Thursday, July 28, 2011
Gentrification - Good or Bad?
This Washington Post Article on gentrification in Anacostia has got me thinking about how we talk about the less fortunate and the neighborhoods they live in.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Anacostia Continued...
More pics of the Frederick Douglass house. What do you guys think of the sign that Randelle's standing next to?
Anacostia Continued...Frederick Douglass House | Museum
These are pictures from the Frederick Douglass Museum.
Anacostia Continued...
Inspirational Mural we saw on Good Hope.- Row of either remolded or boarded up homes.
- Look at the clouds! Absolutely beautiful! Just more neighborhood pics as well, notice the little "Cho's" market. Referring back to our talk about "Black owned" or "Korean owned" businesses.
- Also, graffiti that graces the neighborhoods, but surprisingly, not completely all over the place!
Anacostia
- It's not the greatest picture of the library, but look at the clouds in the background!
- Also, a random neighborhood picture, all too familiar as we passed several blocks.
- The recycled materials and the mini Panton chairs in the library!
- Also, more boarded up buildings, it could be something so pretty too!
Anacostia
Hi Everyone,
Another great field trip to the Anacostia area, starting with the library. Upon arriving at the library, I was pleasantly surprised--to say the least. First, how great is it that the brand new library is [I think] a Green building? Although I'm not sure if it's LEED certified or not, it clearly looked "green" to me just from the materials alone. The structure itself is open and airy--and a great contribution to Anacostia. Besides the architecture and the building itself, I noticed mini designer Panton chairs in the children's section [THAT made me really, really happy] as well as the use of recycled paper throughout the book shelves and columns; numerous computer stations and although we didn't go upstairs, I did some further research to find that it IS two stories!
Anacostia to me, was really sad. It was desolate for a Saturday afternoon. We hardly saw people--and when we did, it was either at the laundry mat, the nearby convenience store or the patrons we saw in the library. Restaurants comprised of merely take-out or "to-go" places because I clearly DID NOT see any dining room tables or chairs in any of them. But that's just the jist of my experience there. As we walked around the neighborhoods on our way to the Frederick Douglass Museum, it wasn't uncommon to see fixed up homes amongst boarded up and vacant properties. It seemed as though I was in some small random town in the middle of Arizona, having people look at us as if we're foreigners or that we simply "don't belong". But regardless of how the town "looked" or how lost we looked--when we clearly weren't, I didn't feel threatened or uncomfortable. I was merely disappointed in the desolate nature of Anacostia, it felt just so lonely and abandoned.
Anacostia is like one of those places that you would say WTF?! [Excuse my acronym's French nature :) ]. At times like these, it really made me want to turn this WTF into FTW [for the win] moments. Sorry, that may be mildly as annoying as the lemonade out of lemons phrase. Although there's still a sense of idealism in me, it is without a doubt that I thought for some time that there's something we can do. The library was a great step for a greater community, but how could it be possible that Anacostia seems like an old ghost town even if we're only over the river? Literally ten minutes away from the District itself? What can I do? How can we make Anacostia a safer, cleaner and more desirable place to raise children? What can we do to beautify this community and make it a more popular place to live?
It was Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday this week and although he says a great deal that always sticks to me, I thought of this [when thinking about Anacostia]: "As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same".
Hope you guys enjoy the pics. I especially love the picturesque clouds in the sky. Such a beautiful day in the neighborhood :)
Have a wonderful Friday and I'll see you guys tomorrow!
xo K
Another great field trip to the Anacostia area, starting with the library. Upon arriving at the library, I was pleasantly surprised--to say the least. First, how great is it that the brand new library is [I think] a Green building? Although I'm not sure if it's LEED certified or not, it clearly looked "green" to me just from the materials alone. The structure itself is open and airy--and a great contribution to Anacostia. Besides the architecture and the building itself, I noticed mini designer Panton chairs in the children's section [THAT made me really, really happy] as well as the use of recycled paper throughout the book shelves and columns; numerous computer stations and although we didn't go upstairs, I did some further research to find that it IS two stories!
Anacostia to me, was really sad. It was desolate for a Saturday afternoon. We hardly saw people--and when we did, it was either at the laundry mat, the nearby convenience store or the patrons we saw in the library. Restaurants comprised of merely take-out or "to-go" places because I clearly DID NOT see any dining room tables or chairs in any of them. But that's just the jist of my experience there. As we walked around the neighborhoods on our way to the Frederick Douglass Museum, it wasn't uncommon to see fixed up homes amongst boarded up and vacant properties. It seemed as though I was in some small random town in the middle of Arizona, having people look at us as if we're foreigners or that we simply "don't belong". But regardless of how the town "looked" or how lost we looked--when we clearly weren't, I didn't feel threatened or uncomfortable. I was merely disappointed in the desolate nature of Anacostia, it felt just so lonely and abandoned.
Anacostia is like one of those places that you would say WTF?! [Excuse my acronym's French nature :) ]. At times like these, it really made me want to turn this WTF into FTW [for the win] moments. Sorry, that may be mildly as annoying as the lemonade out of lemons phrase. Although there's still a sense of idealism in me, it is without a doubt that I thought for some time that there's something we can do. The library was a great step for a greater community, but how could it be possible that Anacostia seems like an old ghost town even if we're only over the river? Literally ten minutes away from the District itself? What can I do? How can we make Anacostia a safer, cleaner and more desirable place to raise children? What can we do to beautify this community and make it a more popular place to live?
It was Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday this week and although he says a great deal that always sticks to me, I thought of this [when thinking about Anacostia]: "As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same".
Hope you guys enjoy the pics. I especially love the picturesque clouds in the sky. Such a beautiful day in the neighborhood :)
Have a wonderful Friday and I'll see you guys tomorrow!
xo K
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