The inaugural season for the Seattle Sounders, our very own Major League Soccer team, began a few weeks ago. While my soccer playing days ended in 7th grade when I moved over to the game of (American) football and my knowledge of MLS stops at David Beckham and the guy from Melrose Place who played in the league years ago, I am excited about the Sounders being in town and I hope to make it to a game.
Especially since the fans have been singing about my neighborhood…
Sung to the tune of “Guantanamera“:
“You couldn’t score on Aurora,
You couldn’t score on Aurora,
You couldn’t score on Aurooooooooooora.”
— Emerald City Supporters chant
Get it?
Personally, I think it’s hilarious!
But it also epitomizes the exact thing that we’re trying to combat: the Aurora stereotype.
For the past year and a half I have been a part of a community task force in the Aurora area. One of the things that we’ve been trying to do is help people see the changes that have taken place in this emerging neighborhood. In other words, we’re just not satisfied with stereotypes. Yes, yes, there has been and there still is crime and drugs and prostitution – and if I’m to speak about this place truthfully, I can’t ignore them. But Aurora is not just these things. Under the surface, behind closed doors, there are neighbors blessing neighbors, there is laughter, there are dreams, there is hard work. It is my dream that people would start to wake up to this Aurora. It is my hope that Aurora would come to be known as the place where neighbors seriously care for their neighbors, where extending mercy and seeking justice are a way of life, where hospitality is extended to all. I could go on and on… But I’ll stop, except to say that this is the kind of stereotype I could live with!
But the truth is that we have a long way to go. We can’t just be about responding to negative issues impacting our community, nor can we simply be about initiating positive activity (“Seattle Nice” is not enough!). Ultimately, we have to be in relationship with one another.
And if this happens, all I can say is,
“Score!”