Dear Neighbor

Dear Neighbor:

Martha Hood lives in Hartford, Connecticut and needs no introduction, she spent her entire life time as a leader, organizer and advocate for justice and peace and economic development in Hartford, Connecticut. She has achieved a well deserved reputation as an activist for social and economic change, a defender of the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged. Martha is well known in the ghettos of Hartford as the voice those oppressed.

Martha Hood would proudly boast: “I am not a product of my environment; my environment is a product of me.” Though I was born as a descendant of slaves I was left a legacy that set the standards to live by. Ms. Hood became active in politics in 1981 when she campaigned for Chief Executive Officers of Color. However she constantly changed her political affiliation, finally settling to become a democrat.

Martha Hood is a woman with a mission. Her mission is to hold city leaders and corrupt politicians accountable in the city of Hartford. She has never ceased fighting for fair housing rights for residents living in the north end of Hartford.Ms. Hood did not hide her activities from those that would listen. Fighting for the rights of the oppressed has become her sole occupation.  

  To observe Ms. Hood at work in her community, anyone can tell that she is a calculating political tactician and a strategist. She has the type of personality that appears too verge upon being a fanatic and at times demagogic. 

 “I play chess not checkers in the political arena”.  "Shut em down with ethics early morning or late night". 

Post Traumatic Stress: Secondary Chemical Dependency

Politicians, community, and religious leaders have failed to recognize that chemical dependency is a disease that is running rampant throughout the greater Hartford area. Community and religious leaders tend to blame it on bad parenting, or the lack of morals and ethics. Politicians tend to blame it on being dependent upon social services. 

Many people don’t understand addiction in relation to illness; they can get a basic understanding of chemical dependency through reading recovery literature or listening to those who are addicted or recovering from drugs.  It doesn't make a difference whether you’re a pothead, crack head or a dust head, whether you downed shots or shot drugs. It isn't the drug alone that entraps and hooks the addict; it’s the overwhelming stench of poverty and homicide that has crept into every district in Hartford, CT.

The City of Hartford has an addictive personality; some people will argue that drugs have the power to entrap and hook the addict. I beg to differ; chemical dependency doesn't seem to be about a particular substance or a personality type but about the relationship that forms on a physical, mental and spiritual plane with those that become addicted.

Many will not agree with me, this is all right; they are entitled to their opinions. However the lives of people living above and below the poverty level are endanger by people who are addicted or preoccupied with their drug of choice; they tend to stand on every corner in a neighborhood near you or me. Never wanting to go anywhere they don’t have access to their drug of choice.

When I take a walk through my neighborhood, I see people that are hooked on drugs loitering in front of Bodegas and package stores. I can safely assume through a visual and verbal assessment that one of the biggest excuses I have heard used for drug addiction or relapse is some variation of this: “if you had to deal with being unemployed, homeless, and no social support system you’d get high too.”

Let’s face it- being on the verge of eviction, being unemployed and having knock-down-drag out fights with someone you loved, or just  wanting to get high to escape the pressure of poverty – are all serious and involve socioeconomic factors that have been created by preexisting ethnic and economic disparities.

We can agree that everybody has problems, but not everybody is unemployed and on the verge of eviction. We can also agree that everybody has problems, but not everybody is an alcoholic or drug addict.  It is also safe to say that people get high for reasons other than “life’s problems”; some get high because “they like to get high, have fun, to enjoy sex, or when they are bored, or just to fit in, or maybe it was their birthday, or because it was Friday and they just wanted to get high on any day at all.

It is a known fact that once a person is addicted to any drug in a particular class, he or she has built up a tolerance for any drug in that same class. So when I hear Politicians, community leaders or religious leaders give sound bites of encouragement and empowerment; it makes me question the message of the leader.  How do you empower a person living below the poverty level to not rely on the social system for the basic necessities of life, how do you encourage a drug addict or alcoholic  to stay sober  when there is a package store in a 2 block radius  in every neighborhood near you or me.

Poverty is becoming a progressive disease in greater Hartford; it has spread into neighborhoods, knocking on the doors of people that refuse to believe that Hope and faith are nonexistent in a City that is considered to be among one of the richest States in America.  People have a hard time accepting being impoverished in a City who slogan boasts “Hartford is where it’s at”.  I wish a politician, community leader or religious leader would tell me “where they did that @” How do you gather power when you are in a downward slide with no resources or economic development on the horizon.

