Cincinnati, The City Where Pigs Do Fly

Picture: Chelsea Flowers 

There is one building that tells the best story of Cincinnati. The story is about a city that sits in the cross section of economic prosperity and depravity, a city that was a beacon of capitalist expansion and the result of the the ruthlessness of the capitalist class. Cincinnati was a final destination of freedom during slavery but it has since become a symbol of racial segregation. A city of hope and despair but also a city of strength and resilience. 


This is the old Crosley radio factory that sits to the west of I75 just north of downtown Cincinnati. 

This factory birthed the WLW radio stations and built Crosley radios like these:

Like many factories that employed thousands of hard working people, it now sits empty, standing as a reminder of the promise of capitalism and the struggle to rethink the culture in America. Painted by graffiti artists and colored by the environment, this building also represent what still could be. What can become of cities across the midwest? What can the creative minds, that reject the harsh politics of the conservative leaders of the America, reconstitute to represent the hope and ingenuity of strong people with egalitarian desires.

Picture: Chelsea Flowers

We are not bound by the destructive ideologies of capitalist economists and the leaders of industry that place profits over people. We are free to dream of a world where the immense wealth, accumulated by the few, on the backs of the many, can be applied to the creation of a better future for the many and not just the few. What would it look like to create a world where health care for all wasn't the center of political debate? What would it look like in a nation that stopped treating blacks, muslims, and women as if they were "other"? What would Cincinnati be like if it supported its heritage of freedom and supported the museum that exemplifies that history?

The Freedom Center | National Underground Rail Road Museum

Do we dare to dream of that world?

She is called the Queen City, the city where pigs do fly, and the impossible is not just a dream. May our city be an example of a better future.

The Flying Blog,
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