............ Adventure Blog 4

                                                             "The City is Ours"For my last adventure blog, I was looking for a piece of artwork that I really liked. There are a lot of places with street art, as well as art on buildings. This one stood out to me because of the words on it. After all of the events that have taken place in Baltimore, the phrase "this is our city' means so much more. This is why our class is so important. And it is also important to continue the Baltimore Traces, as well as research on Baltimore. We have to show people the beauty in station north, as well as other small areas that are developing into better communities. In taking this class, I have learned to appreciate my city even more. I hope to continue exploring parts of Baltimore I have never been to, and to continue to learn the history behind them.

historic place in Station North

                           The Jubilee Baltimore Inc Story:

Jubilee is a nonprofit organization that is located on Calvert Street, and is dedicated to create houses for those with low income. Neal Harris was the founder of the Jubilee Baltimore Inc. He used to be in the plastics industry where he was the president of the company. After a couple years of doing this, he started working with a church to help with those who had been evicted from their homes, and needed somewhere to stay. With many fundraising strategies, he was able to fund his own company that would help those who needed low income housing. When he first began his main focus was on the homes in Southeast Baltimore. He was especially interested in the homes that were in gentrifying neighborhoods. During his time spent as the president of the foundation, he also established Jubilee Jobs. He knew that in order to stay in these homes, individuals would have to be able to support themselves.

            The company was then lead by Charlie Duff. We have to keep in mind that Neal was in 60’s when he founded the company, so he wasn’t active in the company for long. Neal unfortunately passed away years later, but the legacy he created continue to grow. Under the leadership of Charlie, more than 100 houses and apartments were developed. This company was Baltimore’s leading developer of mixed income housing. This was especially important to those artist in the community. The success of this company was shown through the 2,000 individuals that benefited from the many developed houses. This success also led to the connection with the Midtown Development Corporation. This corporation wanted the help of Jubilee to attract good neighbors and rebuild historic row homes. Not only was this company helping out those in need, but it was giving light to the many neighborhoods that needed to be seen.

            Now the company helps those in Central, Midtown, and Southeast Baltimore. They work on revitalizing neighborhoods, Assisting in Developments, and community planning.  The company is able to act as a developer as well as a development consultant. What once was a vacant property is now the city arts building. This new construction helped house almost 70 units for working artist. Jubilee has also partnered with another non profit company TRF ( The Reinvestment fund).  This company is known for having the best affordable home specialist. Of course that is one of a hundred projects that the Jubilee has created. Currently the Jubilee is working on The Centre. This will be the largest development created by the Jubilee. This is a 18 million dollar project that will be a center for the arts and innovation in Station North. The Jubilee is also well connected with those in the community. They give tours around the city as well as throw events. Individuals can contact them, read their newsletter, and follow them on facebook. They really value the help and opinion of those in the community.

reflective blog!!!!

I can't believe that the semester has come to an end! When I first signed up for the course I thought I would already know so much because I am from Baltimore. But as the weeks went by, I found myself learning more and more things about Baltimore. I used to take the city to school,  and I would past North Ave all the time. I never knew that the area was an arts district or that it was called Station North. I also didn't know I would learn so much about the history of Baltimore from the Baltimore 68' book. Very happy I took this class because I learned so many new things about the city I grew up in. I also think having the protest occur during this time made the class even more special.

The most important thing that I have learned during this semester is how to engage with a community. I was able to engage with people in the community when I did my adventure blogs, and when I had to interview people for our project. I feel that this is important because you learn so much about what is going on in the community. If I never enrolled in this class I probably wouldn't have gone into SNAC. Being able to engage with those in station north has opened my eyes to more businesses around there. I have realized that my support means a lot to them.

My best contribution to the course project was just helping in areas that needed me. I interviewed people as well as transcribed. I also helped with the listening assignments and "the ask" we created. I think just being able to do more in the project was a great contribution. I came into the group thinking I would only do one thing, and ended up doing several.

When filling out the survey again for the class, it was funny to see how different my answers were. In the beginning I felt like I only knew a little bit about the history, and at the end I felt like I had a solid idea of the history of Baltimore. I also knew NOTHING about the arts district and now I feel like I am a pro. It's just amazing how one class can change you perspective on Baltimore within a semester!

With walking around in Baltimore during our field trip, I learned more about the historic spots in Baltimore. I also learned more about the opinions of others in Baltimore. People like Jasmine and Charlie Duff really helped me think about what's going on in my city. Just hearing what the voices of station North have to say makes you learn a lot. I learned a lot about Korea Town from Alethia Shins piece.

This has class has taught me a lot about Baltimore and I'm it will continue in the Baltimore Traces project!

