This park brochure was distributed during the April 3rd anti-police brutality vigil at Compton Hill Reservoir Park:
Full Text:
Welcome to Compton Hill Reservoir Park
“The park is gorgeous. The best time to come is shortly after 10 in the evening. The colors are simply spectacular. One night I remember these well-groomed men in a lovely soft shade of blue in fancy cars with alternating blue and red lights punctuating the night sky. They even helped me get some exercise by jogging behind me. Three of them were nice enough to direct me to the other beautiful night-time colors: they used long mahogany batons to create brilliant, bright white explosions as they struck my skull. As I lay face down on the lawn, the bright light was complimented by rivers of the most authentic blood-red. I was so incapacitated by the beauty that I spent the night in the hospital. Anyway, the park is nearly “drop-dead” gorgeous!”
-Rye N., St. Louis, Missouri
Welcome to Saint Louis, Missouri
“What a great place to live! Sure the rent is high and the jobs are scarce, but I just live on the streets- because the weather here is fantastic- snowy winters and tropical summers! The city really takes care of you here. Hospitals will take everyone who’s sick, and if they can’t cure you and you don’t have money, they call the police who give you a free room for the night.”
-Anna B., St. Louis, Missouri
“Such a historic city! It was originally built on the majestic river so people and goods could be easily transported. Nowadays, the river is more of an obstacle and everything moves by trucks. So, I’m working on the new bridge over the Mississippi so the goods can move quicker and people like me have less of a commute to work. With shorter commute times, I might even get to see my kids in the morning and at night before they go to bed! Sure, it’s dangerous work, but it’s progress for the city, ends meet for my family, and pride for my life… yeah, my life…”
-Andy G., Park Hills, Missouri
Welcome to The United States of America
“Such a breathtaking country. My family goes way back. A couple hundred years ago, they chose sunny Florida after offered a complimentary luxury cruise across the Atlantic. There was lots of work back then, so they stayed. Anyway, it doesn’t matter what race or class you are, America is for everyone. We’re all created equal here. And so many nice neighborhoods to take a stroll through. Some of them are just exquisite: gated streets, luxury cars, friendly residents…”
-Trayvon M., Sanford, Florida
Welcome to The Globalized Society
“Fabulous world! Full of opportunities to make it big. I sell vegetables from a little pushcart, but one day I’ll make it big- maybe a supermarket. It’s just all this poverty, this bureaucracy, the opulence of the ruling class… I do get frustrated sometimes, but what can one do other than blame one’s self?”
-Mohamed B., Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia
[Caption for statue photo:] The Naked Truth: Erected in 1914 to commemorate the German immigrants to St. Louis (veterans of the 1848 working class uprising in Germany), this is the 98 year-old bronze statue in its original state before vandals removed the lettering from the woman’s body.
Rye N. was one of three people who police brutally beat and hospitalized after the eviction of an Occupy encampment in Compton Hill Reservoir Park on March 15 of this year.
Anna Brown, a 29 year-old homeless mother, was denied further care for a blood clot at St. Mary’s Hospital on September 21, 2011. The hospital then had her arrested for trespassing as she was pleading for their help. Richmond Heights police, took her away, denied her medical assistance, and dragged her onto the floor of an empty jail cell. Fifteen minutes later she died.
Andy Gammon, a 35 year-old construction worker and father of two, was operating a “man-lift” at the site of the new Mississippi River bridge on March 28. Tethered to the inside of the machine, he died when it plunged into the water and pinned him to the river bed.
Trayvon Martin, a 17 year-old Florida teen, was shot to death on February 26 by a neighborhood watchman for being “suspicious” as he walked through a wealthy gated community to buy some Skittles.
Mohamed Bouazizi, a 26 year-old Tunisian street vendor, tired of a lifetime of exploitation and poverty and repeated harassment and humiliation by local authorities concerning his vegetable stand, set himself on fire outside the Governor’s office on December 17, 2010. His suicide sparked the global unrest that stretched from Cairo to Wall Street in the following months.