Gentrification Readings

Three things I thought were very interesting from the articles were:
1. How far back the history and actions that led to the current demographic environment of the area can be traced.
2. The 1928 segregation laws about Clarksville
3. In the "Dallas fed" article it talked about how the police treated the residents of East Austin differently, which I feel like is something that is not usually addressed or ignored if you live outside of the community.

1.) When reading the Empty Stairs article, I was amazed as to how far back in time the article went to explain East Austin. I did not expect the history to trace all the way back to the Republic of Texas era when the land was sold to freedman. History has always been an interested of mine, especially when it relates to your current surroundings or interests. It is mind boggling to think about how the actions, sales, and influences of that time effected the future so much.
2.) I currently live in the Clarksville area, and I have heard about some of the history of the area but I did not know fully the social climate of the area around 1928. My jaw literally dropped when I read the second article that stated how the city of Austin neglected the people's needs of this area so that they would be forced to moved into the "negro" district.
3.) The third point of interest caught my attention because my roommate, who is a Young Life leader at Travis High School, talks about this problem from personal experience. She says it is known among her girls (who live in this area) that the police discriminate and treat people in East Austin differently. She has told me stories about how the girls joke that if you're African American you will get in trouble over the hispanics, and that if they are with Hannah (who is a white, blonde hair, blue-eyed, bubbly college student) then they will not get in trouble. Hannah also says when she is in East Austin she can usually get away with going over the speed limit because the cops are busy doing other things than giving people speeding tickets. It is always interesting to read articles that have proof of what the community knows to be true. Sometimes we question the validity of if their is just a perception of discrimination amongst the people who are victimized, but the article proves the legitimacy of the situation.

5 Stages of the Craft Model

The five stages of the CRAFT model are: 
1. Contact
2. Research
3. Action
4. Feedback
5. Teaching 

As for our project at Martin Middle School I think the two most important components from the CRAFT model for us at the 
moment are "contact" and "research." We have been having communication problems with the Middle School so that is why
the first two components are so vital in our project.

Since we have decided on changing our project to have a photojournalism focus the third most important component will be 
teaching. We will have to show the kids how to use cameras effectively and declare what subject matter we want. 

I found it very interesting that less than 1% white students go to Martin Middle School. Coming from a diverse high school 
the unbalanced percentages of ethnicities represented at the middle school is shocking to me. Interestingly there is a almost 
a quarter of whites in the community.

The second piece of research I think is interesting is actually a lack thereof. When trying to find information about Martin 
Middle School on google I found it very difficult to find anything. When trying to find information on the school no photos 
would come up on google. I am not sure but it would be interesting to see if the lack of information is due to parents that 
do not have access to computers or utilize computers as a primary form of communication with school activities.

The third piece of research that has been helpful is my research done on photojournalism. Since the direction of our project
has changed to having the kids tell their stories using disposable cameras I have tried finding effective ways to teach kids the
art of photography. A big possible problem with having the kids take pictures is that they don't know how to use the camera or
they take photos that are not of a quality we can use. The kids we are working with may or may not have an interest in 
photography but that is something we do not know yet and cannot control. One of my favorite TED talks I have ever watched 
is on an artist named JR who does a form of storytelling through photos. His video helps get me excited about this change of
direction and the opportunity that the project now holds. However I still need to continue researching how to teach the kids
the technical and artistic ways to best utilize their cameras because I have yet to find a source that I like. 
(Here is the link to JR's TED talk: http://on.ted.com/JRTEDTalk)

Holly St., Marlo Heights and Austin Gentrification

BLOG POST ASSIGNMENT:  In your blog post for this week, discuss the similarities and differences between Holly Street, Marlo-Heights, and Colony Park.   Also, conduct some research on gentrification in Austin, Mueller Development in Austin, and food desert in Austin---all terms which were mentioned in the Colony Park Community Profile.   What did you learn about the terms?   How are they affecting Austin residents in these 3 communities?

Considering Colony Park is no longer a project I am just going to compare Holly Street and Marlo Heights.

Similarities: 


Differences:  


Gentrification in Austin: 
Gentrification as described by Google is: The restoration of run-down urban areas by the middle class (resulting in the displacement of low-income residents).

When researching information for my project on Holly St. and Martin Middle School, I found a website  that described the ethnicities of Martin Middle School and its neighborhood. The middle school itself has less than 1% whites while the area has far more represented in the population. This could be a result of gentrification, that most of the whites moving into the area have not had kids yet and are of a younger population since gentrification of this area is more of a recent "trend" among young professionals. I live in the Clarksville area of Austin and I know gentrification has already occurred in this area.

According to an article from the Austinist (http://austinist.com/2011/04/19/census_data_shows_significant_chang.php) the population of whites in East Austin has increased by 40%, while the population of African Americans in East Austin area have decreased by 27% and Hispanics by 10%. The concern is, where are they going?

Mueller Development in Austin:


Austin Food Desert: 
A food desert is an area where residents are living without nearby access to healthy foods, and they therefore resort to processed foods. People in East Austin might be close enough to markets or places with healthy options, but they might not be at a price affordable to the general population of the area.


I looked at the following website to read about Austin's food desert: 
http://speakupaustin.org/ideas/eliminate-food-deserts


How it affects the 3 communities: 

These areas are losing their homes and their culture because of gentrification. Many of families of this community are either moving in with relatives in the area or moving our of the area they have called home and further away from central Austin. New businesses and restaurants are popping up in this area and driving up the prices of food and other necessities of people in this area. As new businesses open up, and others are closing, people in this area are left with limited options for their every day purchases.

The food desert affects far more than what first meets the eye in East Austin. I have always had an interested in how eating healthy versus not affects our body and development. I have seen many documentaries that show the problems that Food Deserts have on child development especially when it comes to diabetes and education. Kids who are not living on a balanced diet often develop health problems and cannot focus during the day because they are not sustained on substantial, healthy calories. I am sure the schools in this area are suffering as a result of the ripple effects of the food desert.

Thoughts on Beginner's Guide to Community-Based Arts

I really enjoyed reading the story of Lily Yeh and James Maxton who worked in Philadelphia on "That Luminous Place." I loved how it showed multiple individual stories coming together to create great results not only once, but that led to many other projects and years of growth for this community. If it were not for Lily Yeh's courage of tackling the project this story of triumph would not exist-Maxton might not be sober. The ripples of this project are seen in the transformation of the kids and the doors of opportunity for them to express themselves creatively (one girl was on Nikelodean and went to Iceland because of The Village of Arts & Humanities.) I really enjoyed the quote in the end, "it's like broken pieces of mosaics...when we came together, something bigger than all of us happens...something that nurtures us all in a very deep way...something that I had been searching for..That's how it all happened...just a simple desire to build something on this abandoned lot.."

I love the metaphor of the project being linked back to the mosaic from the start. We are all broken pieces that have the ability to create beautiful pictures. Our stories, joined with others, create one large story. I also love that Yeh admits she took on the project for selfish reasons, not for philanthropic purposes, but it simply transformed into something larger than herself. I think this was my favorite story because Yeh did not take credit for the success, she humbly helped ignite the flame that lit this community back up.