The Alley Name
The space between dwellings of people is an alley. It is called an alley between two dwellings or rows of dwellings. The space between two rows of trees is an allee’ or an alley.
The sounds and sights in those spaces are common and include everyday activities like taking out the trash, fixing one’s car, greeting neighbors, etc. The alley seemed a proper name for a newspaper that helped people engage with one another.
The Black Cat Logo
A logo for the alley naturally became a black cat because of its ability to be independent yet friendly, curious yet polite, pensive yet joyful, loves fish and mice yet won’t chase red herring, and watchful yet playful. Some cultures see a black cat as good fortune and other cultures the opposite which also fits for the alley’s community that includes many cultures and diverse ethnic origins.
The Community
The alley newspaper began in 1975 as the Newspaper of the Phillips Community partially to dispel the derogatory remarks and stereotypes made by mainstream media to describe the people of the area.
Decades later, the tendency evolved where many people imagine the boundaries of Phillips being more fluid like in the song “Imagine” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and the poem “Mending Wall by Robert Frost that includes, “before I would build a wall, I would ask who am I walling in and who am I walling out, lest I give offense.” Now the outreach of the Newspaper stretches beyond 35W, Hiawatha Avenue, E94, and Lake Street-the boundaries of the Phillips Community. The paper is delivered in bulk to 114 drop sites and mailed to many individuals in the Phillips Community, surrounding Neighborhoods, and many miles away.
Social Media and Internet
The vast changes in people exchanging their words, sound and other art since 1975 hasn’t stopped the need for the hard copy of the alley. Those changes have increased the reach and resilience of the alley to include the new ways as it continues into its sixth decade.
