Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Harlem

224 Words1 Page

I grew up in Harlem as well and when I returned earlier this year after my contract ended with Disney in December I was completely floored. Although, most of the changes made have been positive and no one complains about our new healthier food options or the renovations. Still, it makes you question why it took so long for the city to care. Is it because we have young professionals moving to the area for convenience or is it because our demands and protest were finally heard? In an area known for gang violence and most young men of color don't anticipate their 18th birthday. All of a sudden I walk down 125th and there's heavy police presence with multiple vehicles on each side of the street. I fear waking up one Saturday morning and no one's

Show More
Related

  • Bushwick Case Study

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Has Bushwick changed for good? I am a Bushwick resident for many years now and have seen the changes that have happened. Yes, I agree some things are in the best interest of all who live in this area however after listening to many long-time residents, my opinion has changed. Over the past several years, Bushwick, a neighborhood spanning 1.3 square miles with a population of over 85,000 residents is the next new spot for white residents. Property owners began renovating old buildings and offering them as "lofts" to white residents who want more space, cheap rent and easy access to Manhattan. Transportations to the city is a must to almost all white residents, because of this the MTA began making improvements on the L train. The reputation of Bushwick was notably “ghetto”, this changed once listings began to pop up for

    Read More

  • Gentrification and White Preference in the Rhode Island Housing Market

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Schaffer, Richard, and Neil Smith. "The Gentrification of Harlem?" Annals of the Association of American Geographers 76.3 (1986): 347-65.Department of Geography. Hunter College of the City of University of New York. Web. 25 May 2014. .

    Read More

  • Gilbert Osofsky’s Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    This book was written in the 1960’s so it is hard to tell what were Osofsky’s biases, misconceptions, and influences while writing this book. There are a few passages that come across as ignorant or biased towards the Black community, but there is no doubt that this extensive analysis does do justice to the history and situation of Harlem, New York. Osofsky does a great job of framing his study socially, economically, and philanthropically, but he does little in the way of politics. His analysis does not include a political framework that would help answer some questions of political racism, de facto segregation, de jure segregation, public welfare, impoverished schools, etc. At some points throughout the book, it seems as though Osofsky is blaming the Black community for their own troubles.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Jamaica

    117 Words  | 1 Pages

    Growing up in Jamaica, I enjoyed worship. I remembered looking forward to church. We clapped our hands and stomped our feet and made a joyful noise unto the Lord. We didn't have keyboards and drums. We clapped and sounded like timbrels. I remembered when I learned to testify and it helped me and several others to build our confidence. I would sing in the local churches when they have special events. I watched young people being filled with the Holy Ghost and I wanted it so badly that I would pray and ask God to give it to me. I remembered watching my mother and my sister speak in tongues and I so wanted to do it.

    Read More

  • Consumerism Taking Over Harlem

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    In just a few paragraphs Mattson provides concrete evidence for his overall argument by creating more specific arguments and by using evidence from sources from the 1920s. In the three short paragraphs found on pages 312 to 314 he proves that before consumerism took over, Harlem was a place of strong democratic debate by citizens. He illustrates how passionately people gathered to educate themselves on issues that would affect them. His readers realize that without this communication public space is just a place where strangers pass each other by. The democratic interactions created much needed unity among neighbors, but the story of Harlem presented in this text shows how consumer culture and corporate power eventually takes over making Harlem a “playground for a new urban consumer ethic” (292).

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of A Rage In Harlem

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    An adequate, detailed description of the setting in ay novel is essential to the reader’s experience. The reader is not provided with any visual cues (unless it is a rare case and the book is illustrated) and must rely solely on the author’s writing ability to achieve a sense of full emersion into the storyline. When the reader is provided with vague detail it is easy for the individual to become frustrated and quickly lose interest. In Chester Himes novel “A Rage in Harlem”, Himes does an excellent job of putting the reader directly in the center of twentieth century Harlem. At times his descriptive writing style border on the extreme, perhaps even making the reader in an emotionally uncomfortable situation. However, with his unique writing style was able to bring the city of Harlem to life for many individuals, who if not to Himes, would have never been exposed to the reality of Harlem and individuals who “lived” Harlem every single day of their lives.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The South Bronx

    2346 Words  | 5 Pages

    The South Bronx, New York City: another northern portrait of racial divide that naturally occurred in the span of less than a century, or a gradual, but systematic reformation based on the mistaken ideology of white supremacy? A quick glance through contemporary articles on The Bronx borough convey a continuation of less-than-ideal conditions, though recently politicians and city planners have begun to take a renewed interest in revitalizing the Bronx. (HU, NYT) Some common conceptions of the Bronx remain less than satisfactory—indeed, some will still express fear or disgust, while some others have expressed the fundamentally incorrect racial ideas studied here—but others recall the Bronx with fondness, calling it a once “boring” and “secure” neighborhood.(BRONX HIST JOURNAL, p. 1) What are we to do with such radically different accounts between The Bronx of yesterday, and the impoverished borough of today? If we speak in known, contemporary cultural stereotypes, then segregation is strictly a Southern design, but natural otherwise—but to record this as a natural occurrence, no different than a seasonal change or day turning to night, would be to ignore the underlying problem. The changing role of white Americans from majority to population minority in the Bronx, coupled with the borough’s title of “poorest urban county in America” (as of 2012), is the result of careful orchestration and a repeating story of economic and political gain superseding civil rights. (GONZALES, BRONX) (BRONX HIST JOURN, HARD KNOCKS IN BRONX @ poorest note ) It is not coincidence.

