The Future is Another Country
People who lived in communities destroyed by urban renewal and gentrification frequently frame their narratives about displacement as theft. They see their homes, businesses, and churches as stolen by capitalism. Spaces for the dead are among those stolen and erased.
We are too used to worshiping rich people in our country.
As we occupy a world of increasing plenty, we must concede that the way we distribute resources is a choice. We choose to let our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico starve. That is our collective failure, not theirs.
White backlash was never limited to the southern states. Vast and sudden changes after 1865—especially implied by the prospect of emancipating four million black people—stirred ugly counterattacks and racial backlash against the nation’s free black northern population.
Life and cultural expectations in East Texas continue to promote segregation in both personal and social relationships. Although white supremacist marches like the one in Charlottesville grip American headlines, neo-Nazis and Klansmen supporting the same doctrine in the open are not uncommon behind the Pine Curtain.
By his own admission, film creator Gottlieb was able to spend most of his life in Silver Spring shielded from the community’s past that included widespread discrimination in the community’s businesses, public buildings, and housing. Even after completing the film, Gottlieb appears to have learned little about the substantial role racism played in shaping his community.
In this climate of hostility towards assertive black men, the court would have viewed all of Pompeyo’s actions as crimes against the natural order of society, rather than merely a dispute between two individuals.
After the Civil War, African American men gained the right to vote and with the support of African American women, elected thousands of black men to public office in local, state and federal positions across the South.
Since 2003, Active Minds has empowered students facing mental health struggles to share their stories to let others know they’re not alone and to spread that message: help and hope are available.
