Dr. Martin Luther King Jr visited Jerusalem with his wife. One of the sights that would resonate with him was the Jericho road that winds from Jerusalem to Jericho and drops from 1200 feet above sea level to 2000 below in a matter of miles. It was surrounded by high rocky walls and caves. The narrow passes made it a place notorious for robbers and thieves. This would gain the nickname “the bloody pass” during ancient times. This was the sight of the New Testament Good Samaritan story. Dr. King would develop some profound thoughts on the story of the Good Samaritan that he delivered the day before his assassination.
What interests me more, though, is a private conversation he had with Andrew Young, one of his closes confidants:
“Andy, I think the Good Samaritan is a great individual. I of course, like and respect the Good Samaritan….but I don’t want to be a Good Samaritan.” Dr. King continued, “…you see Andy, I am tired of picking up people along the Jericho Road. I am tired of seeing people battered and bruised and bloody, injured and jumped on, along the Jericho Roads of life. This road is dangerous. I don’t want to pick up anyone else, along this Jericho Road; I want to fix… the Jericho Road. I want to pave the Jericho Road, add street lights to the Jericho Road; make the Jericho Road safe (for passage) by everybody….”
History has shown us that MLK was attuned to recognizing and calling out systemic injustice. This shows that the same matrix was applied to his Biblical interpretation. He wondered how to fix the entire road. Surely there were ways to stop focusing on the continuous result of picking people up off the road and shift the focus to the ultimate problem- the road was unsafe.
This story, and MLK’s insight into the Jericho Road problem, is inspiring to us at City Fields. Our target area- The Blythe Oldfield neighborhood of Cleveland, TN- once was a flourishing community. It has, however, experienced significant disinvestment over the last few decades. What was once a flourishing neighborhood has become overlooked, which has led to a concentration of complex problems. For instance, when the community problem of high utility bills was identified, the local utility company developed a heat map of the people who needed utility assistance- the glow of the map was predominantly over this one small area of town. This would be true of many perceived problems in our county- unemployment, assistance, low-income, etc… Non-profits have been picking individuals up from this area of town for decades — great organizations who do a wonderful job!
At some point, however, we need to ask- what is wrong with this road? That is precisely the goal and desire of City Fields. To help understand the complexity of the problems and then work toward solutions. As MLK perceived, the solutions do involve practical things- like proper sidewalks, lighting, and better relationship with local law enforcement. It also includes leadership development, economic development, social revitalization, physical improvements, education, job training, and a strong commitment to relationship building. This is multi-layered and complex, requiring a holistic approach to development. This is why our target area is only 1 square mile and will take at least 10 years to reach our identified goals. It is not glamorous. It is not “efficient.” We won’t be able to report huge numbers of individuals served.
Our goal is to look around and ask the question- “why is this road so bad?” Once those problems are identified, we can work alongside residents and other partner organizations to go about fixing the road. When we combine the efforts to do individual development with the attempt to look at the neighborhood in a holistic manner there will be far less individuals by the roadside.
