meh.

so much for updating this thing on a consistent basis, huh? i suck. i have a notebook (page) full of wonderful topics, but i've been a little busy with life. i should get better because i actually like annoying people with what i write about.

i've been itching to write a piece on faith and social justice, and starting a couple more themes to force myself to contribute more, even if it's just posting a song that's been in my mind all day. also, i've deleted a bunch of posts i'd previously written. a bunch. the reason is because i want to change the direction and tone of this thing to be more of a reflection of who i am and who i'm becoming in Christ. so no more dissecting playboy interviews by belligerent singers who go on racist rants, no more posting secular music, especially since i stopped listening to the crap a while ago (which has, among other things, actually done my soul some good). but we'll see...

hollerrr

my semester is officially OVER. the writing commences...right...NOW!

gentrification in brooklyn

finally went to that exhibit at MoCADA a little while ago. here's a write-up on it that i had to do for a class on community arts and community development:

Honestly, no single issue has tormented my conscience more than the contentious nature of gentrification. Gentrification is a process. Contrary to common misinformation, gentrification is not a white or wealthy person moving into 912 Gates Avenue in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. It simply starts with this person, usually an artist, subjected to a life of semi-poverty and who's after the benefits of cheap rent. When that one person tells their friend about this “cheap, but cool and cultural” neighborhood they just moved into, their friend moves in. Then their friend’s friend. Then their friends, friends, rich friend moves in...

While I do believe that individuals migrating to certain neighborhoods have the right to live wherever they feel comfortable, and since I have long ago embraced my inner capitalist especially when it comes to neighborhood economic development and planning, I can’t help but cringe whenever these personal decisions become a gauge for developers on how ready a neighborhood is for whatever they determine “revitalization” to mean. It starts to get sticky when plans are drawn out by city planners, private developers, corporations, and even elected officials to plow through established communities without the involvement of the very people who helped to sustain these neighborhoods for decades in the first place.

The people who stayed are members of a community. Despite the implications of exclusive housing policies, the socio-economic phenomena of white flight, extreme poverty and lack of access to valuable resources, and a steady depletion of life chance, these communities of people managed to establish for themselves a common culture. They speak a common language, have elders who preserve the institutional memory of this community, and young people who wish to add to it through whatever medium their destiny forces them to choose. This to me is significant.

My concern with gentrification is the way, as a process, it starts with undermining what was already established thereby making it fairly easy for these new inhabitants to impose their will on people who call their neighborhoods not only home, but self.

I visited the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts's gentrification exhibit with this very thought process. Located in the Fort Green section of Brooklyn, MoCADA’s intentions were obvious: prepare for the public an exhibit showcasing the artistic community’s response to gentrification, make this art accessible, instrumentalize it for the purpose of community empowerment, make it art that is created by members of displaced communities, and make the subject matter one that is transparent by having experts come in discussing what gentrification means (both its definition and implications).

Advertisements for the event itself expressed open frustration about the economic, structural, and cultural changes taking place in their Brooklyn community. The pieces on display were ranged from passive aggressive and sarcastic, to openly angry. Some spoke of the "white washing" of formerly communities of color. One painting in particular was an advertisement for the exhibit. Called "Stinky Cheese", it poked fun at the pretension and disconnection found in bringing into poor neighborhoods things that poor people don't at all relate to, care about, or can't afford (like bringing into food poor communities gourmet shops when the majority of residents are on food stamps or where the rates of diet-related diseases are disproportionately high due to the overabundance of fast food, etc). It reaffirmed my concern about the cultural aspects of gentrification: it offends without empowering a community of people by refusing to work with the resources presently available. Instead, the tendency, whether intentional or not, is to wipe that resource out without bothering to assess its significance to people, places, and events.

this hiatus makes me sad

there's really not any real reason why i haven't been updating. i'm really not that busy. just really tired all the time. oh and my nephew took my laptop a bath. so for the about a month and a half i had no computer.

some quick updates:

