It's not 'Midnight' anymore, but Savannah must tend to her garden to see success

This is an opinion column by arts and culture editor Zach Dennis.

The advice I was given on my first week at the Savannah Morning News in late 2016 was to read “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” — It’s “The Book” in town, they said. Give it a read and you’ll get a sense of how the town works.

Eager, I did as I was told. My weekly walk that started at the south end of Forsyth and went all the way to Johnson Square was enriched by the experience. The pages came to life (It’s the Mercer House! That’s Pinkie’s! Club One!) and I was immediately smitten with my new home.

Nearly six and a half years later, the honeymoon wore off. While we still spice it up every so often, Savannah and I are in a stable relationship. To be honest, though, it could benefit her to be a bit more adventurous at times.

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That initial spark has faded, making way for a more nuanced understanding of a city in transition. One that still vibrates with the past of “Midnight” if you look hard enough, but without the edge that the novel captured. Yeah, the Mercer House is still there, as are Pinkie’s and Club One. The names may not appear around town like they once did, but there’s no shortage of characters who would’ve been involved if John Berendt was sojourning down South in 2023 rather than the 1980s.

A nice, spring day with the flowers in bloom is a swift reminder of those first weeks in town feeling like I'd been transported somewhere rather than rolled into town for a job.

I love you still, Savannah. But now, I’ve got to be going. After six and a half years of serving Savannah readers at the Savannah Morning News, I’m moving on as your arts and culture editor.

Change is here, but no refund

It’s a bit out of character for me, but I have to admit I’ve enjoyed this platform for the past few years.

From laying siege on Forsyth Park in favor of Daffin, to my more recent pick at the Savannah Music Festival, it’s been fun to, well, I’d like to say start a conversation but for others it might be to just piss you off. Regardless of whether you're sending me flight details out of town, or sitting down for a conversation to discuss what can be done regarding the points I raised in a piece, it’s been a successful venture in my eyes.

A conversation doesn’t always start nicely; sometimes, a bit of fire can get it started. But I never aimed to just punch down at something without providing a solution.

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It’s easy to write an opinion piece, we’ve all got them, but I hoped to provide Savannah with a bit of commentary that got you thinking. Things don’t have to be completely upended but maybe some change wouldn’t hurt.

As I stated before, Savannah is in transition. If you ask me, I don’t 100% love it.

The premium on luxury apartments and hotels not only disintegrates the charm that drove folks like me to Savannah, but also raises the cost of just being alive in this town, which gives it its character. The same can be said about the rising prices to have a meal in town or grab a drink after work.

But it’s so tough to complain because it’s happening everywhere! If not in Savannah, then Greenville. If not Asheville, then Nashville. If not Chattanooga, then Montgomery. The Southeast is a great place to live and unfortunately, the rest of the country caught on.

I mention this not to just wallow, but because it has caused me pause for over a year now. There are bigger forces than residents that wield the power for sweeping change, and although we assume we’re all participating in a fair and equal system, that’s about as truthful as most of “Midnight.”

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So how do we fix it? There’s no way to save the world. It’s lost, there’s too many people, and cut the Disney crap and recognize one person can’t do it all by themselves. But that doesn’t stop y’all from doing what’s best at home.

Savannah, tend to your garden

This doesn’t sound either arts or culture, but everything is tied into one. It’s probably the privilege of working at the newspaper, but the cacophony of problems in town is overwhelming. Like old-school journalists, swig of whiskey from your desk on a Tuesday because that list is too long and growing heavier by the day.

Let’s just start from the top: we have to find some leadership. I’m not talking about Washington and I’m not talking about Atlanta. I’m talking about your home; where your kids play, where you enjoy friends, family and fellowship, where you live.

It isn’t red or blue, much less black or white. It’s about the collective good and that means thinking not only of ourselves, our kids and our loved ones, but also our neighbors and who they care about. It means rallying that energy (and it’s difficult) to set aside time to engage in the civic rituals of council, neighborhood and planning meetings.

It’s about setting aside time to objectively assess the information you’re digesting about your community. And that’s not my cue to pitch a $1 for 6 months subscription for the Savannah Morning News, because we don’t succeed at everything, but neither does everyone else. Not able to speak for the others, I can say that every day I’d log in, the goal was to do as much as we possibly could to inform the community in a way that doesn’t sway them to one side or the other but to inform them enough to take the information and use it to improve what’s around them. Control what you can control.

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Which comes back to leaders. I fault pop culture, over-priced professional and NCAA sports coaches, and cable news for telling us what a leader is. But all those are wrong. It isn’t about the person who says everything you want to hear because everything you want to hear isn’t correct. It isn’t about shoving a shovel in the ground and promising progress when more often than not, that progress benefits the man or woman holding the shovel rather than those gathered around it.

It means demanding from our leaders that they do the jobs we elected them to do and address the needs in our city. That could take another 2,000 words to list so I’m going to focus on the biggest one.

Who is going to step up and address the literacy issue?

If you’ve had lunch or coffee with me in the past 12 months, I apologize that now I’m printing my rant in the newspaper. But let’s stop kidding ourselves, this is the big one.

If you can’t read, then how are you expected to get a job? Hyundai isn’t going to give you one.

If you can’t read, then how are you expected to keep out of trouble? Because you’re not armed with the tools to develop a skill set so why not just take the easy route and arm yourself.

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If you can’t read, then how do we expect these children to break generational poverty?

If you can’t read, then how are we expected to be shocked when most of the children fall into trouble and end up homeless?

If you can’t read, how are you expected to be an engaged, critically thinking citizen of the city when that same city failed to provide you with the resources you needed to function as a basic citizen.

I get it, you’re going to say how complex the poverty issue is; how homelessness isn’t that simple; that crime is worse than ever; that the Democrats did this; that Trump did this. My response: Who. Cares.

So, start it up: These are all monumental issues plaguing just about every American city, so what can Savannah do about it? We’re doing our best, but these issues require more than we, your elected officials, can do in one session. Literacy is an issue, but we need to focus on the issue in Atlanta and Washington because the Republicans are trying to destroy the country.

Just stop it.

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Savannah isn’t the “Midnight” town anymore. It’s not the 20 minutes to everything town. It’s not the everyone knows everyone town anymore. It’s a city, and it’s a city rife with critical issues that are holding it back now.

In my last words, I say this. We won’t be able to solve America’s problems. We won’t be able to fix politics. But each and every person in this city can help fix their home. You don’t need help from ineffective leadership, you don’t need help from a disinterested state government, and you certainly don’t need help from private investors in town.

Be the change you want to see. You can’t change the world, but you can accomplish this, Savannah. Tend to your garden. Once that blooms, maybe it can stretch farther.

Farewell, and I do believe in you.

Zach Dennis was the arts and culture editor for the Savannah Morning News and SavannahNow.com. He can be reached on Twitter at @zachdennisSMN or at zachdennisdot@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah GA needs to address crucial issues to become great city