I believe in the power of stories to connect people to their neighbors and their community.
Everyone has a story, but some stories are amplified louder than others. Some storytellers are better connected.
Sometimes the stories most worth hearing are stories few of us have heard. Sometimes it’s only because nobody asked.
I’d like to make the effort to find these unheard stories, and by doing so help us feel better connected to our neighborhood.
Many of us find the daily news cycle to be chaotic and frenetic. The media’s focus shifts rapidly from one overwhelming issue to the next, without time to reflect or address root causes.
The Humboldt Park Moon aims to tell only one story every 30 days- as often as the moon offers its fullest reflection of the sun. If we’ve been living by the mantra, “strike while the iron is hot,” the goal here is to sustain focus and keep the iron from ever going cold.
The Humboldt Park Moon also explores how what happens in Humboldt Park relates to the world beyond. How what happens here reflects and possibly influences national and world events. How different pockets of the neighborhood experience different realities, at the same time their fates are interdependent. How the past helped shape the present. How policy impacts people. How nature affects civilization, and how civilization affects nature.
About the Author
I’m a database developer in social services research, by trade. As a Northwest side Chicagoan for over two and a half decades, I also spend much of my spare time continually learning about the community around me.
But, my desk is in my home, heated to a comfortable 78 degrees Fahrenheit and sheltered from the wind, snow, and rain. I know it takes an intentional effort to step out of my bubble to keep attuned to my community. The learning never ends. And even with a lifetime of learning. I can’t contain a fraction of the multitudes surrounding me.
And so, my purpose here is to listen and learn as widely as possible. And then share back what I hear and learn.
My commitment is to the people who live here today. Those who built this place slowly and steadily, weaving together the social fabric one connection at a time.
Yours Truly,
Rob Reid