Cause and Effect...

June 13, 2009

Danielle Joyner Kelley

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” James 2:14-18.

We often identify with the city we were born in. When you find yourself explaining to someone who you really are, “I’m from…” is a common statement. Still people tend to move around a lot. For those of us who have not, we have the opportunity to truly witness first hand what takes a census and statisticians years to figure out. We are growing, fast.

As for me, I was born in Tallahassee, Florida. If you do not live here do not concentrate on the “Florida” part. Very frequently I laugh at how different the Panhandle and Big Bend of Florida are compared to the rest of the state. One only needs a trip to South Florida to figure that out. I still remember long ago the bumper stickers on everyone’s car that said “Tallahassee: Florida with a Southern Accent”. Moreover, I remember a joke written by someone that said it was not “Tallahassee: Florida with a Southern Accent” but instead it was “Tallahassee: Georgia with a Florida Zip Code”. I was always taught that the State of Alabama tried to annex our part of the state into its own at one time. If you know the culture here you would not doubt it. Besides, the environment itself shows a difference. We have hills and lot of trees. One thing anyone knows who has studied our city and county commission is that you do not mess with two things here: trees and canopy roads. Those are a no go.

In such a populated state, the Panhandle and Big Bend are growing at an alarming rate. But I remember the days gone by. I remember my mother taking me to the Farmer’s Market on South Monroe to buy vegetables, and to the Shell Oyster Bar on the Southside to buy raw oysters. Two men were always in there shucking them, and since we were regulars they used to save me the pearls. I loved that.

I remember when Thomasville Road and Capital Circle had only two lanes each, and there were no huge overpasses to get to downtown, and people thought if you lived past Timberlane Road you would have to live without cable or society. I remember going with my mother to Revel’s Meat Market at Four Points when I was little and what she did to me when I tried to take a 25 cent piece of gum. I remember riding my bike through Indian Head Acres to Optimist Park. I remember when my daddy worked for the Florida Highway Patrol on the field at Doak Campbell Stadium, way before the end zones were closed in, and sitting on the sidelines watching the Florida State Football games. We were not in a conference then but we still had Bobby and that was all that mattered.

Those were the days. Tallahassee is growing at high speed, and as the Capital of such a populated state it should not come as a surprise. Those who grew up in Tallahassee knew nothing about the Florida State / FAMU side of things other than going to games. Later in college we would discover, to our amazement, there was an entire world going on around us that we did not know about, and one our parents would absolutely fear.

I always feared that the more Tallahassee grew the more we would lose our small town community feel. I was the first person in my family born here. The rest of my family is from the Dothan/Headland/Abbeville, Alabama area where “community” stands for everything. I always tell my family in Alabama that every other house up there is a funeral home or a church. Truth is that in Tallahassee, aside from funeral homes because I’m pretty sure everyone here wants to be cremated and thrown in the Gulf of Mexico, churches abound in plenty fashion.

I always worried that with growth we would forget who we were for who we have become. My thoughts stand corrected. There are people living here that know very much not who we were or became, but who we are at this moment. Today I saw a side of Tallahassee that I had forgotten about. I was invited by a member of the Tallahassee Democrat staff to attend the “Community Volleyball Game and Teen Summit” this weekend, held at the Lawrence-Gregory Community Center in what Tallahasseeans call “Frenchtown” after the history of our town and its French influence. If you grew up here you would have heard rumors that this was the side of town to be scared of and give up on, but luckily our community and leaders refused to. Because of their efforts and dedication to not ever give up we have a revitalization going on down there that has produced some beautiful buildings, but most importantly it has shown the true good in people.

I grew up on the Southside of Tallahassee near “Frenchtown”, and later my parents moved to the Northside as it continued to develop. I went to Leon High School and then decided to transfer to Rickards High School on the Southside through the “minority/majority” program to help encourage home sales there and avoid the “white flight” syndrome where white families were moving out of neighborhoods as black families moved in. I went with the Principal of Rickards at that time to give speeches in order to encourage people to develop and sell homes on the Southside of Tallahassee. One speech I recall was in front of the Tallahassee Board of Realtors, the first in my public speaking career and the one that landed me at Florida State University as a Communication / Political Science double major.

I remember that Rickards had a sense of community that I had not seen before. The, as I was told long ago when I transferred, “discounted” side of town in need of students to move in, knew exactly who they were. As I grew older and went through college I missed that sense of community. Today I saw it again.

The Summit discussed gangs and teen issues. In a city with a higher population than we are used to, it could have had more people than anyone could handle. However, the Summit had just enough. As I watched people talk, dance, and read poetry, and later engage in conversations with community leaders, I knew that the Summit had all it needed. It had heart.

