Girl X

Girl X is my hero because at the age of nine years old after she was savagely violated in a stairwell of the building she lived in a housing project in Chicago and she continues to smile. Since the day that I heard about her attack in 1996, I prayed for her along with thousands of others that Girl X and her family would make it through the horrific ordeal. News reports have said she is recovering slowly and her spirits are upbeat. There are thousands of Girl X's throughout the world and I pray for them all.

Memories of Christmas Past in Cabrini Green With Special Dedication to Girl X

Ask any child in any given city on any given day which holiday is their favorite and the general consensus will more than likely be Christmas. All of my childhood memories of Christmas were lively and gay and all of my childhood memories lie on the north side of Chicago in a housing project called Cabrini Green in building 365 W. Oak St. Memories that I wouldn't trade for all of the tea in China! City administrators and contractors may bulldoze the building that comprise Cabrini but they will never be able to erase the feelings and memories that I hold for Csbrini. Memories I hope to recapture for my children.

Even though my logic robbed me from believing in Santa it didn't rob me of the joy of Christmas. We could barely sleep on Christmas Eve. I would toss and turn all night wondering if Mama remembered everything that I asked for. When sunrise came peeking through our bedroom window I was the first one to jump up and barrel through the door. On Christmas morning the sweet smell of egg nog, sweet potatoe pies and carmel, chocolate and lemon cakes engulfed the tiny kitchen. Since our parents were up the entire night of Christmas Eve they would usually go to bed when the kids got up to open their gifts. In a matter of minutes our living room would be reduced to a mass of wrapping paper and bows. All of the children played with their toys and couldn't wait to get outside and show their friends. For the next week or two we would be totally engaged in our gifts. Since there were five children in our family we would all compile our money from allownaces and get mom and dad a gift. As adults we reminisce and laugh at some of the ridiculous gifts we gave our parents because the majority of the gifts usually wound up being used mostly by us. We would all crowd around our parents as they opened their gifts. Our mother always smiled as she held her gift and say, "I can really use this." When she was probably thinking what is wrong with these crazy kids they bought these gifts with themselves in mind. But anyway, to this day I think that she was delighted. My sister and I were finally finished at the guessing game we played as to what was in our neatly wrapped packages that the cocoa brown eyed santa had given us. My sister got a board game and I got a blow up Minnie Mouse doll. Needless to say, I was happy. I got what I prayed for that time. And I hope that I get what I am praying for this time for Girl X and that is a complete recovery. Remember children good things come in all types of packages you just really have to give things time and let them open up for you.

Each year the Christmas season came as briskly and as beautiful as a blanket of freshly fallen snow on Cabrini. Christmas trees were wrapped in garland and topped with shiny stars that illuminated through small windows, and stockings shaped like candy canes hung from doors. At night multi-colored lights blinked on and off. I don't recall hearing any carolers throughout the neighborhood but I do recall hearing the heart-warming sound of Donny Hathaway's, This Christmas playing at least a dozen times throughout the day. The close of the schoool year for the Christmas season brought about parties and grab bag gifts. There were grand parties at the local youth center, Lower North Center and Seward Park and depending on which building you lived in there were recreation rooms which had organized clubs that threw parties on Christmas. One Christmas in the mid 70's my older sister took me to one of the larger project buildings in Cabrini located on Division Street called the white projects because of their beige coloring. In this building toys and other gifts for children were being passed out. The line for the gifts was very long and it seemed like it took us forever to get to the front of the line. The cold air nipped at our faces and hands but we stood and watched as evryone smiled and their eyes lit us as they recieved beautifully wrapped packages. I stood in complete wonderment thinking of what I would get. I was a big fan of Minnie Mouse and Tweetie Bird and I was hoping that either this Santa or my parents would get me a doll for Christmas. I thought that if I prayed to God and stood in a strategic spot in the line that I would receive my hearts desire. When my sister and me got to the front of the line a tall stocky built man with small cocoa brown eyes and a Santa hat said, "merry Christmas," and presented my sister and I with two neatly wrapped boxes. We were so happy we ran all the way home without stopping to make angels in the freshly fallen snow. We made a promise that we wouldn't open the gifts until Christmas day. Boy, that was a hard promise to keep especially if you shook the box and it didn't rattle or make some kind of noise which would possibly give you some indication as to what was in the box. In our apartment the gifts usually went under the tree the night before. Not because our parents went shopping at the last minute but because we were notorious for tearing through the wrapping and then haphazardly placing the gifts back under the tree. With the doors closed we could hear our parents undertaking the arduous task of assembling bikes with training wheels and ten speeds, dollhouses and racing tracks. Our mother loved to play dusty and worn out 45's while she worked like, "Santa Claus Come Straight to the Ghetto," by the godfather of Soul James Brown. I loved the thought of Santa Claus, reindeer and the elves but I can't honestly say that I ever really believed in Santa. I think it was due mainly in part to the legend that Santa slid down chimneys into fireplaces and delivered gifts. We lived in a 7 story apartment building with one chimney that I could see. How was Santa going to slide down the chimney? Where would he land if he did because none of our apartmens had fireplaces?