Check it out here, in the July 8th issue.
My story on Old School Boxing in Prince George’s Gazette
Written by admin on July 8th, 2010
Fates of two struggling sports intertwine at Rosecroft Raceway
Written by admin on May 1st, 2010Just east of the Capital Beltway in Prince George’s County, at the end of a winding, tree-lined road and surrounded by acres of near-empty parking lots sits Rosecroft Raceway. Once a fixture of Maryland’s thriving horse racing circuit, the track now only shows simulcasts of races happening elsewhere. On an average weeknight, a few dozen middle-aged regulars are scattered around tables, heads craned toward the televised action.
But if the racing fans got up from their tables and walked past the snack bar, they would discover a live sport beyond the chatter of the race announcers.
Old School Boxing, a small gym operated by former amateur boxer Buddy Harrison, has found a home at the struggling racetrack. Boxers train and coaches shout in a large room formerly used for placing race bets, with a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooks the empty racing oval. Signed photos of famous fighters are taped to the walls.
A team of volunteer coaches is there every weeknight from 5-9 p.m. and Saturday mornings. They view their positions as a vocation, working to keep kids off the street and in the gym, acting as a strong male role model that many of the youngsters lack. (Each one of the trainers lit up when they saw me use my left hand to scribble notes – “A southpaw!”)
“Buddy’s one of the few owners who lets them all in, and gives them all an opportunity,” said Douglas Avery, one of Old School’s coaches, who also volunteers in group homes on the weekends. Avery “pops up at the school” on his young boxers, showing up to make sure they’re taking care of their studies.
An average night at the gym finds 4 and 5 year olds nearly outweighed by their gloves, teenagers eager to turn it loose in the ring, and self-assured veterans who flow smoothly through their workouts and pose for pictures with the kids.
The pride of Old School Boxing is 15-year-old Dusty Harrison, Buddy’s son. The unassuming 138 pounder has been fighting since he was a kindergardener. Harrison has won the national championship for his age group and weight for the past five years. His resume includes 193 fights, with a record of 162-31. On a recent fight night, the crowd scattered at tables throughout the room crept closer to the ring as Harrison stepped through the ropes to take on a 152 lb., challenger a few years older. Dusty often has trouble getting other boxers his age to step in the ring with him. He conducts himself like a fighter twice his age, sizing up his opponent, memorizing his tendencies and picking apart his weaknesses. He moves with preternatural speed, seemingly aware of each punch before it arrives.
“A lot of people like to do the same thing over and over,” Harrison said. ”I like to counter, see what works, see what doesn’t.”
A Sampling of Places Boxing Has Taken Dusty Harrison
View Dusty’s Fights in a larger map
The sports of boxing and horseracing are long past their respective glory years. Racetracks have seen profits erode at the hands of online gambling and the sports book at casinos. Boxing lost its target audience to the flashy and comparitively violent world of Mixed Martial Arts. At Rosecroft, the two struggling sports are propping each other up.
Lisa Watts is the vice president of operations at Rosecroft – and the unofficial treasurer for Old School Boxing. The race track prints promotional posters for the weekly fights, featuring photos of the kids. Watts has embraced the role of part-time boxing promoter, saying that the weekly fight nights held in the grandstand lead to increased foot traffic for the track.
“It creates opportunities for the kids to get experience, and for us to have another kind of show here,” Watts said.
Rosecroft is facing dire financial problems. The track filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last June and recently announced that it would be closing its doors on April 19, only to be granted an 11th hour reprieve by $350,000 from area developer Mark Vogel, who is hoping to buy the track. The infusion of cash will keep the track open until July. The track is trying to bring back live racing and introduce card table gaming -measures that would bring in sorely needed revenue and preserve jobs for track workers. So far, state legislators have voted against or ignored such efforts.
Harrison recently testified on behalf of Rosecroft in Annapolis state house, appealing for state funding to save the track. He caused something of a stir in the chambers, causing legislators to abandon the issue at hand and ask him questions about boxing. Several politicians promised him money. So far, he hasn’t seen any of it.
