By Susan Bond
While Safe and Healthy Homes is in some ways a reflection of Caitlin’s personal experience and situation in Brooklyn, it’s also a meditation on a larger state of affairs. Living on a meagre (but greatly appreciated!) grant that didn’t allow her to work meant that she wound up living below the poverty line in a country with almost no social safety net.
Caitlin was disturbed to see that the local government thought it more responsible to post warnings not to lick the walls in older low-income areas (such as the one Caitlin was living in) than to provide health care for the citizens or provide for the clean-up of contaminated areas. On a surprisingly visible level, the community was unable (or unwilling) to provide safe and healthy homes, be they for children or any other members.
Those of us watching the concert on Sunday are from (or at least in) a fantastic city that can sometimes feel very small, in a country that can seem, well, kind of bland. Like the woman from the shoe in the first half of the concert, we can be tempted to strike out for more adventurous climes, but to do so we have to give something up. Specifically, we have to give up a city and a country that care about their constituents enough that they have the goal, though not always met, of providing them with health care and adequate housing. It’s a hard bargain, and one that we haven’t been willing to make.
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Tiny Alligator Music presents
Safe and Healthy Homes for Children
A song-cycle for jazz orchestra and three voices
Sunday, March 13th, 8:00 pm
The Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street
(near King St. and Parliament St.)
$20/$15 for students, seniors and arts workers
buy tickets now at www.tinyalligator.com/events
