I was asked to host a meeting with Strawberry Mansion, i mean Blackberry Mansion property owners to inform the property owners of what is taking place in our communities and hear their concerns. The meeting was scheduled for 5:30 pm in our community gardens. Invited to speak to the homeowners was Ms. Jacqueline Wiggins from Stadium Stompers, fighting Temple University family and community displacement plan. If Temple builds that stadium and displace those generational homeowners there will be residual affects for any and every piece of property from 33rd and Diamond to Broad Street. #OurCityIsNotConnected2OurFamilies Thomas D. El independent insurance broker was also invited to inform property owners about financial instruments aka insurance that allows them to avoid taxes and keep developers out of our community. The rain had stopped at 5pm and i got excited. 5:30pm no one is showing up and i'm sure rain is the excuse. That excuse would have worked if this was the #PressAndCurlEra. This is life or death of our community and the residents don't get the fact that their family legacy is at risk. To stuck in the trap of judgmental ways to be a united community. Don't know how to live together as common ground aka #Community while having their own identity aka culture. In other words agree to disagree but remain respectful of each other space. i spoke with property owners on our porches and they are concerned that condos are being built on Reservoir Drive and that will increase property taxes for them. My neighbor felt that the organizations running the community garden is suspect and just waiting to take over the land. They also don't believe there is any worth in attending meetings. They feel that when these developers and politicians have their mind made up then there is nothing we can do to change that plight. They don't seem to understand community input or community power, just how to do them. Had they attended the property owner meeting they would have learned the steps to keep the developers out. #Redlining=DeepPoverty #DivideAndConquer #WeAreWhatWeAreLookingFor #BlackberryMansion #NewRule #FinancialInstruments
Mr. Thomas D. El walks up and i ask if we can make a video to share with property owners, being the weather may have been the factor that kept them from hearing what he was sharing. There is ways to keep your property from being taken. We have to be responsible enough to learn and implement lifestyles that create legacies for our families. Mr. El touched on topics such as homeowners, work and life insurance as key game changers in holding on to our property, not having taxes to pay and keeping developers out of our community. Please view the video to learn about protecting your family and property. Then give him a call 610.803.8218 so you can get your #Legacy aka #PropertyBusiness in order.
Ivy still grows on the front of Langston Hughes' home in Harlem. There aren't many houses like it left in New York City. Real estate agents estimate it's worth over $3 million.
And that's before anyone talks about the fact that one of America's great writers -- a hero of the Harlem Renaissance -- lived there for much of the 1950s and 60s, until he passed away. His typerwriter is still on a shelf.
Pressure to sell "Hughes House" is escalating. The current owner listed it for a mere $1 million a few years ago, but it didn't sell. For now, the home sits empty. The owner doesn't live there. No one does. Paint is chipping off the front steps.
Renee Watson thinks it's a tragedy. That's why she started an Indiegogo campaign to raise $150,000 to rent the home and turn it into a cultural center honoring Hughes.
"The more Harlem changes, the more I'm motivated to do something," says Watson, a writer who lives nearby, and has watched gentrification flood in. A Whole Foods is set to open in the area early next year. Realtors predict prices will skyrocket even further.
"We -- the community -- must hold on to the space," says Watson. "I feel a sense of urgency."
So far, the initiative to save Hughes House has raised just over $25,000.
http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/19/news/economy/langston-hughes-harlem-home/index.html
Several members of the panel mentioned that they had to find their identity as people of color in the United States of America. There was back and forth discussion on "the SYSTEM." Are we breaking away from the system or as taxpayers are we making our way in this system? Who do we, can we trust? #DeepPoverty was defined and discussed as another way racist white people label people of color. Not sure if we all agreed, but Michael O'Bryan from Village of The Arts, stated that in African American communities "there is a disconnect from our culture, yet there are proud facts in the history of this country that is African culture."There is work to be done, because the bottom line is: "When
We Know Better, We Do Better." Brother Yumy Odom founder of Frator Heru Institute, moderated the discussion about #DeepPoverty in North Philadelphia with Retired Educator and Historian, Ms. Jacqueline Wiggins, Community Organizer, Moor Ali El, Artist/Advocate, Program Director at Village of The Arts, Michael O'Bryan, Early Childhood Development Provider Christine Churchwell and Music Artist/Advocate Richard Ransom aka Ram Riches.
1] What is deep Poverty? What is the origin of it? How is it manifested? How can we address it directly?
2] What are the economic fulcrums in N. Philadelphia? What is the state of employment / unemployment in Philadelphia? What needs to be done?
3] What is the plight / status of "education" / mis-education in Philadelphia?
4] How does dys-gentrification play into the current crises?
5] What do you have to offer to this discussion? Feel free to elaborate on your expertise.
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