Do you suggest they call the Mayor, The Governor or the local City and State Representative? Do they go speak before the State legislature only to be shut down with “who are they to complain?” They are the citizens of Hartford that voted the elected official in office. They are the congregants that come to church and tithe a widow’s offering; they are the volunteers that work in conjunction with community leaders that door knock registering and bartering for the vote of the impoverished resident of Hartford. They are the inhabitants living within the City of Hartford struggling to live above and below the poverty level in a district near you.

 The stench of poverty and homicide makes a toxic cocktail in any urban setting. Parents are no longer chasing away the boogey man; they are chasing dreams that have been deferred from the lack of economic development in a City who main source of funding is based on federal grants for the poverty-stricken citizen. ! A parent worst nightmare usually consisted of teenage pregnancy, dropping out of school or incarceration. Now they are threatened with the nightmare of Homicide, Sandy Hook was not the only neighborhood affected by gun violence in Connecticut.

No one goes to jail, drops out of school or gets pregnant to rely on the social system. However; corrupt officials are elected into office based on the misunderstanding that they would help the indigent residents living within the City of Hartford. Former Governor Roland was a robber baron that shut down public services, and put into operation a program designed to wean indigent people off of social service; the primary mission of AFDC is to help those people living below the poverty level however; Roland’s hand was deep in the cookie jar. Former Mayor Eddie Perez and Former Council woman Veronica   Airey-Wilson refused to hear the complaints of residents living in North Hartford tormented by slum lords who failed to comply with State and Federal fair housing laws; however they accepted bribes and renovations to their own homes. The list goes on and on of when it comes to tainted politicians working in the best Interest of Hartford residents.

Yes, there are many churches scattered throughout Hartford collecting tithes and telling their members not to worry have faith; rely on God and he will provide all your needs.  We can agree faith is believing without seeing. The pastor can preach that worry and fear is stopping your blessings and “God won’t give you what you want when you want it”. They will preach” either God is in charge or he isn’t”. Yet, they still accept love offerings for their contribution to the Church…Suggesting that the impoverished church member is welcome to the food pantry, or questioning the amount of tithes that was paid. However FEAR is real! Fear can be defined as “False Evidence appearing real”. Are you better off today than you were yesterday? Are you better this month compared to last month or last year? 

Community leaders are the go between the politician and the community, yet the leaders develop nonprofits/profit organizations to gather grants and federal funding. They say we want to develop leaders in our community, we want to empower the impoverished residents of Hartford, however; when you contact them they say we don’t have any monies or resources to assist you. Contact 211 so that they can add you to their data bases of people in need. Politicians, community, and religious leaders, who have a vision for the future, should not be obsessed with money, power and respect. Any good leader will be recognized as a builder, they see a problem that they want to fix- be it large or small.

There is no middle ground between “Broke or Better ™” There are not enough benches to sleep on in Bushnell Park, there are not enough shelters, or bridges to contain the thousands that are unemployed and denied the opportunity to access resources that should be readily available to them.

My name is Martha Hood and I don’t aspire to be a politician, community or religious leader. I just live in a neighborhood near you, where the stench of poverty and homicide is overwhelming. I have witnessed many of my friends bury their children secondary to the gun-violence that plagues my community. My job as a citizen of Hartford is to educate and empower my neighbor who is an average voter. Any man or woman can make a difference in the life of the community.

I was asked recently …”Could Jesus Walk with you for one day”

My answers were No when they should have been yes. Jesus could not walk with me; we would have to take turns carrying each other. Picture me and Jesus dodging bullets, ducking poverty, escaping homelessness, only to be oppressed by politicians, community leaders and religious leaders who claim to spread God’s love, yet, they refuse to stand in the trenches.  So when I ask my neighbor to help me hold them accountable I am asking that you use democracy when casting your vote to  hold all elected officials, religious and community leaders accountable to find real solutions to the problems facing our community.

This is where I do that @ in the City of Hartford, I serve the public, and my job is to inform, educate and empower all the residents living within my community.