91制片厂

The 1968 shootout between Cleveland police and black nationalists in the Glenville neighborhood had a devastating effect on the community. But did the shootout break Glenville or was it the breaking point? It鈥檚 been fifty years and residents past and present 鈥� with memories of the neighborhood鈥檚 golden days as well as awareness of its present troubles 鈥� believe there鈥檚 a brighter future.

Glenville past and present

Richard Andrews was a young boy when he moved to Glenville with his family in 1953, living in the parsonage where his father ministered. He says Glenville then was a fabulous place.

鈥淗ouses were well kept. There was tremendous variety in the architecture. I thought we had good schools,鈥� Andrews recalled.

It鈥檚 a version of Glenville that Chenoa Miller has never known. She graduated in May from Glenville High School.

鈥淭he Glenville I see is poor. It鈥檚 desecrated; it鈥檚 burnt down; it鈥檚 vacant lots; it鈥檚 abandoned houses, abandoned buildings. There鈥檚 no business,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 the Glenville I see.鈥�

She adds that the quality of her education through the Cleveland Metropolitan School District has been subpar compared to schools in other Northeast Ohio towns.

鈥淪o I feel like it鈥檚 been a downfall. It鈥檚 been a decrease in education. It鈥檚 been a decrease in socioeconomics. It鈥檚 been a decrease in everything.鈥�

The decrease began decades ago. Redlining and racially restrictive covenants limited the areas where black people could live.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize that it was one of the five areas of Cleveland 鈥� along with Central and Hough and Mt. Pleasant 鈥� that were more or less Negro reservations,鈥� said Andrews recalling his childhood. 鈥淎ll of the black people lived in one of those five communities by and large.鈥�

As a student attending Cleveland鈥檚 Miles Standish elementary, Andrews says he didn鈥檛 understand the systemic forces that were driving overcrowding in the city鈥檚 schools.

鈥淚 remember when the population went over 1000 and I thought that was some kind of accomplishment,鈥� said Andrews. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize that what they really meant was that more people were being jammed into smaller spaces and the class sizes got larger and the strains on the teacher and the administration got bigger.鈥�

The Shootout: Symptom or cause of decline?

On July 23, 1968, Cleveland police engaged in a shootout with black nationalists at E. 124 ^th and Auburndale in the Glenville neighborhood. Three police officers, three nationalists, and a civilian were among those killed that night.

The next evening, then-Mayor Carl Stokes decided to limit oversight of the neighborhood to black-only police officers and community leaders, but they were outnumbered. Stokes called in the National Guard and over the next several days, clashes continued between residents and law enforcement. Neighborhood businesses were looted and burned.

Police arrested Fred Ahmed Evans, leader of the New Libya black nationalists and charged him with the murder of the officers and the civilian. A year later, he was convicted of all charges.

But Richard Andrews believes Evans and the shootout were not the driving force behind Glenville鈥檚 decline.

鈥淭he problems in Glenville would have occurred with or without the shootout,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a dramatic moment of resistance but the larger structural forces were in play and would have played out the same way. It just maybe accelerated some things.

鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about housing. We鈥檙e talking about discrimination of employment. We鈥檙e talking about problems in transportation. We鈥檙e talking about a community that is not built around the needs of the poorest citizens. It鈥檚 not built about lifting all the boats.鈥�

Chenoa Miller says she never learned about the Glenville shootout until this year when she was a senior in high school, 鈥渨hich I find kind of ridiculous because I go to Glenville High School.鈥�

She and a group of students were tasked with researching Glenville history, especially the shootout.

鈥淎nd when you look at it, when you start to tell the story of Glenville, you tell your peers, 鈥楬ey, this happened and this happened. This is how it was.鈥欌�� But Miller says she was met with indifference from her other classmates.

鈥淚 feel like with this generation, they have the mentality of, 鈥業f it doesn鈥檛 pertain to me, then don鈥檛 got nothing to do with me.鈥欌��

鈥淎 very leaky dike鈥�

After college and law school, Andrews returned to Glenville in 1972 and worked at the Legal Aid office at St Clair Ave. and E. 105 ^th St.

鈥淲hich was a very romantic sense that I had to come back and work in the community, but the systemic structures in place made the kind of law that was being practiced out of that office more social work than legal practice.鈥� Andrews says poverty was everywhere.

鈥淎s a legal aid attorney you鈥檙e representing people who by definition can鈥檛 afford counsel. And their problems weren鈥檛 so much legal as economic. So we dealt with evictions all the time. We dealt with utility cut offs. We dealt with misdemeanors we handled in the criminal court. And people were getting sued because they couldn鈥檛 pay their bills. A lot of it was systemic. Landlords took advantage of you. When you鈥檙e poor, everyone takes advantage of you. And we were trying to put fingers in a very leaky dike.鈥�

To encourage change among her fellow students, Miller says she tried to make the history of the Glenville shootout relevant to modern day life.

鈥淪o I would say, 鈥楬ey, you may think this happened 50 years ago and it doesn鈥檛 really matter, but do you not realize that the reason you live in poverty is because of that? Do you not realize that you have a bad neighborhood and you might be shot on a daily basis is because of that?鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 going to make it pertain to them so they have the right to be like, 鈥極k, I need to do something, I need to learn, I need to make a change, I need to do something, some type of action,鈥欌�� Miller explained.

She says she plans to return to Glenville High to teach the incoming freshman class about the shootout and neighborhood history.

鈥淚 really want it to be a high school curriculum. I want it to be taught 鈥榗ause if you learn your history, you can prevent any further damage.鈥�

Hope for the future of Glenville

Despite the past and present of Glenville 鈥� the poverty, the violence, and institutional racism that has benighted the community 鈥� both Andrews and Miller are hopeful for the future.

鈥淕lenville will experience a renaissance,鈥� said Richard Andrews.

There鈥檚 value in its location between Lake Erie and University Circle, he says, and its bones are strong. He points to the Opportunity Corridor development project connecting I-490 with University Circle as well as development along the neighborhood鈥檚 southern border as evidence that reinvestment is coming.

鈥淭he biggest question is, how will it be managed?鈥� Andrews asks. 鈥淎nd will it be equitable and will the people, who have suffered through the 40 plus years of lean times who are still there, be able to participate in the renaissance and the Glenville of the 21 ^st 肠别苍迟耻谤测?鈥�

He hopes gentrification doesn鈥檛 displace those who have been a part of the neighborhood for the past several decades.

鈥淢y hope for Glenville is that the investment made by my generation and the generations that have followed retain a place in the Glenville of the future.鈥�

Like Andrews, Chenoa Miller envisions a Glenville that returns to prosperity, and residents who return to help see it through.

鈥淢y hope for Glenville is to show that you can come from a ghetto, a hood, or any type of situation that has poverty or abandoned houses and still make your way to the top but also give back to your community, not just find a way out, but to come back and make your community better.鈥