A Cry for Help

When I was younger, my Nana lived in South Providence off of Narragansett Boulevard and on Saturdays the whole family would get together there. My Papa (grandfather) owned a bar near Rhode Island hospital, and Nana would make sandwiches and meatballs for the bar, which would have to be delivered before lunch time. I always loved going with my mom to bring the Saturday haul up Allen's Ave and over to the bar (my Papa would let me run behind the bar and choose a bag of chips or cheez doodles). One of the highlights of that trip was seeing the giant rooster outside Solitto's Liquor store. It was at least four times my size at the time and strangely magical.

The Rooster is still there, brought outside every morning (except, a few years back when it was stolen. The police recovered the giant bird a few weeks later). Unfortunately, instead of just being a bizarre and memorable landmark, the Rooster now doubles as a jingoistic bulletin board:

Since the divisive run-up to the Iraq War, Solitto's Rooster has displayed that simple-minded, unpatriotic phrase. I don't know the mind of the owner, but in that mostly lower-class immigrant neighborhood that message could be construed as a double shot of right-wing nationalism (ie anti-immigrant as well as fearful of reasoned dissent). It's pretty sad that such a great childhood memory is now linked with the ugliness of current political atmosphere.