May 22: Cindy Milstein on “Ghost Stories: Tales of Displacement from Gentrifying Metropolises” @ Guide to Kulchur, Cleveland
The GUIDE TO KULCHUR DIALOGUES series proudly welcomes author Cindy Milstein for her presentation “Ghost Stories: Tales of Displacement from Gentrifying Metropolises,” followed by an open forum discussion of the dynamics of neighborhood redevelopment and gentrification in the modern American city.
“Capitalism is again reshaping the landscape, this time forcing inner-city residents to the suburban and rural peripheries as it (re)appropriates the major metropolises for the ultra-rich. Today’s gentrification—neocolonialism and/or class war—is not only violently destructive of lives, homes, and cultures; it erases memory of what came before.”
In the wake of the financial crisis and thirty years of depopulation and deindustrialization, economic recovery in the American city is an open question with competing visions. On one hand is the attempt to generate real estate investment opportunities through large-scale condo projects and initiatives to attract new, wealthier residents to urban neighborhoods. On the other is a rejection of this vision as a form of enforced displacement and redlining, preferring to focus on the qualitative aspects of these neighborhoods and the history of the spaces.
Cindy will share first-person tales of displacement and resistance, especially in San Francisco, and then frame questions for an open forum evening of dialogue. All attending are welcome to participate.
For some related reading, see “The Power to Stay: Magical Realism from SF’s Mission, http://cbmilstein.wordpress.com/2014/04/08/the-power-to-stay-magical-realism-from-sfs-mission/.