“All Belgians are Equal”

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This post is not about zombies, but instead about a weird discovery I made in my neighborhood. 

The other day I was buying a bicycle pump at Wastyn Cycles near my house, when I espied an unusual cornerstone on a building at the corner of Fullerton Ave. and Talman Ave.  It was engraved to read: “ALL BELGIANS ARE EQUAL 1921″

And I thought: “Okaaaaaaaay…”

But then I did a little research, and according to the Chicago History Museum, my neighborhood was an epicenter of Belgian immigration to Chicago in the early 1900’s.  Then as now, there was French-speaking-Belgian vs. Flemish-Speaking-Belgian tension.  So to smooth things over, a group of them founded something called the All Belgians Are Equal Club, which, in 1921, erected the building at Fullerton and Talman as a kind of clubhouse for the Belgian community.

Here are some pictures I took:

The cornerstone

The building

ABE = All Belgians Equal

I wonder if the project worked, and if the Chicago-area Belgians learned to coexist peacefully.

When I was younger, I lived in Belgium for 3 years, in a French-speaking area.  I’d hear about the intra-Belgian tension, and think to myself, man, these guys should really bond together instead of fighting.  It’s not like there’s that much Belgium to go around.  Why do you need to divide it up and make it even smaller?

I get the same feeling when my poet-friends criticize other contemporary poets.  It’s like, dude, you guys are already only half-a-shelf in the bookstore as it stands.  I think you need to work together to help poety get a wider audience instead of fighting over that half-a-shelf.

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