    Read More

  • Nathan Irvin Huggins: Culture And Identity Crisis In The Harlem Renaissance

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    During and after World War One , the Great Migration caused many African Americans to move from rural areas of the country to the northern states. Many people flocked to Harlem, New York in hopes that they too would become a part of the culture phenomenon taking place. This culture boom became known as The Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was an influential movement that “kindled a new black culture identity “(History.com). With the turning of the age it seemed the perfect opportunity for Afro- Americans to create a new identity.

    Read More

  • Analysis: The Harlem Renaissance

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to a period at the end of World War I through the mid-30s, in which a group of talented African-Americans managed to produce outstanding work through a cultural, social, and artistic explosion. Also known as the New Negro Movement. It is one of the greatest periods of cultural and intellectual development of a population historically repressed. The Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of art in the African-American community mostly centering in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s. Jazz, literature, and painting emphasized significantly between the artistic creations of the main components of this impressive movement. It was in this time of great

    Read More

  • Housing Segregation and Minority Groups in the United States

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    The downgrading of African Americans to certain neighborhoods continues today. The phrase of a not interested neighborhood followed by a shift in the urban community and disturbance of the minority has made it hard for African Americans to launch themselves, have fairness, and try to break out into a housing neighborhood. If they have a reason to relocate, Caucasians who support open housing laws, but become uncomfortable and relocate if they are contact with a rise of the African American population in their own neighborhood most likely, settle the neighborhoods they have transfer. This motion creates a tremendously increase of an African American neighborhood, and then shift in the urban community begins an alternative. All of these slight prejudiced procedures leave a metropolitan African American population with few options. It forces them to remain in non-advanced neighborhoods with rising crime, gang activity, and...

    Read More

  • Harlem Renaissance Essay

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    Harlem Renaissance was a period where the black intellectuals comprised of the poets, writers, and musicians explored their cultural identity. This paper will explain what the Harlem Renaissance period was really about , as well as the artists that were associated with this practice including Marian Anderson, James Weldon Johnson, and Romare Bearden.

    Read More

  • Essay On Gentrification

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...r of inequality in America, with so much poverty located within such a close proximity to the White House. That being said, gentrification efforts in DC appear to be focused on removing poor people, or at the very least, the visual image of crime, poverty, and corruption as it relates to the most powerful city in the country. Community activist groups have tried time and time again to stop gentrification from affecting their community, but often times, to no avail. What is truly sad is that while this cycle is continually perpetuated as a matter of “haves versus have nots” the way in which this system seems to always disproportionately marginalize one race of people in favor of another, does raise the question as to whether or not gentrification was orchestrated to operate in such a manner; and if so, what are the affected groups going to do about it.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Harlem Renaissance

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    How do musicians during the Harlem Renaissance relate to musicians in today’s society and how do they influence them? Musicians relate and influence musicians in today’s society for many different reasons. However, not only do musicians during the Harlem Renaissance relate to musicians in today’s society and influence them but artists, actors, painters and poets in the Harlem Renaissance did also. During the 1920s is when the Harlem Renaissance blossomed in the African American culture, particularly in creative arts and influential movement in African American literary history. Without the Harlem Renaissance eminent people today such as Beyoncé Knowles, Jay-Z, Morris Chestnut, Maya Angelou and Gabrielle Union would not be relevant.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative: My Experience With Segregation

    354 Words  | 1 Pages

    I don’t think they could’ve done anything more than what they were doing. I say that because if they would’ve done more they would’ve gotten their “head busted” like John Gray’s friend Brookley Field. In those times, what authority did a black person really have? They didn’t have anyone to take up for them and were punished without question so I don’t think it was much they could really do. I think the experience of fighting made them realize what they were fighting for. Once, they understood that they were fighting for their worth and for what’s right, I think it made it more of an impact on them. My grandma is 88, so her experience was totally different from mine. She experienced segregation at an all-time high. My experience with segregation

    Read More

  • Harlem Renaissance Essay

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance was an African-American cultural movement that took place in the 1920’s and the 1930’s, in Harlem NYC, where black traditions, black voice, and the black ways of life were celebrated. Alain LeRoy Locke, also known as the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance”, was a philosopher best known for his writing and support of the movement. Alain LeRoy Locke impacted the Harlem Renaissance by helping the spread of black culture and being declared the father of the movement; the movement has also influenced African-American art and culture into the modern era since the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance can be seen in the work of Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott and in movement groups such as Black Lives Matter.

    Read More

More about Personal Narrative: Growing Up In Harlem

Open Document