--published May 2003, Northwest Indiana Times.
“Small Group is Changing Hammond”
Guest Commentary
After the primary election in which the people of the first district in Hammond elected Mark Kalwinski, (my father), as Councilman, I rode the South Shore train back to my home in Chicago, and was reminded of the quote by Jean Shepherd, “The place I grew up in was Hammond, Indiana, a steel town and refinery that makes Newark look like Palm Beach. There never has been a bourgeois steel town. It took guts to be a kid in my town, or else you got out.” Some of us gave up and got out, but those who stayed to fight the good fight, and, specifically, those people in my father’s neighborhood group, The Pulaski Park Neighborhood Association, were rewarded in a concrete way with their candidate’s win. They should not take this win lightly or give themselves too little credit. Their small victories over the past five years represent as heroic an effort as, for example, those in films such as Erin Brockovich.
The Pulaski Park Neighborhood Association began four years ago as the disgruntled rumblings of people wanting representation in their neighborhood, safe and well-lit streets, and better air quality, and has become a decisive neighborhood organization and presence in this diverse community. This community decided to take action on their neighborhood’s crumbling streets, crime, strip club, and air quality, and Mark Kalwinski had the ability, speaking skills, and anger to be a leader on these community issues. Consequently, District 1 looks substantially different than when I left five years ago, and through their devotion and hard work lobbying legislators a revitalization is beginning to take place—there are newly paved roads and alleys, increased and improved lighting, a sidewalk is finally being built around Pulaski Park, and most importantly, they have made it known that their voices will not stand silent, that they are present and active, and that their representative must be accountable to them. This, after all, is the reason political representation exists.
Celebrating with volunteers in the American Legion the night of the election, I saw faces lit with the empowerment that comes from a successful and sincere grassroots effort. If he is elected in November’s general election, this area can look forward to the leadership of someone who has been a community organizer, activist, and social worker, who genuinely knows the people in this district, and who is committed to acting on their behalf and representing the entire district. He will potentially be able to work even more productively to make this community something vital, something to be proud of. This election is a reminder that we are not helpless in the face of global or local issues. It was not a small victory for my father, but a larger one for an entire community, and a validation of both his lifelong idealism and the famous quote of anthropologist Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
--Gretchen Kalwinski Chicago, IL
