Phoenix Jones: Standard Bearer
Superheroes have leapt from four color entertainment to the evening news. As a member of this community I follow related developments closely.
Phoenix Jones seems to be our break out person- the one deemed a standard bearer for what the media calls real life superheroes ( RLSH ).
As I always preach, simply doing creative good doesn’t mean you’ll be well received. Alongside unprecedented coverage come haters and folks with legitimate concerns. Jones has plenty of both, even within his own extended real life superhero community.
Many of us have done this for years without fan fare. Some are rubbed the wrong way by his notoriety while others, myself included, are enjoying his experience from afar. Whenever you stretch reality the way we do, raw nerves are bound to be exposed.
Much has been made of the intervention where his nose was broken. It serves notice to supporter and skeptic alike that risk is part of the real life superhero experience. The same holds true for public safety professionals; private security security and anyone who has potentially combative encounters.
Phoenix Jones may be a standard bearer for the real life superhero community. Meanwhile there are hundreds of us doing the same and, like Jones, hopefully inspiring fellow citizens to help out.
That’s a standard worth bearing in these uncertain times and for that alone Phoenix Jones deserves considerable credit.
Also, it appears he’s also an African-American beneath his mask. The fact this hasn’t been emphasized implies more concern with what he does, as opposed to who he is.
Not bad considering the state of race relations.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes crime prevention and self-development. http://www.captblack.info
Apomixis
Last week I woke for work to be confronted with a “real life superhero” story on the news. At first I felt bad to know that the local Seattle Media was, once again, making light of something that could easily taken out of context. A few months ago I ran across this website at work. My coworkers and I were confused- was this real? Not real? I was surprised to know that all of the “cool comic book guy” web pages that we had been discussing at work were actually real people doing real things. In my research over the past couple of weeks I did discover to an extent what the conflict was between Phoeonix and this community. While this is not my business, I can understand the confusion. You see, in the greate Seattle area crime is not evident unless you know what to look for. Sure, you may see some shady characters, but as a whole you can typically walk from one end to another without so much as a glance from a bad element. At most you might get asked for some change by one of the downtown homeless regulars. The same goes for Phoenix neighborhood north of here in Lynnwood, WA. Police regularly patrol, and everything seems ok.
…and yet…from Lakewood to Everett there is persistant gang activity. The problems in Fife, WA persist with human trafficing and prostitution problems. Burien, WA is filled with sex offenders. Skyway, White Center and Columbia city are all but forgotten concentration camps that underscores govermental neglect. In Seattle on Pike and Second, for the past 15 years you can always get any type of drug. This continues up Aurora Ave N to 85th where you can get your Sour Dough Jack and heroin. This highway heads straight up to Lynnwood a city where a few underage prostitution rings have been uncovered. Let me tell you, Lynnwood is a great place to visit, however violent crime, assault and robbery still exist.
I appreciate, being from Kent, WA that a man wearing a mask in order to stand up and simply say- no, you will not destroy my community. I believe police work to make the community safer, but as a whole, the city government does not. Problems are masked from Tacoma to Seattle and these problems need the attention of our community. I appreciate charity work, that is for sure, but I wholey appreciate men like Phoenix stading up to the more dangerous element as well.