I haven’t been able to blog much for kyle.tv of late because my time has been consumed with organizing and blogging for ATAC.  Atlantans Together Against Crime has taken off.  It’s a full-fledged movement now and I’m its lone, full-time “employee.”  The group has gotten exactly what it’s wanted with the affect we’re having on the city but it’s a tough thing to manage.  I’m committed to keeping it viable and molding it into a sustainable and well-oiled machine.  I won’t give up on it and I’m very excited about what’s coming up.

Recently, there’s been a lot of press and a lot of it has focused on me.  I’m about half comfortable with that. On the one hand, I know it’s great for the group.  It helps keep the name out there, more people are hearing about our efforts, and with each exposure ATAC’s name is carved a little deeper into city politics and the city’s history.  That’s essential to keeping it alive.

On the other, this movement isn’t about me.  Yeah, I survived a pretty horrible experience having been mugged and all, but there are many others like me and others, even, who aren’t here to talk about it anymore.  I’m doing this for them as much as me.  I don’t want to hear about another crime story because we all deserve to be safe in the city that we live.  The unfortunate truth, however, is that we always aren’t.

So why do it?  Why fight it?  Why stand up and ask the city to meet the damn-hard-and-nearly-impossible? The answer is because with a little bit of effort from everyone involved, we really can change things.  It just means stepping up a little bit and meeting the challenge.

And that brings me to something I find curious… in the pieces that have been written about me, there are fairly common questions.  People are interested in knowing me as someone who decided to stand up and do something just as much, at least recently, as about the group itself.  It’s interesting.  As if my actions were so rare or valiant.  Were they?  Really?  I don’t think so.  I find it hard to believe that it’s not what anyone would do.  When I start to think that maybe it’s not, I begin to understand where this interest might be coming from. 

So let me say this, if there’s one commonality to most things I do, it’s not being afraid to put something major out there and see what happens. Whether it’s picking up and making a movie, or putting everything I’ve got into a TV show idea I know is viable, or starting a group aimed at making my city safer… they’re all risks that enrich my life because I take them, successful or not.  Big risks mean big rewards.  Not everything works out but everything really does work out.

When The Sunday Paper calls me an “unsung hero” or the AJC calls me an “accidental activist,” there’s really nothing heroic about either.  It’s flattering, mind you, and I’m grateful for it but this is just livin’.  It’s what everyone should be doing… living out loud.  If that’s all you have to do to be a hero then, shit, be a hero!

I think it’s safe to assume the “Kyle as Founder” press phase of ATAC is soon to pass.  The hard work to maintain it is not, however, and I’m all too happy to get back behind the scenes to accomplish it.  I also have jobs to get, mortgages to pay, and major networks to entice.  Heh.

In the meantime, do me a favor… help keep people like me off the covers of major newspapers.  Live big and live loud.  Roll the dice.  Make some noise.  Buy your own megaphone.  Do whatever the hell it is you want.  Do it because you know you just might not be here tomorrow, even though I’m trying my damnest to make sure that you are.