City Fest, Hillcrest, San Diego

Obviously there are things wrong in America these days; but there are also many things that are right in this country. The teenage Ann Frank’s situation in Amsterdam during World War II and our situation in America in 2006 are very, very different circumstances; but I often have to remind myself these days of the words she wrote in her diary when so much in her world was obviously very wrong, and evil was a palpable reality: She wrote, “I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

In spite of a few people, including some of our most prominent leaders, doing unconscionable things, we have all kinds of good stuff happening in our country. The rest of the world doesn’t know that the majority of Americans prefer to live in community rather than in isolation. People in other countries often think of us as self-centered and extravagantly self-indulgent because they are presented with images of us when we are doing things that make us appear ridiculous and foolish. People who have not known many of us think there are more Paris Hiltons among us than there actually are. They hear much more about our greed than they hear about our generosity.

I would like to have walked with the world this afternoon down Fifth Avenue from University to Upas in Hillcrest to show them my neighbors celebrating community, celebrating each other. I would like them to have seen the smiling boy in my photograph wearing his T-shirt that says “I HAVE ISSUES.” I would like them to have seen the woman handing out free bottles of water and the guy handing out packets of wildflower seeds. I would like for them to have seen people holding
hands and laughing and enjoying being out in the beautiful summer day.

I would like to say to them that I really wish neighborhoods in Bagdad could have a CITY FEST.