Join us on 12/12/12 @
Station North ARTS CAFE
from 6 to 8 AM when
WEAA's The Baltimore Blend hosts a
Community Coffee Talk
When is Revitalization NOT Gentrification?
in partnership with the
Gentrification (K)not Project
in Station North
June 2013
A Dream Deferred
by Langston Hughes
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Go HERE for current info about the The Gentrification (K)not Project
Gentrification, what does it mean and how can ART help prevent it from happening in Station North?
Kevin Brown a co-proprietor of Station North ARTS Cafe Gallery, jude Lombardi social artivist and researcher/writer Leo Zimmermann are curating an art/video/conversations Extravaganza about preventing Gentrification in Station North in Baltimore City to take place in SN June 2013.
We define gentrification as the dynamic that emerges when poor urban neighborhoods—through a process of renovations, restoration and residential shifts—change in ways such that current residents can no longer live or work in their neighborhood.
The focus of this project is to explore, examine and invite alternative ways of thinking, being and doing so that gentrification does not emerge during the restoration and revitalization of Station North.
We are looking for people, artists, activists, academics, and others (even politicians) who might be interested in participating in exhibits/events/dialogues that will take place in and around Station North during the month of June (Home Ownership Month) 2013.
For further information please contact us at kNotGentrification@gmx.us or stop by the Station North ARTS Cafe at 1816 North Charles Street.
We know what we don't want, so how do we prevent it from happening?
Premise
Like diversity, collaboration is not only important but essential to our project. We hope to experiment with different ways for people to communicate when working together. For instance one of our team created a wikkii web page that anyone can edit for sharing, brainstorming and generating ideas about how to prevent gentrification from emerging in Station North.
It is our desire that the Gentrification (K)not project compliment the efforts of Station North Arts Entertainment District (SNAED) when organizing this Extravaganza so that dialectical conversations that identify key factors and variables can shape the future of Station North in positive ways.
Experience suggests the more diverse a group (or community), the more likely conflict will emerge during collaborative conversation.
When addressing Occupy Wall Street, Angela Davis asked: "How can we be together? How can we be together in a community that respects and celebrates the differences among us? How can we be together in a unity that is not simplistic, that is not oppressive, BUT rather complex and emancipatory? Our unity must be complex and emancipatory." She evoked the words of the Black, Lesbian, Feminist Audre Lorde: "Differences must not be merely tolerated BUT seen as a fund of polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic."
How do we change our attitudes toward conflict and tension so that they may become dialectic opportunities for addressing our differences? This will be an element of our project development as we engage in conversations in order to collaborate. We don't agree about everything, and life would be boring if we did. We do need to understand how to collaborate and how to become healthier by challenging each other. --