Adventure Blog 3

On Friday May 1st, I decided to embrace what was going on in the city. I decided to see what was going on around station north too. When I stopped at Red Emma's I remember the class talking about how they helped give out food to kids who were hungry. I then saw "justice for Freddie Gray" on the window. This stood out to me because we have talked about Red Emma's not being a place where diversity is seen. We also talked about how it's not a space where people can come and relax. But over the past few days we have seen such a dramatic change in what they are doing and promoting. The community has been coming together, and to see that they are apart of that is really awesome. During this time I also rode around the city with dozens of cars. It was called "ride for Freddie Gray". Riding through Station North, Downtown, and West Baltimore really made me feel better. At first I was scared to come to the city, but I am glad I did!

Project Work May 4, 2015

I am now finishing my Alethia Shin interview. Transcribing was giving me hard time, but a student introduced the class to Otranscribe. This site lets you slow down the interview that way it is easier to type. As this project comes to an end, my classmates are making sure they are helping each other in anyway that they can. With events going on in Baltimore we are still making sure that we focus on this project. We are also appreciating this project a little more, because of what going on. It's like this movement and the movement of station north will be heard and noticed even more. I'm excited to hear our last piece on the radio. I also am excited to see what Marc thinks of the audio that we will give him this week.

Blog update

This week has been very stressful. I have to transcribe a long interview, and I am also going to interview someone this thursday. I have also been assigned to do another interview and pull out themes. With the stress of this semester and the stress of this class, it has been very hard. I think that we are making progress, but we didn't realize how much work we had to do. We could have been doing a lot of the things that we are cramming now, overtime instead of the waiting to the last minute. I agree with what Marc said about the piece needing a little bit more debate, or real issues in the community. Hopefully after these new interviews are done, we will have more of story for our piece. We have to realize that people will get bored after awhile. we have to make sure they are entertained for the full 30 minutes, and are really listening to what individuals have to say. Hopefully through the stress will come a great project for station north and those in the community. With these voices I hope that more people in the Baltimore area will support Station North, and really recognize it for all the beauty it holds.

Update 4

Last week the class made a lot of progress by transcribing the interviews we had. I feel that we need to stop worrying about getting new interviews, and worry about putting the piece together. We already have hours worth of audio that has to be put into a 30 min piece. I think we have enough valuable material to have a great project. I wish that we talked to more residents, but those who come after us can learn from our mistakes.
I am ready to try and get an event set up as well.
I am also excited to see what Marc thinks of what we have so far!

Project Update Three

I have great news!
Over the weekend I was able to interview Charlie Duff and his Director Linda Harrington. It was really nice hearing from people who knew so much about the history of Station North. It was really cool to hear their thoughts about the changes that have occurred over so many years. Charlie was a really nice guy, and I'm really glad he agreed to doing the interview.  Not only did he share his opinions and comments, but he shared a story. I think in hearing some of the things that he said, readers will feel more motivated to come to Station North. I also like that he has a radio voice. It's almost like he was made for this project. I was so glad that he asked Linda to come down and contribute what she could to the project. Even though they work together and know the same things, their experiences were different.
We are really making progress with our interviews. So I think on tomorrow, our group will have a lot to say about what happened over this weekend!

adventure Blog two

Sofis Crepes
On the day of our field trip, me and a few others stopped at Sofis. As soon as the door opens you smell all the sweet treats they are making. I really like how they cook it right in front of you. I really like watching my food being cooked in front of me. I watched as the steam rose upon their faces. They add flavor and heart to every meal they make. I also watched how the staff interacted with each other. It was like a big family. I saw this at SNAC too. They communicate well, and really enjoy each other's company. I watched as my classmates and enjoyed their meals. It was a cool spot to socialize and connect with them. I also like that there were diverse customers coming and going. There were women and men, young and old, and a mixture of ethnicities. It makes you wonder why you never stumbled upon it before. Next time I will order something, and hope to bring a friend with me!

adventure blog

SNAC adventure Blog
On Friday, I went to interview Charlie Duff. Since I was in the area, I decided to go get something to eat from SNAC. I came in and it looked more like a house. I then opened the white door to a nice cafe. The set up was very inviting and open. One of the first things I noticed was the picture of Jay Z on the wall. I really like Jay Z so it was cool seeing a piece of art I can relate to.

As I walked to the back of the cafe, I was welcomed by the chef, and his staff. They were really nice, and made me feel comfortable. Because I was my my first time being there, they blew the welcome whistle for me. The longer I sat and waited for my food, the more I was able to admire the art that was in the shop. I decided to order the Belgium Waffle Meal. I got applewood bacon and scrambled eggs on the side. My food was so delicious. I also noticed that they had daily specials. Its nice to see him trying different meals other than the ones people order daily. I will definitely be going back. The food and customer service was excellent.

