Event: Taking Over
Venue: The Public Theater
Hours: 1.5 hours
Tonight I had the opportunity to experience the incredible talent of Danny Hoch, the writer and solo performer, in Taking Over. In this performance, Mr. Hoch takes on the persona of over a half dozen groups of people who are affected by this gentrification movement in New York City.
The show kicks off at the Williamsburg, Brooklyn Community Day where he is speaking to the crowd and talking about a variety of cultures and countries. He mentions the projects (which I found interesting since I went to a talk about public housing last week) and then he poses the question: “Who can stay in the neighborhood?” which he follows up with “Did it ever occur to you to ask who lives here?” That’s what got me thinking. There are so many movements to build luxury lofts (an issue discussed as another character) and improve the looks of the city, make accommodations for the wealthy, but what happens to those who cannot afford those lavish things, or better yet—what happens to those who get kicked out because their homes aren’t respected enough?
As he takes on one character, he is in the street talking to someone shooting an independent film. He is surprised that someone is actually shooting something other than people in this neighborhood because that is all that used to happen. He points to a “window” and says his mother is inside; she has been afraid to go outside since the 1980s. When another character is working out and talking to his personal assistant they acknowledge the idea that people do not feel safe when they hear someone playing Caribbean drums outside…why not?! Why do people still have these stereotypical negative feelings towards others? He goes on to say that in 20 years, there will only be rich people living in this neighborhood—the ghettos will have been moved out of the city and into the suburbs.
I was again struck when he played the part of a Gallatin graduate who was selling things on the street and speaking to a passerby. The Gallatin graduate was dating a Dominican man and when she spent time with him and in his neighborhood, she told the passerby that she felt like she was in another country even though she was still within the city. She said that, as a white woman, it is weird feeling like a minority because, “Hi, we’re in America!” and she used her relationship with a Dominican as her connection to another culture and another people and it made me wonder how valid that really is. Finally, in the second to last scene, Mr. Hoch played himself and spoke of the sense of entitlement people feel and express towards others—entitlement.
While Mr. Hoch absolutely brought up an assortment of issues and groups of people, and used derogatory language and stereotypical terms to describe people, he was able to pull it off and insert humor when possible (he even made some jokes about NYU). The audience was entertained and able to walk away appreciating the fact that someone is actually willing to speak up and speak out!
In connecting this to myself as a teacher, I think it is important to look at who my students are and who my students may be in the future. Where are they coming from? What is their social and cultural context? I again was able to recognize the importance in my being an advocate for my students and a source of support for them. As someone who wants to teach in areas where students may be experiencing the negativity of gentrification, it made me more aware of multiple perspectives and the sensitivity I must have, the awareness I must exhibit, and how much I have to continually educate myself and become an integrated and involved community member.
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3 comments:
I found your response to this play to be very interesting. The experience that you shared really made me think a lot about gentrification in a new light. So often I feel like I am surrounded by people who see the gentrification process as a positive thing, when in reality it has a downside. Recently people have been talking a lot about how Harlem has become much safer of the years and "cleaned up." While I do believe that it is important to create a safe community it should also be important to keep the culture and identity.
I'm glad that this play took the opportunity to expose the other side of gentrification. Hopefully as teachers we can advocate for our students community along with them if they face this situation.
Thanks for sharing this, Angelica. I've also been thinking a lot about gentrification, especially considering where I'm living right now (Bed-Stuy) and how the community here is being affected. Like Sammy said, it's too bad gentrification is often tied to a decrease in crime, because I think that's what makes most people see it as such a positive force. I agree that as teacher's we really need to be aware of where our students are coming from and how much of an impact the neighborhood and community has on them. We also need to empower them to have a positive impact in their community so neighborhoods can be improved without necessarily losing their cultural identity.
Your reaction to the play makes me wish I had seen it, because as mentioned in the responses, gentrification is usually seen as a good thing. Growing up in Brooklyn, I have seen how segregated New York City has been, and how that is changing through gentrification. However, it is not that places that were once seen as bad neighborhoods are become more diverse and tolerant, it is that many people of lower socio economic status are being pushed out. I think New York City needs to make room for everyone, and crime can be solved without gentrification.
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