Harrison charges gym dues, but many of the kids can’t afford them. He struggles to make the rent for his gym, even though Rosecroft has given him a significant break on costs, occasionally selling one of his beloved old cars to make ends meet.
“These people at Rosecroft helped me,” Harrison said. ”If it wasn’t for them, I would have nowhere to go right now. They’re talking about shutting down on July 1st, but I’ll figure out something.”
DC Shopkeeper Takes a Stand Against Armed Robberies
Written by admin on April 22nd, 2010I first met Azu Nwaolu last December when I was writing about the murder of Rufina Hernandez, the owner of La Casa de Morata in the 5400 block of Georgia Avenue NW in Washington, DC’s Brightwood neighborhood. (you can read the original article here.) Nwaolu owns and operates Pro Bono Enterprises, a tropical foods shop a few doors down from where Hernandez was killed. He is a de facto neighborhood sentinel, keenly aware of both his regular customers and those who don’t look familiar.
I decided to pay a return visit to Nwaolu to see how the block was doing four months after the murder. I discovered that another crime drama had been played out, and Nwaolu had found himself in the middle of it.
Click below to listen to my interview with Azu Nwaolu:
Audio Interview – Ian Shapira
Written by admin on April 12th, 2010Click below to listen to my classmate, Washington Post reporter Ian Shapira, discuss his thoughts on writer Dave Eggers, how he grew to appreciate his work, and why he’d like to meet and perhaps have sushi with him sometime.
Photo Assignment – Using Multiple Images for Story – AU Women’s Rugby
Written by admin on April 9th, 2010
The American University Women's Rugby team practices on a makeshift pitch, or field, located in a triangular patch of grass in between Nebraska Avenue, Van Ness Street, and 41st Street NW.
A group of forwards receives instructions for their next drill.
A group of forwards practice "rucking over" - a tackling drill that works to maintain possession of the ball after an advancing player has been brought down.
Much of the violence of rugby takes place at the bottom of rucks, once a player has been taken to the ground. A tackled player has less than one second to release the ball in the direction of her teammates, or a penalty will be called.
A pedestrian watches as the team continues drilling. The pitch is located in the middle of a residential area.
A group of Backs practice passing drills in a coordinated effort to move the ball downfield. Passes may only be made to the side and backward, and teammates may not advance past the ballcarrier.
Assistant coach Lindsey Nugent, 23, (at right) advises the Backs during a break after passing drills.
Head coach Deanna Church (at right) directs what she calls a "diamond of support" drill, a three-person attacking drill to advance the ball downfield. Ruggers are aiming to advance the ball to the opponent's in-goal area, resulting in a "try," which is worth 5 points.
A back passes to a teammate as she is brought down by the opposition.
A line of forwards in scrum formation. A scrum is a way of restarting the game after the ball has gone out of play. Players bind to one another with their arms and the two sides engage, as players fight for possession of the ball by driving their legs.
Because AU Women's Rugby is a club sport, the team is allotted a certain amount of money in the school's athletics budget, but players often cover most transportation costs and purchase some equipment.
A group of AU students takes in the action on the pitch while walking on 41st Street.
The team gathers around head coach Deanna Church as she goes over instructions during a run-through in preparation for the next game. The team will play a team comprised of former AU players, now alumni, on April 10.
Players wear minimal protective gear, which is often limited to not much more than a mouthpiece and a pair of long socks.
A "scrumhalf" plays the ball off the back of a ruck and passes to a "flyhalf," who will lead an offensive attack. The team is surrounded by busy streets on all sides during its practices, which are held during rush hour Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week.
A look at Coach Church's clipboard, with a breakdown of the team's practice agenda. The tally marks represent the number of dropped balls, which result in physical penalties - pushups or sprints.
Defenders crowd the line as Coach Church prepares to pass the ball backward to a teammate after a stoppage in play.
The team receives criticism after the run-through. "This is a challenging place to practice," said Coach Church. "We don't even have goalposts to practice kicking." Kicks placed between the uprights are worth 2 points, and kicking accuracy can mean the difference in close games.
