Here we go. Happy New Year! Welcome to 2017. 2016 was a crazy one for me — my wedding was in 2017, I took my first sabbatical, traveled to places I’d never been, and had a chance to step away (from Camden activism, from the blog, from social media) to do some academic writing and just to think. 

One of my New Year’s resolution is to try to step off the “news cycle” and spend less time chasing the day’s big story. That goes for my consumption, but also for my writing, where I don’t want to get dragged into responding to every quip and quiver from the local news cycle. 

This blog will remain a place for local voices to get the word out when there are issues and perspectives that need amplification. It will remain a place that individuals who are nervous about retaliation can share ideas and perspectives behind the scenes. And it will remain a place where I provide my own analysis about what’s going on not just in Camden, but in urban communities around the country. But I’ll also be abstracting out, writing about bigger picture issues, and trying to lay the intellectual groundwork for challenges (here in Camden and elsewhere) that are long-term, not just day-to-day. 

Hopefully, that’s a reflection of both where I am as a young scholar, and where I am as a person. One thing I appreciated about the sabbatical was that it gave me a chance to both catch up on writing projects (more news there as the academic review process takes its course), but also to hone my craft. I made it over to my alma mater to attend a qualitative research methods class there — where there were unbelievably exciting things going on, some of which I’m already incorporating into my own work. I had a chance to slow down and read academic work, something that too often gets lost in the bustle of teaching and writing deadlines. And, of course, I wrestled with what our national political climate means for the work I do, for me personally, and for the world I want to live in. 

If my academic life has slowed down enough to read and consider, my personal life has done the opposite. From the wedding (!) to a writing retreat in Nova Scotia, to a honeymoon in Southeast Asia, it’s been go-go-go. But that merry-go-round is ending just a few blocks from where it started. For the past three years, I lived in the Victor Lofts. This week, Sue and I moved into a Cooper Grant townhouse. 

Quite simply, I’m grateful to be back in Camden. I’m also grateful to my wife — the decision to live here now involves two of us. Camden is central to my social life, my work life, and my intellectual life, so living here makes sense. For Sue, it’s a bigger leap of faith — one I’m glad she’s made. 

My fourth year in the city feels different, and I believe that will affect my work here. I’m still searching for ways I can positively contribute to ways I love (both at work and outside it), but I also feel less pressure to be “authentic” in my engagement. Folks have been tremendously kind in welcoming me back, I’ve been genuine friendships in the city, and I feel tremendously lucky to call it home. If that means its struggles still cut deep, it’s politics still grate loudly, or its history still hurts to teach, so be it. You do these things for home. 

That attitude will be reflected here. I’ll try to continue to introduce you to the people I lean on to understand the complexities of Camden. I’ll share my own thoughts and my own work. I’ll introduce you to some of the inspirational things happening on campus (and some of the ways we struggle to live up to our potential). That’s what this space is for. 

So please don’t be shy. Write in with your thoughts. Email me with events you want to promote. Encourage me to see corners of Camden where my life in Cooper Grant and on Rutgers Camden rarely take me. And tell me what you think this blog should be. This blog has always, first and foremost, been about amplifying voices, ideas, beauty and wisdom in Camden. And there’s a lot, if you know where to look.