Is The Sign The Crime, Or The Times?

Despite the Paul Robeson House, The Marian Anderson Museum, The Johnson House, Freedom Theater, Philadanco, The University of Penn, Central High, and the Mural Arts Program, Philadelphia has the sad distinction of being called "Murder City." There were over 400 homicides in Philadelphia in 2006. So far this year, there are 60 homicides on the books in the city of Philadelphia.

I photographed this sign two weeks ago with my cell phone. It's a sign of our times in the "City of Brotherly Love." The sign is taped to the front door of the 7-11 store across the street from where my students attend school.

I shared the photo with my students today. We discussed the motivation, the meaning and the message behind the sign. We also talked about the spelling and the mechanics. I chose the image as our tag wall topic - our daily journal topic. The related question was: Is the Sign the Crime, Or The Times?

All Ninth Grade New Media Students:
Please answer this question and e-mail your responses to me.
Please prepare your responses in Google Docs.
High aimers are encouraged to record their responses in Audacity, compile a photographic/video complement and upload your media to jumpcut or eyespot.

H. Songhai
3/8/07