[Photo of Sarah Schulman via MoRUS]
From the EVG inbox...
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m. at The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS)
ON THE EAST VILLAGE, STREET ACTIVISM AND THE GENTRIFICATION OF THE MIND — A discussion of Sarah Schulman’s life, writing, and the history of East Village activism, art, and the gentrification of the imagination between Sarah Schulman and Benjamin Shepard.
Does social change come from institutions or from grassroots movements? And what of the legacies of AIDS, housing, and gardens activism in New York’s East Village? Did the city create these changes or did activists? And what is the legacy of these struggles? Will the efforts of regular people be lost to the gentrification of the imagination or can regular New Yorkers create their own history and institutions?
Schulman is the author of 16 books, most recently "The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination" (U of California Press) and "Israel/Palestine and the Queer International" (Duke University Press). She is co-producer with Jim Hubbard of the documentary feature film UNITED IN ANGER: A History of ACT UP, which they will be screening in Moscow at the end of October. Sarah is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at the City University of New York, College of Staten Island and on the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace.
MoRUS is at 155 Avenue C between 9th and 10th Streets. There is a $5 suggested donation for each event, but no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds.
5 comments:
There is a major activist movement that has taken off over the past five years in the East Village and LES. This movement focuses on the assault on residents by the nightlife industry. These groups are fighting to stop the proliferation of liquor licenses and the establishments that seek them to drive out long time residents. This movement focuses on an issue that is impacting the community NOW.
The proliferation of liquor licenses are driven by real estate developers and community board members who have situated themselves on the SLA and Land Use Committees for the sole purpose of squashing long time residents.
We won't take it anymore.
When you misuse a word, such as gentrification, you rob it of its meaning. It might be intentional, it might not be, but this is the result.
Right you are, shmnyc.
...or enrich its meaning, extending its use with a synechdoche. Here it doesn't seem to be a cheap trope: she's looking at social and political consequences, not just the conventional meaning's materialist causes. Let's not be fascists of discourse or ideologues of language. (-;
The literature on gentrification misunderstands the dynamic in Loisaida anyway.
When I saw Gentrification of the Mind at St Marks Bookshop last year I picked it up cos Sarah is a neighbor of mine and it's always great to support the people you know. I was happily surprised I liked the book as much as I did - I am somewhat cynical when I think I will be subjected to a diatribe - I prefer my own. The author's dedication as an activist and warrior to the well-being of others and her clear-sighted perception of the urban environment was both inspiring and sad.
BTW the use of the word 'gentrification' in the context of the title - surprisingly appropriate.
Would recommend reading.
Kim
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