collaborate:create

I’m excited to have three new characters in my life.  I know them and they can do anything now.

Like wind through the trees...

Inspiration comes from...

While interviewing neighbors about their hope for the Central District, I met a white man in his thirties, cleaning out flower pots in his garden.  When I asked about his hopes for the neighborhood, he said, "'I'd like to see more pride in the neighborhood."  I agree, I thought instinctively.  That's what we all want, isn't it, a sense of community, a place to live we can all be proud to call home.  When I pressed him for more details, he said, "Less loitering.  Less littering."  And I realized that pride for him, didn't have anything to do with connecting with the people in his community.  It was cosmetic, about the objects around him.   I was disappointed.  But then I walked home, and I went up the stairs, and felt a small twinge of relief that there none of my very nice neighbors were on the porch to share small talk.  I make theater, which is all about human connection, based on fundamental transactions between people, and I assume all the time that these connections are as necessary as breathing.  But even though I know I need those moments of connection, that I need a sense of community, I don't always want them.  Sometimes I too just want "No littering, no loitering.

Sources of inspiration

A phrase from the first meeting that's resonated with me the whole process has been 'Gentrification is a lonely thing.'

Seattle will take care of Seattle

For yesterday's challenge, I had interviewed a developer last weekend and was surprised by his point of view so I had wanted to share it. We tend to look at the developers coming in as money-hungry, greedy people who don't care about the communities they are displacing, but Eric (my interviewee) was actually very nice and has lived in the community for a long time so he really wanted to make as many improvements while causing as little pain as possible. He was upset that gentrification is being vilified so much, to the extent that nobody in the community wanted to make suggestions for positive changes that could be brought. The piece of land he is working with is already vacant and it's big enough to include a small park, some high-density residences, and a community gathering place, but he's only gotten negative feedback towards putting anything in at all. It made me think about whether we are fighting too hard against gentrification, and that maybe both sides need to get a little better at talking to each other.

Africa Town - There's a movement in the Central District to label the area as Africa Town, centered on 23rd & Union, which has historically been the heart of the Seattle's black community. The term is claims a cultural identity for the neighborhood. While welcoming new and diverse residents, it's a reminder to newcomers that the existing community still belongs there and should be respected for who they are and included in the development process.