When Professor Reisner threw out the idea last semester of starting an online newspaper focusing on Liberty City, I gotta be honest, I was incredibly nervous and unsettled. How would a sheltered, white (hispanic), suburban girl survive the mean streets of "the hood"? The fear gave way to excitement when I considered all the good things this paper could possibly bring about in a community that, for years, has been largely lost in the fast-paced media city of Miami.
I was more nervous than anything on the first day in class. I just didn't know what to expect, but Reisner's excitement for the endeavor was contagious. I couldn't help but be excited about what we were about to do!
My first venture into Liberty City was for the Martin Luther King Day Parade on January 18. It was the complete opposite of everything and anything I had expected. Contrary to popular belief, Liberty City is not just a town of gang shootouts and drive-bys. It's a place where small business owners, community organizers, civil rights activists and a passionate community volunteer nicknamed Sistah Souljar are trying their hardest to get the youth off the streets of the Model City and into more nurturing and positive environments. It's a place where Liberty City Elementary School went from an "F" to an "A" in just one school year, and where members of the local NAACP are trying to inform residents on the importance of filling out the 2010 Census.
Liberty City was nothing I had expected.
The neighborhood is full of so many multi-faceted, enthusiastic people who are really trying to make a difference in a community which is often neglected by the media and sometimes its own representatives. They're regular people with the same problems many Americans face, but they just have a few more obstacles to overcome than the next guy.
I can't wait to tell their stories.
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