long time.

Besides producing grass-roots excitement, the league has served to simultaneously enhance the personal growth of our youth and has improved the quality and caring of our many institutions and organizations through a combination of teamwork, community involvement and personal involvement. This is the concept of “Servant Leadership”. Assistance and support from Robin Wood community members and Annapolis community members at large, the Annapolis Police Department, Anne Arundel County Public School administrators, teachers and counselors, Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis Commission members, Capital Gazette reporters, First Christian Church of Annapolis, Mt. Olive AME Church, Asbury Broadneck United Methodist Church, Mt. Masiah AME Church, First Christian Church of Annapolis, Second Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Annapolis, Mid Atlantic Community Church, The A.J. Spencer Consultation Company; the aforementioned have all helped to substantiate the league. Without this level of cooperation the league would not be possible.    

And finally, for the African American Culture, basketball is iconic – a vehicle for self expression and a dream to transcend the ghetto. Inner City Basketball is undoubtedly the catalyst that has spawned love and affection for the game worldwide. However, in this particular situation, the game serves as a hook to influence young men to get involved in a program that offers them an opportunity for self development. According to a report done at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, Negotiating Among Opportunity and Constraint, The Participation Among Out-of-School Time Activities: page 6, Out of school opportunities( such as art, music, sports teams, community service, youth entrepreneurship opportunities and after-school programs) are increasingly seen as potentially powerful tools to promote positive youth development and to prevent problematic behaviors and poor outcomes (Caskin, Baker 2006).  There are two basic truths about a certain segment of the young Black Male population: 1. many of them are in deep trouble educationally, socially and vocationally, 2. because of this, many look forward to a life of despair and degradation. Basketball programs such as the 17-Under Summer Basketball League “Get Real With Yourself” is definitely not a panacea, nonetheless, it is an effective alternative. Collectively, we have the resources to implement other sound after-school and out- of- school programs. United we can make a difference. 

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Take a walk through the neighborhood with us as we remix the supper club with a little ice cream, cookies, and stickers.

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very busy today…J Smooth is popular web blogger that I think really hits home with this piece…a good prelude to our upcoming “Race Relations 2008″ panel discussion which will be filmed Tuesday the 19th and can be seen here on ILiveOnClayStreet.com starting in September…for now though…check out J.Smooth on “The what you DID conversation and the what you ARE conversation”.

Popularity: 6% [?]