1. i moved to my own place! it's gorgeous with bright light, white paint, cool roomies, and a fun neighborhood.
2. i got water baptized on april 2nd, 2010!!
3. after just 2.5 months into my locing process, i removed them bad boys. they just got on my nerves and i really wanted to just wash my hair and actually feel my scalp. recently, i got my hair dyed a gorgeous chestnut brown, and i'm back to rockin' my 'fro.
4. i'm learning how to drive (judge not. i'm from brooklyn. we don't do vehicles smaller than buses)

that's all i could think of. the blogging resumes with 25 more things, gentrification in brooklyn, the media's obsession with single black women, some songs of the day, this post i've been working on about haitian's and adoption, and other random stuff.

peace.

new exhibition at MoCADA

toronto-based artist specterart has created some interesting billboards in anticipation for the museum of contemporary afrcian disasporan art's current exhibition called The Gentrification of Brooklyn: The Pink Elephant Speaks (see below). the exhibit has been running since february 4th, and will up until may 16th of this year.

here's an exert from the press release:

This exhibition, guest curated by Dexter Wimberly, will examine how urban planning, eminent domain, and real estate development are affecting Brooklyn’s communities and how residents throughout the borough are responding. The exhibition will include the works of several Brooklyn-based artists, as well as those who have been forced to relocate as a result of gentrification. In addition to works of art featured at MoCADA, there will be a schedule of public programs taking place throughout Brooklyn.

i'm definitely visiting very soon. they're also supplementing the art with forums with community leaders and urban planners about gentrification and what it means for urban living. get excited!

i think these billboards are fun:

new hollywood has not a sprinkle of color?

word though?

apparently vanity fair's celebration of hollywood's fresh talent is limited to the lily white and rail thin? weren't some of the hugest films of 2009 starred by women of color? does vanity fair need a reminder about Precious? Avatar? or how about Slumdog Millionaire? i

then there are the small screen and tv young actresses of color like jurnee smollett of the great debaters, erica hubbard of lincoln heights, keke palmer of akeelah and the bee, afro-latina tessa thompson from veronica mars, monique coleman of high school musical, america fererra, selena gomez, frida pinto, and the list goes on and on...

my problem is sort of complicated. this exclusion makes me wonder if women of color in hollywood are overlooked, or if they are merely an afterthought? the former would mean that their talents and efforts are dismissed and disregarded, the latter implies that their talents are in fact acknowledged, but they will never be on par with the likes of kristen stewart and friends.

either way, if both are realities, i'm sort of nervous for my baby sister, and countless other actresses who have hopes of contributing to breaking seemingly unbreakable barriers in theatre and film...

quote of the day

"i'd rather be a small fish in a big pond with mad favor from God." - choklate moore

race, race, baby!

so, i really love talking about race, and deconstructing white psychology, stereotypes, myths, and straight up ignorance on various fronts. i think it's interesting how talking about race makes people feel super uncomfortable, but watching people's progression from discomfort to somewhat clarity from hearing a different perspective is why it's important to challenge each other.

i don't always get to discuss things from an anti-racist perspective without getting called everything under the sun. even today while volunteering at a training at one of nyc's whitest, most expensive, most prestigious universities, i had an encounter with someone who was made uncomfortable by something i said. the floor we occupied was decorated with oil paintings of former board of trustee presidents. when i joked about the intensity in the stare in one portrait, this is the conversation that ensued:

girl: yea, it's totally creepy that the one guy in that painting over there is staring directly at us
me: haha. it kind of makes me uncomfortable..
girl: (laughing) it's really bizarre that they're all old men and really rich looking
me: ...and white
girl: (shocked and clears throat uncomfortably)

her reaction intrigued me. it wasn't something i said to start trouble, it was me wondering aloud something i assumed was very obvious. but instead of acknowledging that one very obvious fact about the former presidents (and interestingly enough, the racial break down of that university), she reacted as though i had said something so perverse, offensive, and taboo. this is why i've started this component of my blog: i want break down and analyze these reactions as they occur, as well as more drawn out responses to inquiries regarding race...and class, gender, heteronormativity, etc in my personal life and in the media. i'm also learning and stumbling as i go along, so sometimes i'm going to straight up fail with my observations, so just bear with me and "let's talk about race, baby"!