THE JEFFERSONS

Those of you in my age group and above will remember the popular T.V. sitcom:  The Jeffersons.
Their theme song went something like this:

'Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.


Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin',
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby,
There ain't nothin wrong with that.


Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie !

Lol.... The third line of the second verse: 'Took a whole lotta tryin'....' is especially poignant to me because of something someone said to me the other day.  It was a guy here in the neighborhood.  I showed him the magazine I've been published in (BETHESDA Mag, Jan issue), and I said something like: "I'm trying to get more people interested and concerned about what's happening around here...", to which he replied: "Oh, you can forget about that, cuz people don't think it's a bad thing to live in the 'hood anymore.... They're not even TRYING to get out....! " 

Now, I'm not often stunned speechless, but - I was when he said that.  Stunned. Speechless.  As much as I wanted to deny and debate him (I love a great debate);  I couldn't, because I realized he was right.  So many of us have been lulled into a false sense of security, and rocked to sleep that we either don't know, or don't want to admit that we're a single paycheck away from homelessness.

But, as Spike Lee would say:  "WAKE - UP !"

As Martin would say:  "WAKE - UP !"

As Malcolm would say:  "WAKE -UP !"

As I would say:  "WAKE-UP !"

Damn.