The team finishes practice with a lap around the pitch as they sing the lyrics to "Build Me Up Buttercup," a longstanding AU tradition.
Storm clouds gather as the team huddles for final remarks at the end of practice, and a closing chant of "Motivated, Motivated, Downright Dedicated."
Photo Assignment – Dupont Circle
Written by admin on March 19th, 2010Because DC has been mercifully warm during the latter part of this week, I decided that Dupont Circle would be a good place to stage my photo assignment for Digital Storytelling in IJ12. As expected, the sun-starved denizens of NW DC were out in force when I ventured out with my camera.
This first photo is designed to be an effective example of composition. More specifically, I shot this from a lower level than the chess players to bring the viewer closer to the action, and framed everything else out to show the intensity of their posture and expressions.
Eric Robinson, 45, and Ishtire Worthy, 25, face off in a game of chess in Dupont Circle Thursday evening.
The second photo is meant to be an example of timing the photographic moment I’m trying to capture – in this case, the moment that a frisbee partner makes a jump catch. I shot the photo from over the shoulder of the frisbee thrower, to give the photo added depth.
Twins Dan and Dom Heynen toss the frisbee in Dupont Circle on Thursday evening.
The third photo is a demonstration of an extreme close-up, with additional scenery off to the right side of the photograph.
Moss grows on a tree's bark in Dupont Circle.
The fourth photo is meant to be a demonstration of a limited color palette – in this case, a saturation of gold-color from the yellow brick, the lights of the bank sign, and the street lamps.
Gold light bathes the Suntrust Bank on the corner of Dupont Circle, NW and Massachusetts Avenue, NW on Thursday evening.
The fifth photograph I selected was meant to demonstrate use of light, with the light source coming in from behind the camera and casting shadows across the bottom of the photograph, as well as lighting up the tree in the main part of the photo.
Sunset throws shadows across Dupont Circle on Thursday evening.
Antero Pietila Releases Bareknuckled History on Baltimore Residential Segregation
Written by admin on February 25th, 2010Check out my story over on the Baltimore Brew about former Sun journo Antero Pietila’s new book, Not in My Neighborhood.
Recently Deceased Baltimore Poet David Franks – the Poe Toaster?
Written by admin on January 20th, 2010David Franks, a Baltimore performance artist, poet, and notorious prankster, passed away last week. This Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Edgar Allan Poe Toaster failed to show up at Poe’s grave with his trademark roses and cognac. Coincidence?
Check out my full story over at the Baltimore Brew.
Thanks for reading.
Jason
A City Block, A Murder, and What Comes After
Written by admin on December 19th, 2009
The storefront memorial to 51-year-old murdered shopkeeper Rufina Hernandez, in front of her shop, La Casa de Morata, on Georgia Avenue, NW.
A neighborhood adapts after shopkeeper is murdered, a local is arrested for the crime, and another resident is killed
The owners of Joy’s Seafood & Carry Out in the 5400 block of Georgia Avenue NW turned off the lights of their restaurant. The woman surveyed the street as her husband quickly pulled down the metal storefront gate, and the two left for the evening.
A car idled in an alley across the street. Its lights were turned off as the passenger scanned the block.
It was 6 p.m. on Nov. 16, nine days after 51-year-old shopkeeper Rufina Hernandez was shot to death behind her counter in Brightwood after cooperating fully with two men who entered her store demanding money, according to police. Area residents were taking extra steps to protect themselves, and trying to comprehend the motivations for a brutal crime that set the neighborhood on edge.
A sidewalk memorial of stuffed animals and flowers marked the darkened storefront of La Casa De Morata where Hernandez worked. Flyers on storefronts and telephone poles offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of her killers.
Brightwood lies just north of Petworth, with Rock Creek Park on the west side, Takoma Park and Silver Spring to the north, and Georgia avenue acting as an eastern border. The area lies directly in the middle of the Upper Georgia Avenue Great Streets Redevelopment Plan, a coordinated effort by the DC Office of Planning to encourage commercial development and improved safety along Georgia Avenue.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department’s DC CrimeMap, there have been three murders in District 4 since Nov. 7, the day Hernandez was killed. Hernandez’s murder was one of three in the past month for the Fourth District, which recorded 79 violent crimes in the same period. Nine of those violent crimes occurred within 1500 feet of Hernandez’s block. The Fourth District has recorded 882 violent crimes in 2009, ranking the district second-lowest in violent crime of the city’s seven police districts.