Project Update Two

OMG! Excitement of station north!

Currently I am sending out our ask to potential people we could interview. Finishing the ask and reaching out to people is helping us get the ball rolling. I might have an interview thursday. Reading the articles made me even more excited about doing the project. Seeing the history , and then reading the opinions of station north makes me want to hear the stories of those in the community. We read a lot of articles, but never talk directly to people and hear the raw truth.
I also want to start thinking about where we can hold an event for people to come out and listen to what we have, and to let them hear themselves on the piece. right now I think that we are making progress, but we do have to move a little bit faster because our deadline is quickly approaching.

Project Update One

project update!
I am apart of the voices of Station North Group. We have done really well working as a team. Over spring break we were able to chat through groupme. In that discussion, we came up with our theme as well as our ask. Even though it was spring break, we still got stuff done. Our next step was to make our own list of people to contact. A lot of business owners and artist are on the list. But as far as people in the community, we are going to have to actually go out and find them, unless they respond to our ask. My goal is to contact someone a developer. I want to understand what they believe is good for the community, and why they think that certain changes are better. Hopefully during this week, we will be able to finalize more things in our project.
I did not link this blog to my blog site. I shared it with you but don't know if you saw it. So this blog is from the end of march

Station North Discussion

 

Image link : http://wtmd.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/station-north-21-255x182.jpg

The more I learn about Station North, the more I realize that it is not a recent issue. The podcast and the readings show, that there have been ongoing issues in Station North for at 11 years. I also find it funny that the article says "can station north save the city?"At the end of the podcast I believe Kate said that station north needs to focus on saving station north. I like that she said this because there are way too many issues to focus on, then worrying about the whole city. 

I like that in the beginning of the podcast they talked about having black developers. I never thought about who would be creating these ideas and making these changes. We have a predominantly black community, but have white developers saying what needs to happen in their community. Even they do have some black, it is something to look at.

Ben talked about how they have gone years without displacement. When asked about how they will make sure this continues, he really didn't have a plan. I would like to know how will they ensure the security of those residents who fear they will be displaced. A few of the persons on the air talked about tax credits, land trust, etc, but I would like to know about a plan that will be enforced so that residents understand that they don't need to worry. In Jensen"s article he says, "Gentrification without displacement' is the term we've been using," he says. "Gentrification is not per se a bad thing, if you define it as trying to improve an area and draw more people in. It can be a bad thing if it means displacing current residents who've lived in an area their whole lives and want to stay. We want to be able to balance the two." (Jensen)In reading the articles, I am happy that they are focused more on revitalizing, then gentrification. I know Kate talked about having a leveled process. But we have to see what would make those landlords who own buildings or those who are living there to sell or  move. I know that there are some places where prices can't increase for 50 years. I believe that was in the article by Baynard Woods. I would ask Ben what are the push and pull factors that would come during this time of revitalizing. 

A lot of the conversation focused on how they would get the residents involved and how they would make sure that this is a participatory development.  Even though they want to reach the people with murals, poetry, and other forms of art;What happens once you reach them? I would ask Ben Stone, now that they are informed what happens now? In the podcast, they talk about how it is more about the residents communicating with each other. The community needs to communicate with those in the business, developers, and those investing in these projects.

 -Shamara Owens

Community and gentrification

I think that one of the issues with communities, is this sense of belonging. A lot of the times there is a community in place, but if you get nothing from it, it won’t feel like you are apart of it. We talked about how commuters don’t feel like they are apart of the UMBC community. I am a commuter and I do feel like I’m not apart of the UMBC community. In a community there needs to be some sense of togetherness. Maybe if communities reached out more to the people that engage, live, or participate in them people would feel more involved. When you asked us what community we were apart of, everyone had to stop and think. That says a lot right there.

I actually don’t have a problem with gentrification. I love seeing new developments and stores that make the neighborhoods look good. I know that this situation is hard on those who don’t want to adjust or can’t afford to adjust, but it still is a positive thing. I think sometimes people let their neighborhoods go. They throw trash in the street, and stop keeping up with home improvement. I think that it’s cool that someone comes up with a vision to make a neighborhood look better. we might be hesitant to all the changes that come with it, but in the end it was the better decision. 

Right now, I don’t have a project idea for station north. And I feel that could give me an idea. Being from Baltimore and just learning about station North is a problem. Maybe in some way our project can bring more awareness to the area. Maybe in addition to the product, we could start a campaign that encourages people to get more involved in the events that are happening in station north. This could help be a wake up call for our Baltimore community; to see a side of Baltimore they haven’t before and also learn the history behind it.