Writing in Cleveland
Writing is a powerful tool used by everyone whether to convey their emotions through text, or to inform the public about certain events and so on. Writing can be used for almost any purpose by anyone. Walking around Cleveland, one can’t help but run into words; there are flyers posted on telephone poles, billboards advertising for anything, store fronts with their names lit up with neon letters and graffiti can be found everywhere. All of this writing helps to make Cleveland what it is, whether the writing is good and constructive or detrimental in some way, it all aids in the composition of Cleveland.
Everyday on the way to Benedictine, my high school, I would pass the RTA. On the side of the RTA were famous peoples’ faces with their names listed underneath each picture respectively. All of these people were had some Cleveland connection, whether they lived there for a number of years or were born there. Those people helped Cleveland by doing something great and now Cleveland is recognizing that by honoring them by disclosing the fact that they have some form of Cleveland connection. Langston Hughes’ picture is one that is on the side of the RTA, and everyone that passes the RTA on their way to school, work or home will see that. Whether or not they recognize it or pay attention to it is up the individual viewer but the fact is that they helped make Cleveland the city that it is today.
Aside from honoring those who helped to shape this city, words are used to separate us into our own sections. I am from Cleveland Heights but went to school in Cleveland and had to pass through Shaker Heights to get to Cleveland. Without the written word saying “Welcome to Shaker Heights” or “Welcome to Cleveland,” passing through those cities would mean nothing. Words can help us to recognize where we are and what different cities offer to the community as a whole.
Words can also be detrimental to a city or society. Graffiti plagues the cities, especially downtown Cleveland; people writing their group names on the side of buildings or just profane phrases to try and gain attention. This kind of writing brings down the city by destroying its appearance. Who would want to live in a city where your house will be spray painted on with whatever anyone wants to write on it. This kind of writing has no purpose aside from trying to gain attention or destroy a city.
Writing throughout the Cleveland helps to make it what it is. The graffiti, while not adding anything to the growth of the city, shows what Cleveland is and what people think of Cleveland. Obviously people have given up on caring about the city in parts where graffiti does mask the houses in certain neighborhoods. The billboards and signs posted around help to show what Cleveland has to offer, what is in the city. Store front signs also show what Cleveland has to offer in terms of restaurants and stores and what the Cleveland scene has to offer. Writing is a powerful tool to help define what makes a city great or less than great.
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