Despite these numbers, local shopkeepers contended that the threat of violence is a regular part of their jobs.
Gebrehiwot Ayele, 27, has owned the Lucky Corner Market for five months, and has already had a gun pointed in his face once since buying the store.
A reward poster from the Metropolitan Police Department taped to the protective plexiglass booth in the Lucky Corner Market.
He says that he didn’t even hear the shot that killed Hernandez a few doors away from his, and he is now paying closer attention to who enters his shop.
“I work by myself, and I try to know who comes in here after 9 p.m.,” said Ayele. “I want to know the regulars.”
He said a recent customer from California couldn’t believe that he stands behind a plexiglass barrier at his shop’s counter.
“Over there it is different. You are allowed to have guns. Here, they know you aren’t protected. They even know how long it takes the police to respond.”
Azu Nwaolu has worked on this block for over ten years, and watched the robberies and shootings drive away other shopkeepers during that time. He has been robbed at gunpoint four times in his tropical food shop.
“This is a very violent neighborhood,” Nwaolu said. “Very bad drug problems here.”
He said that relying on witnesses to identify criminals was ineffective, because of the threat of retaliation and that many of his fellow business owners were reluctant to appear on camera after the shooting for the same reason. A few days after Hernandez was killed, Nwaolu bought two new security cameras capable of monitoring the interior and exterior of his shop.
“I need to do something to give police an idea of what happens, if anything does,” he said.
An Arrest, A Press Conference
On Nov. 19 at a press conference in front of Hernandez’ shop, Mayor Adrian Fenty announced that 45-year-old Andres Lopez had been arrested earlier that day and charged with first degree murder in the case. He was apprehended without incident by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force in the area of 4th and Kennedy Streets NW – six blocks from the scene of the crime.
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier said that Lopez held no fixed address, but had numerous addresses over the past several years “in and around this area.”
Word of the suspect’s connections to the area spread quickly.
“I talked to a Jamaican lady earlier that told me she [Hernandez] used to give him [Lopez] credit when he was short on money,” Nwaolu said. “The same guy.”
Chief Lanier credited the neighborhood’s willingness to cooperate in making an arrest.
“As we traveled through this neighborhood, all we got from everybody we talked to was what a wonderful person she was, and how well loved she was in this community,” Police Chief Lanier said.
“She was!” one of the gathered onlookers shouted.
“I know she was, and it was really that sentiment that got us here,” Lanier answered.
“It is probably something that will never be explained, and something that business owners and people that live in this area will be living with for a long time,” Fenty said of the crime.
“Hopefully tonight we offer some solace, some comfort, and maybe a little bit of closure,” he said.
Mayor Adrian Fenty (right) talks with area residents after the press conference announcing an arrest in the Rufina Hernandez case.
According to Dr. Elijah Anderson, professor of sociology at Yale, the measure of closure may be less than city officials might hope.
“The cops come in, they make a statement, and they leave, but that doesn’t win the hearts and minds of people who would do this to you,” Anderson said.
Anderson is the author of “The Code of the Street,” a book that deals with the cycle of disenfranchisement in violent communities, and the coping behaviors adopted by residents.
When you are dealing with a regular threat of violence, reputation management is a critical step in protecting yourself, according to Anderson.
“You have to establish yourself as someone who doesn’t take that stuff,” Anderson said.
Anderson said that violent events like the Hernandez shooting can make residents feel as though the system has turned its back on them.
“When people believe that, they feel responsible for their own safety,” Anderson said. “That’s why people arm themselves and face each other down. When civil law is weak, street justice often fills the void. It’s almost as though the community itself becomes toxic.”
Dr. Jeffrey Ian Ross is an associate professor of the Division of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Forensic Studies at University of Baltimore. Ross said that for neighborhoods that deal regularly with violent crime, “there has to be something really, really dramatic” to spark long-term community outrage.
