Gentrification has been going on for decades. In my childhood it was called Urban Renewal. It was whitewashed as the good deed of restoring neighborhoods that were dangerous and/or unsightly to become safer and more aestheticly pleasing. What was glossed over was that the people evicted were primarily poor and working class people of color who--surprise, surprise--could not afford to rent or own the renewed properties.
It's never gone away. Just gone by different names for the same evil. Those highways our nation is so proud of. Many cut through beloved communities of color with ruthless greed and surgical precision. And since the pandemic it's only gotten worse. The wealthy can now bypass government agencies and swoop down in coveted neighborhoods buying up properties and making it impossible for families who have lived there for generations to stay in their beloved homes and communities.
It's so nefarious it almost makes me wish I could believe in a Biblical Hell. Jesus would certainly have had something to say and not "Great location for a Starbucks."
If it's heartbreaking for adults, imagine what it's like for it's like for a teen preparing for one of her biggest and most challenging life transitions. Actually you don't have to imagine; you can read Renee Watson's This Side Of Home. It's a slightly older book but well worth the extra effort to acquire. Maya, Watson's protagonist, lives in a rapidly gentrifying Portland [Oregon] neighborhood. She's seen beloved Black founded and owned stores replaced by fancy white owned ones. She's seeing long time residents priced out of their homes--including her long time best friend, Essence.
Maya, her identical twin sister, Nikki, and Essence have been inseparable. Now Nikki rarely has time to join Maya in visiting Essence, seemingly preferring to hang out with Kate, the rich white girl whose family bought Essence's old home. And while Maya avoids the new white stores Nikki can't seem to get enough of them.
The girls had planned to go to the same historically black college and room together, first in a dorm, then in an apartment. Now nothing is certain.
And then there's the high school the girls go to. The new principal, the third in four years, seems more intent on making the school look not bad to reporters than creating changes that will actually help the students.
YA readers with a passion for social justice will find This a Side Of Home to be highly engaging and thought provoking.
On a purrrsonal note, the weather continues to be beastly cold. Today I don't intend to go any further than my mailbox at the end of the street. And the only reason I'm going that far actually makes for a good story. For Mothers Day 2020 Amber gave me an Etsy virtual gift card. I had to wait til campus opened because Tobago and I had no clue how to redeem it. I'd written the numbers on a slip of paper which I had misplaced. It was going to expire in 2026. In December I'd remembered where I put it. Bailey was kind enough to come over and help me redeem it by ordering two cat and books themed shirts. I heard yesterday that one has reached Maine from wherever it shipped. Such excitement!
A great big shout out goes out to Amber and Bailey who I will think of whenever I wear the beautiful shirts.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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