A few years ago, my wife and I were vacationing in Florida and met up with East St. Louis high school classmates from 1956-57. While lunching with our friends, a conversation with a couple at a nearby table ensued and when asked where we were 'from,' I quickly said, "East St. Louis, Illinois. Later, my friends told me that they NEVER tell strangers that they are from East St. Louis. This is not the only time I have experienced the denouncing of my hometown by others who shared that time. I am not ashamed of East St. Louis but rather feel a sadness for my dear friends who suffer from a sic smugness and would throw the history of their parents and good East St. Louis neighbors under the proverbial bus; not to mention the personal insult to me.
The East St. Louis in which I grew up was a wonderful city and its people displayed an unprecedented toughness, determination, will and working pride. We left front doors un-locked and played under-the-street-light games such as kick the can and hide-and-seek. I remember second generation immigrants who 'melted' in the work place and cared for family. These were people who would never think of sending an elderly family member to a nursing home or 'assisted-living' homes; our aging relatives 'came-to-live-with-us...it was part of life's journey expectations.
Teens worked part-time jobs at corner grocery stores, drug store fountains, 'filling' (gas) stations and news stand/delivery paper boys. Those teens gathered around juke boxes to 'fast-dance', acted silly and played kissing games at the drive-in theater. We cruised (harmlessly) about our city's streets showing off our 'whitewall' tires and fender skirts as we loudly played one of Chuck Berry's latest hit songs.
We were not oblivious to the organized crime about our city. We drove past those known gambling joints, cigar/bookie/numbers establishments and the infamous Third Street prostitute houses. It would be many years later that we would come to understand the sad reality of the weak economic anchors of East St. Louis. East Coast business investments in our neighbors to the immediate West across that muddy Mississippi River deemed East St. Louis to be that dirty town that provided the great railway terminals, stockyards and entertainment vices for the more affluent folks from other nearby pristine communities.
The streets of my hometown are no longer safe to take those 'memory-lane' walks...thus in my mid-night hours I do my memory-lane 'walking' and in every waking occasion, I tell folks, "I'm from East St. Louis, Illinois."
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