OPEN STACKS | #40 Gentrifier: Marc Lamont Hill, John Joe Schlichtman, & Sharon Nelson-Payne

This week on Open Stacks, the de's and re's in urban space. Marc Lamont Hill and John Joe Schlichtman discuss their book, Gentrifier, and Woodlawn resident and community organizer Sharon Nelson-Payne describes the proposed community benefits agreement and the fight for equity on the south side.

Did you miss the Gentrifier selected bibliography when it went up? You can see the authors’ reading suggestions on our blog, here. 

The Obama Presidential Library has brought about a range of feelings and reactions from members of the communities surrounding its site in Jackson Park. Ms. Payne, representing Woodlawn's STOP organization, spoke for many who are in favor of a community benefits agreement (CBA). STOP is a founding member of the coalition for a CBA, which states on their site:

We universally agree that the Obama Presidential Center has the power and duty to help restore suffering south side communities in innovative ways, and to begin leveling the playing field historically pitched against African Americans. While we recognize the old ways of redeveloping black communities have not created community wealth, we see exciting potential to develop differently now. We aim to catalyze measurable and substantial increases in our community wealth and well-being through sustainable, inter-generational land ownership and transfer; increased revenue streams through neighbor-owned businesses and buildings; and revived resources for vibrant lifelong learning.

You can read the full development principles on their website.

For further reading and a broader range of thoughts on the Library, see this article from the Chicago Tribune.