Community Board: Anti-Gentrification Conference
1st Annual Harlem Anti-Gentrification Conference
The Historic Community of Harlem Under Attack: Fight Back and Resistance
Forging Alliance and Building Principle Unity
June 1st & June 2nd 2007
St. Ambrose Church @ 9 West 130th Street
(Between Fifth and Lenox Avenues)
CONFERENCE AGENDA
June 1, 2007
4:00 PM to 9:00 PM Opening Plenary
4 to 6 PM: Documentary Film and Discussion: “Brooklyn Matters”
6 to 8 PM: Opening Plenary with guest panelists
8 to 9 PM: Social Hour & Networking
June 2, 2007:
MORNING CONFERENCE AGENDA
8 to 9 AM: Registration
9 to 10 AM: Morning Plenary with guest panelists
10 AM 12 Noon: Workshops (1, 2, & 3)
12 NOON TO 1:00 PM: LUNCH
AFTERNOON CONFERENCE AGENDA
1 PM to 3:30 PM: Workshops 4, 5 & 6
3:30 PM to 6 PM: Workshops 7, 8, & 9
6 PM to 7 PM: Closing Plenary: Which Way Forward:
Forging Alliances around Principle Unity
7 PM to 9 PM: Dinner and Networking
List of workshops: *Please note some of the workshops are subject to change.
1) Senior Citizens Protections & Supportive Services
2) Know Your Rights: Lease Renewals, Preferential Rents, Primary Residence, Landlord Harassment.
3) The Mitchell Lama Housing Crisis: Strategies and Solutions: An analysis of legislation, direct action and political accountability.
4) Building Coalition and Alliances: The commonality of struggle against gentrification: Lesson and best practices from organizers and activists fighting gentrification in their neighborhoods
.
5) A look at the prison industrial complex: The role of community in breaking the chain: re-entry, lack of housing and recidivism.
6). Gentrification in Harlem: an examination of three major development that will dramatically alter Harlem’s physical, social and ethnic landscape: Columbia University expansion, 125th Street River to River Proposal and the formerly ?Uptown NY? project in East Harlem. The workshop will explore fight back strategies and resistance.
7) Katrina, the right of return and housing as a basic human right for everyone.
Building Alliances: critical examination of the relationship between the fight for immigrant rights and the historic civil rights movement.
9) An analysis of the Growing Economic Crisis in the US: war, bloated military spending, debt, infrastructure decay, growth of the prison industrial complex, rising unemployment & homelessness. What can we do?
Sponsored by Harlem Tenants Council, Delano Village Tenants Association, St. Ambrose Church, Harlem Fight Back. Endorsements (list in formation) Million More Movement Harlem Local Organizing Committee, Concerned Citizens Outreach to Save Harlem Hospital & Rehab Service, Emma Chapman, Phil DePalo, New York Community Council, Attorney Tarif Warren,
For additional information contact Harlem Tenants Council at 212-234-5005 or
Email at _harlemtenants@aol._ (mailto:harlemtenants@aol.com)
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Typical… People complain about what they didn’t create. White nor Black people is mentioned in teh title or any topics. Any body who does not respect the culture and heritage and the importance of Harlem is a part of the problem.
If you aren’t part of the solution you are part of the problem.
T. Gordon and Crawford… I can not wait until you are pushed out of your place… Believe me it will happen
Why does everyone think all the “rich” people moving to Harlem are white? Also, rich people aren’t moving to Harlem – middle class people are! And guess what – they are black too.
Get real – this is a horrible conference and I hope it fails. Who the hell wants Harlem to return to the crack hole it was in the 80s? If anyone does, they do not care for this neighborhood.
As for being displaced – yes it is a problem everywhere – not just Harlem. It happens in Kansas!
I agree with some of the posters here – why don’t these anti gentrication people focus on uplifting their communities instead of trying to stop progress.
Unbelievable.
I have to admit I’m not so hot about the title just because it sets it up as an adversarial agenda (which for some folks that may be the case). But if this event is supposed to be a forum or conduit for open discussion it would make more sense to choose a more neutral title to work under. I think when it’s titled in this matter it scares away the newcomers. There are plenty of white folks who have moved up here and have no specific agenda to wipe out the neighborhood or anything like that. They’ve come looking for better pricing on real estate. They’re just as interested about understanding the gentrification phenomenon as those who are native to the area. It just seems that something like this will just give them reason to hide in their apartments and vent on curbed rather than educating themselves to what is occuring in Harlem. That’s my qualm with it.
To address #2 and #5′s comments. We are in the midst of a capitalist economy which everyday is becoming more global. Land prices rise because there is more demand for an ever decreasing supply of space. However, because we don’t exist in a perfect market vacuum like our economy textbooks setup, there are measures taken upon by gov’t (federal, state, local) to even out the disparities and inconsistencies between those at or below the poverty line and those with significant wealth.
Peoples’ livelihoods are in the balance in Harlem. By no means am I suggesting that everyone in Harlem is a victim. You are correct that social issues like poverty and education should be addressed. However, we cannot simply be overrun by what you dub “market forces” when it is skewed at the very foundation. It is our job as the people to keep checks/balances on those with power who are blurring the lines in our neighborhood and creating a mega-polis unconcerned with those currently living here. It is the same concern white rich folks demonstrated when Robert Moses wanted to build highways traversing the city landscape. They were heard. The people in the South Bronx were not. Did one group not deserve to be considered? Are we supposed to simply say, “It’s okay. I’m sure they know what they are doing.” Absolutely not!
Renovation and revitalization is necessary. Building housing is a natural phenomenon of urban economics, especially in New York. However, the accelerated rate at which it is occurring is not natural.It is fueled by hasty rezoning laws, shady tax breaks, and unseen deals in dark rooms that make the process too expedient to be examined properly for benefits and consequences. WE are the collateral damage.
That being said I do think the concept of having a great gathering with workshops and talks is great. I’m all for townhall-esque forums for concerned citizens. My hope is that it turns out to be dialogical exchange rather than shouting matches and a race for the best sound bite.
As an alternative:
“1st Annual Conference for the Preservation of Harlem Culture.”
and following some of the planned topics
“what are my rights and how might I thrive in an increasing competitive and globalised world”
This is a disturbing in this day and age. America is a capitalist society and it is more evident in Manhattan than any other part of this country so I do not understand why people in a neighborhood of Manhattan (Harlem) seem to be appalled when they experience the impacts of capitalism. Can anyone expect that their community be exempt from the basic principles of this country? An anti-gentrification conference is self-destructive and ignorant since gentrification has many benefits that will uplift the Harlem community. Think of the difference of Harlem over the past 2 decades. Now think of hew reasons why Harlem is better place to live now.
The people behind conference should devote their time to real social problems like poverty, crime or educating and uplifting low-income residents rather than wasting time fighting the lost cause such as gentrification.
I’m all about it. The historical and cultural integrity of Harlem should be preserved and the neighborhood should not be turned into a miasma of condos and Starbucks. We all know gentrification pushes “low-income” people (that’s PC for Black) OUT and encourages wealthy people (White) to move in. If you really want to help the community, why not develop better schools, and housing for the residents that ALREADY live there!
Such a divisive name for a conference.
Count me out. I am PRO-GENTRIFICATION. Low-income residents are already protected from displacement, whether they live in NYCHA, Section 8, or rent-stabilized housing. See Lance Freeman’s (of Harlem and Columbia U.) study of gentrification…
I’m sorry but it’s a ridiculous name with negative connotations.
What about Anti-Progress or Anti White People.