Ross cited the 2002 arson murders of the Dawson family in Baltimore as an example of how violence can galvanize a community. The family of seven died in a fire started by a local drug dealer because of Angela Dawson’s work with police to fight the criminals in the neighborhood. The family’s burned out home has since been converted to a community center.
“The victim can become something of an icon in the neighborhood,” Ross said.
Another Murder As Neighborhood Moves On
At 12:08 a.m. on Nov. 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, MPD received a report of shots fired in the in the 600 block of Longfellow St. NW, a few blocks away from the Hernandez shooting, and where Lopez was arrested. After reporting to the scene, the police learned that 23-year-old Edwin Reyes had been shot in the head. He died later that morning from his injuries. The shooting was five blocks from where Rufina Hernandez was killed.
View Rufina Hernandez shooting in a larger map
Brightwood was back in the headlines, just as its residents were putting the Hernandez shooting behind them.
On Dec. 13, almost a month after the Hernandez shooting, the storefront memorial had grown in size at La Casa de Morata.
Next door, a reporter was turned away from the barber shop at 5450 Georgia Ave. NW. The man running the shop said that he didn’t want to talk about the shootings, and that he was trying to forget about what had happened.
Across the street and up the hill a block at the Cricket Wireless store, 20 year old Juan Correa worked the counter and contemplated his safety.
“She worked the same shift as me,” Correa said. “If she got murdered at 8:30 p.m., where were the police?”
Meanwhile, Azu Nwaolu had not yet installed his new security cameras.
The security cameras Azu Nwaolu purchased for his shop after neighboring shopkeeper Rufina Hernandez was murdered.
Nwaolu said he was saving money to afford the DVD recorder needed to store the video for use by police in the event of a robbery. The total cost of his surveillance equipment was nearly $700.
“We are just keeping an eye on everybody, holding on as much as we can,” Nwaolu said.
Anthony Johnson, 51, stood under the awning at the Simon’s Wok & Grill and watched the rain fall as he waited for a bus. Johnson works at the Italian Embassy, and has lived in Brightwood for ten years. He said that his daily routine has been upended since the shooting.
“Her husband knew Italian, and I used to go in there and visit every day after work,” Johnson said. “All I do now is go to work and come home. It ain’t the same.”
Lunch with the Aging Newspapermen’s Club
Written by admin on December 18th, 2009
On Friday I had the chance to sit down to lunch with the Aging Newspapermen’s Club, a group of former Baltimore Sun reporters, rewrite men, and photographers. The group convenes every Friday at Enrico’s sports bar, at the corner of Pratt and Haven in East Baltimore, to trade war stories, catch up on each other’s latest ventures, and talk an impressive amount of shit.
All in good humor, of course.
I was invited by Rafael Alvarez, a 20 year veteran of the Baltimore Sun’s city desk and a true Baltimore original. During my visit, Alvarez recounted the time that he and David Simon pulled an epic April Fool’s joke on their faithful rewrite man David Ettlin, who was also at the table in the back room of Enrico’s.
Alvarez and Simon had conspired with the spokesman for the Baltimore County Police Department to call Ettlin with a hot story about a former steelworker who stabbed his estranged wife through the heart with his Oral-B 60 toothbrush. Ettlin breathlessly typed up the story with the phone pressed to his ear as Alvarez and Simon howled in laughter across the newsroom. Ettlin recalled the details of the gag as if it had been phoned in to him yesterday.
The gang traded gifts for the holidays. Among them: a framed and remarkably unflattering portrait of
Bill Marimow – a former Sun editor whose name didn’t exactly stir feelings of holiday cheer, a photocopy of an old Baltimore News American cover story featuring the unfortunate (and, many agreed, deliberate) headline typo of “pubic affairs”, and a shrinkwrapped copy of the last edition of The Evening Sun (pictured above).
This story is a bit short, since I opted to spend most of my time listening instead of scribbling notes. Truth is, it was a helluva way for a journalism grad student to spend an afternoon.
Thanks guys.