Towards the end the children stayed in one place to have a discussion and the adults moved to a room to have a discussion with community leaders. That “discounted” side of town long ago brought forth people that made my heart jump almost out of my chest. My husband is the Head Baseball Coach at Rickards High School currently and looking over at him I knew he felt the same.

I realized how conclusory our society can be. We always focus on the “effect” and never the “cause”. Gang related violence is increasing: effect. Teenage pregnancy is on the rise: effect. Crime rate is up: effect. The north side is different from the south side: effect. Meanwhile, I am thinking “what is the cause?” And that was the point those at the Summit were all making as they spoke one by one. Their thinking is correct. None of us should complain about the problem without examining the root of it.

The Summit today showed me community members and leaders dedicated to understanding and correcting the “cause” of the problem while they declare publicly that they will not merely sit on the sidelines and worry about the “effect”. The “effect” is done and it is here for all of us to live with. The question is: what are we going to do about it? If you do not like the crime rate, teen pregnancy, gang violence, and the division in people what can you do to fix it?

I know from the players on my husband’s baseball team I have seen the community start to combine. Some kids zoned for Chiles, Leon, and the like attend Rickards for the International Baccalaureate program. That program in not only one of the top programs in the nation academically but it is also evidence of what our community is willing to do to bridge the gap that exists.

As an attorney who was trained in the art of debate and has been up against some of the top lawyers in this state and nationwide, let me assure you of some beliefs I have. I heard points made today by ministers who served time in prison but got out and committed their lives to helping children and others, and from those who live and work here that I would not dare attempt to debate. In fact, I would be horrified to be matched up against some of those people in the courtroom. Why? Because they are right. Not only are they right, but they are so full of life experience and faith that they know what should be done.

Experience is the best teacher, and for that reason I will listen to those who have been there and brought about change before I will listen to those who just merely sit on the sidelines and complain. Some of the people I heard talk today know exactly how to prevent the things we complain about going on. Why? They have been there. They know what it would have taken for them to not have to deal with such a bad situation.

As an attorney, I always veer to the side with the most evidence, and they have it. I am a former prosecutor who once saw so many repeat offenders that I would think to myself, “what is going on?” Let me assure you, not everyone who gets in trouble stays there. Some take that experience, pay their dues, and then use it to change lives. I saw it in person today more than once.

See what the power of God and the determination of someone who loves Him can do? They are not afraid of who they are or where they have been. They will tell you what they have done to risk their own credibility in the hopes you will take it and use it to change lives just as they have. They know who they serve, and it is not man.

You want to see what faith looks like? Go and listen to the people who care enough to come to such an event to bring about change. Not only do they bring about hope and encouragement, but they show the power of God’s word. We can all have faith that things will change but unless we act they won’t. Faith without deeds is dead. What good is having love in you if you never show it to anyone? It is no good. Who can say you are a kind person if you never acted kind? You have to act.

If there is more that I can do, even after I have done something, it is not enough. If I gave 10 cents but I have 1,000 dollars it is not enough. If I spend time telling others God’s word but I do not practice it in my own life, it is not enough.

We all want change. Unfortunately, only some of us will try to bring it into reality. If you do not try, do not complain. Having faith that something will change without being willing to act on your faith is pointless, and the Bible tells us as much. Today I learned to focus on the “cause” and not the “effect”. What a wonderful idea. When I take the focus off of complaining about the “effect” I can stop pointing fingers and placing blame. When you focus on the “cause” you have no one to blame because you are starting at the beginning. The “effect”, the aftermath is where you can look back and blame someone. The “cause” brings the real change because blaming and complaining about what has already happened is pointless. God tells us that much also.

Now I know what to do. Worry about black and white? No, that is an effect. Worry about the Northside versus the Southside? No that is an effect. Worrying about the effect is nothing more than an excuse to avoid acting to change something starting now. It doesn’t matter how bad you think it already is (effect), do something to bring future change (cause). Which one of those can you really change? The past or the future? Excuses make us lazy, create disruption and encourage us to sit there and do nothing but complain.

No longer will I complain about things I am not willing to help change. My God tells me not to throw stones when I have stones in my own closet. Focusing on the negative without a hope for the positive produces nothing. You have no faith in change without deeds to show it. God is a God of hope, not a God of negative. He is a God of positive change, not a God of looking back and complaining about what should have happened. God cannot sin, and thus we know God is not negative at all. I am so thankful He has blessed me with people who show me His word in action.

Simply put, I thank Him for showing me people with faith and deeds. They are His example of what we must do.

To me they are an example of what I will do from now on.