gentrification
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The Last Black Man in San Francisco Remembers the Heart of the City
Reading the script for The Last Black Man in San Francisco was like experiencing an earthquake, actor Johnathan Majors says. Strange at first, even surreal. “The whole ground is shifting. If you look at it…it actually seems impossible,” Majors tells me over the phone. “At the end of the script. It was like, things have…
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Beat Your Feet or Step Out the Way: D.C. Council Introduces Bill to Make Go-Go 'the Official Music of the District'
For almost 50 years, go-go has been the unofficial music of Washington, D.C. The former hallmark of Saturday nights in the metro area (also known as the DMV), go-go forebears like Chuck Brown and Rare Essence, and later acts like E.U., Backyard Band, and Mambo Sauce provided the soundtrack to family reunions, cookouts, pre-games, and,…
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Greedy Developers Try to Bully 94-Year-Old Black Woman Out of Her Property in Nashville
We are seeing it more and more in cities across the country: Greedy developers infringing on the lives of black and brown people who have lived in neighborhoods for decades, attempting to push them out in order to raise housing costs and make a profit. In Nashville, Tenn., one determined 94-year-old black woman has said…
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From Incarceration to Gentrification: Realtors Drool Over Prospect of Turning Former Harlem Prison into ‘Trophy Real Estate’
If you’re the sort of person who believes we’re currently in—or at the very least, teetering on the brink of—a warped, capitalist dystopia, then go ahead and pull up a seat, because do I have a story for you. Within a matter of weeks, an eight-story minimum security men’s prison will be sold off in…
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On the 1-Year Anniversary of BBQ Becky, Oakland’s 510 Day Proves There’s Still Plenty of Work to Be Done
With the soul of the city at stake, there’s a civil war brewing in Oakland, Calif. Movies like Blindspotting and the Boots Riley-helmed Sorry to Bother You gave us a glimpse into this escalating feud, but there’s no better example of the conflict raging than the infamous BBQ Becky debacle, which occurred almost a year…
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‘Economic Version of Black Lives Matter’: Nipsey Hussle Planned to Tackle Gentrification Before His Life Was Cut Short
The stories of Nipsey Hussle’s entrepreneurship and community activism were legion following his being gunned down in front of the store he owned in South Los Angeles. But in the weeks since his death, new reports are coming out showing how extensive Hussle’s plans were, not only for his native South Los Angeles, but disenfranchised…
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Welfare for the Wealthy: Trump Administration Tax Loophole Is Government Assistance for Gentrifiers
Hidden in the new tax code passed by a Republican-led Congress and signed by the Trump administration is a new program that critics say will reward gentrification by giving billions in tax breaks to wealthy venture capitalists, individuals and corporations who invest in low-income communities. On Wednesday, April 17, as journalists waited for the release…
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Howard U's President Dropped a Statement About Walking Dogs On The Yard; Here's How It Reads In My Head
Washington, DC, is in the midst of a culture war between the new residents who want to mold the city into their own version of VanillaTown and the folks who didn’t ask for any of this shit but now have to defend their ways of life. Yes, we’re talking gentrification. From new residents of Chinatown…
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'Move the Campus': #GentrifyingGeorge Says Students Should Move Howard University If They Have A Problem With Gentrification
Howard University’s yard isn’t a dog park, but the historic black university in Washington, D.C., has been reduced to as much by colonizing residents who have made it their home (and Lassie’s). As reported by DCist, Susan and the like have descended on HU’s hallowed grounds with their puppies on parade despite the fact that…