Dear Editor:
I'd like to thank you for printing Jason's Carson Wilson's "Montrose Rocks annual Event faces Uncertain Future" article in the Aug. 13 edition. Because Windy City Times continues to be "The voice of Chicago's Gay, Lesbian Bi and Trans Community," I'd like to take this opportunity to voice my opinion about what was reported.
As the co-founder and former board president emeritus of the Rocks Coordinating Committee ( commonly referred to as RCC ), I, too, like thousands of other LGBTQ persons who annually attend the Rocks event, was disappointed that the "Rocks event" an LGBTQ "PRIDE" event's continuity was interrupted.
I was further distressed to recently learn that RCC's 501( c )( 3 ) had been revoked in 2012, and that this year's event's organizer, Ariq Cabbler, decided "it wasn't feasible" to continue the 16-year RCC tradition of being "More Than A Party" during the LGBTQ celebration of PRIDE.
With that in mind, I believe Cabbler's decision was an unfortunate missed opportunity in providing thousands of mostly young economically disadvantaged persons of color with a culturally competent health-care resource opportunity. This opportunity could have helped to stem the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases that continue to lead many of our youth into an uncertain future!
In fact, it was also a missed opportunity for front-line health-care service providers and community service organizations to reach targeted demographics that are diverse.
Most of these service providers volunteer their personal time to provide a vast variety of resource information on subjects like domestic violence, free smoking cessation services, HIV/AIDS information and testing, mammogram screenings, diabetes and cervical cancer screenings. It was a missed opportunity to once again provide personal empowerment information from many of the LGBTQ-advocacy organizations that exist within their own communities, many of which are located in Uptown or Lake View.
Over the years, thousands have benefitted from having access to information about community service organizations like Affinity Community Services, Howard Brown Health Clinic, TPAN, AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, Provident Hospital, Chicago Dept. of Public Health ( CDPH ) and the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, just to name a few. RCC provided a venue where LGBTQ people who didn't want to go to the Halsted Street bars after the Pride Parade had a welcoming venue that celebrated LGBTQ Pride in a culturally sensitive celebratory and self-actualizing manner.
Additionally, IF I may, I'd like to add clarity to a few statements attributed to "How Montrose Rocks Began." Cabbler, the event's organizer, was quoted as saying, "What's now known as Montrose Rocks began life as Belmont rocks and would move to Irving Park for a time." Unfortunately, his recollection concerning of RCC history was incorrect, as the committee has never sponsored or participated in any part of any LGBTQ PRide events held at Irving Park.
Unfortunately, and equally disturbing, are the comments purportedly made by 46th Ward Ald. James Cappleman's chief of staff, Tressa Frehar, and the Chicago Department of Public Health HIV/STI Information Coordinator Marjani Williams, both public servants.
I specifically refer to Frehar's alleged statement, "Unlike Montrose Rocks, none of the various park events held each year require a joint meeting with the alderman's office, event organizers, as well as the police and park departments." She said organizers were told last year that they would follow the same permitting process as everyone else.
Personally, I find Frehar's response as another example of why an increasing number of 46th Ward citizens have begun to seriously question the that alderman's commitment to developing sustainable, community inclusive public-policy solutions to the many problems that plague the ward.
Frehar's comments can best be described as a continuum of the profoundly politically irresponsible inaction that continues to adversely affect not only 46th Ward constituents, but also those who visit the public parks within that ward!
Regretfully, her comments mirror her boss' philosophy concerning what he recently stated when asked about that ward's constituency affordable housing concerns; he was videotaped stating "Chicago's culture of going to the alderman needs to change!" Unfortunately, his recent inaction concerning the RCC event is apparently regular 46th Ward office procedure.
Additionally, Cappleman's one-size-fits-all public-policy approach to public-space issues and his office's refusal to meet with anyone concerning the proposed RCC event resulted in the cancellation of a 16-year LGBTQ Pride tradition, and consequently resulted in unintended violent casualties at Montrose Park on Pride Sunday.
Maybe if Freher had abandoned her politically entrenched and ineffective posturing concerning this issue, and assisted RCC organizational leadership in its navigation of various city agencies in a collaborative manner, there may have been a police presence that could have prevented the serious violent shooting incident at Montrose Park this year.
On another matter, Williams' response to my remark—in which she said the city doesn't track HIV rates in each ward—is another example of ineffective communicating by a municipal bureaucrat.
Clearly, Williams lacks any understanding of political ward boundaries and their correlation to Chicago's neighborhood community areas. I strongly suggest she review the Chicago Department of Public Health's "HIV infection prevalence rate by community area" annual report, the most recent "2013 HIV/STI Surveillance report," ( specifically table six ) and the "2010-2011 average annual HIV infection diagnosis rates by community areas" report. Doing this should help her connect the dots. The reports are conveniently online so they're not only accessible to CDPH HIV/STI employees like herself but, most importantly, the public.
By the way, I'm paraphrasing, but the Jason Carson Wilson's article stated that various congressional, county, state and municipal policy makers "headlined" the event. That's incorrect—there has never been a political decisionmaker as a headliner for an RCC event; they were only allowed to speak briefly at the event.
Finally, I hope your readers understand what's really uncertain and really important—the fact that, according to CDPH in its HIV/STI surveillance from December 2013, "Racial/ethnic disparities in Chicago are significant and stark. Rates of new HIV diagnoses in 2011 in Chicago were highest among NH [non-Hispanic] Blacks: and double that of Hispanics, and over three times higher than that of NH Whites."
Clearly, if these health-care STI/HIV statistical trends go unchecked and creative culturally competent health-care resource events are hindered or abandoned by public policy makers and their political courtesans, LGBTQ organizational leadership or the public as a whole, the voices of Chicago's African American and Latino LGBT community will be an uncertainty!
Michael O'Connor
Chicago
