1. Agenda Announcements Discussion: Mini-Lecture: Summary and Segue:
“What Can/Should We Do?”
Mini-Lecture:
“Pathways to Creating Social Change”
Summary and Segue:
What good is culture?
Intro to The Landlord (1970)

2. Announcements and Reminders
Term definitions due via this Friday
Film screening Thursday
Thursday office hours canceled
No assigned reading for 10/16 and 10/21
Get started on Chango’s Fire!
Term presentations next week
Blog post due 10/21:
Response to The Landlord

3. Discussion: What Can/Should We Do About Gentrification?

4. Principles of “The Right to Stay Put”
For Homeowners:
Cap property tax increases
Reverse trend for “Variable Rate” Mortgages
Fight to save public services
Enforce anti-redlining law
Stop “shady” practitioners
For Renters:
Pass “Just Cause” Eviction Statutes
Institute rent controls
For All People:
A basic right to decent housing

5. “The Right to Stay Put” Discussion
What did you take away from this article?
What would a “right to stay put” look like in practice?
Do you agree with Hartman that people have a basic right to housing? Why or why not?
Others’ Critiques:
Focused too heavily on displacement (when there are other problems caused by gentrification)
Displacement effect is exaggerated
“Right to stay put” takes away right to private property

6. “The Right to the City”: Expanding the Right to Stay Put
Economic Justice: The right of working class communities of color, women, queer and transgender people to an economy that serves their interests
Environmental Justice: The right to sustainable and healthy neighborhoods & workplaces, healing, quality health care . . .
Freedom from Police & State Harassment: The right to safe neighborhoods and protection from police, INS/ICE, and vigilante repression . . .
Services and Community Institutions: The right of working class communities of color to transportation, infrastructure and services that reflect and support their cultural and social integrity.
Democracy and Participation: The right of community control and decision making over the planning and governance of the cities where we live and work, with full transparency and accountability, including the right to public information without interrogation.
From:

7. Planning and Organizing for Action
1. Define Problems:
What is the problem we’re facing?
2. Set Goals:
What would our solution to this problem look like?
3. Map Power:
Who has the power to help us create that solution?
4. Choose Strategies:
What’s the best way to influence that person (or group)?
5. Determine Tactics:
How can we implement that strategy right now?

8. 1. Action Within the “Public” Sector
Strategy:
Create change by changing the law (or by enforcing current laws)
Tactics:
Lobbying legislators, suing people or agencies
Examples:
State government passes affordable housing requirement

9. 2. Action Within the “Private” Sector
Strategy:
Change policies of corporations/businesses
Tactics:
Negotiation, shareholder lobbying, advocacy from within
Examples:
Convince new apartment development to include affordable housing units

10. 3. Direct Action Strategy: Tactics: Examples:
Action intended to force a response from an uncooperative government or corporation
Tactics:
Protests, Sit-ins, “Occupations”
Economic Actions:
Boycotts or “Support Local Business” Campaigns
Violence
Examples:
Protest blocking entrance to new luxury apt. complex

11. 4. Cultural/Educational Action
Strategy:
Solve problems by changing the way people think and feel about an issue
Tactics:
Art:
Songs, graffiti, films, poems
Community Education:
Public forums, tabling, canvassing
Media:
Press conferences, letters to the editor, etc.
Examples:
Hold meeting to tell community about affordable housing problem

12. Discuss: What does “culture” do?
What do you notice about K’Naan’s “Gentrification” song?
What can artworks tell us about gentrification that scholarly studies or news stories can’t?
Can works of art inspire action or change our behavior?

13. Intro to The Landlord (1970)
Basic Info:
Directed by Hal Ashby
Based on a novel by Kristin Hunter
Set in Long Island/Brooklyn, NY
Film History:
“New Hollywood” era
Few black directors at this time
Era of “blaxploitation” films (i.e., Shaft, Superfly)

14. The Landlord and Film Form
Pay attention to the way the film looks:
1000 tiny choices on screen at any moment – why these?
“I wanted the whole ghetto part to have that ash look and Long Island to have that white look” -- Hal Ashby Interviews (76)

15. Blog Post Due Tuesday
Write a response to The Landlord ( words). In your response, describe either:
One new thing The Landlord showed you about gentrification OR
One thing you think The Landlord got wrong about gentrification
Explain why you responded the way you did.

16. Announcements and Reminders
Term definitions due via this Friday
Film screening Thursday
Thursday office hours canceled
No assigned reading for 10/16 and 10/21
Get started on Chango’s Fire!
Term presentations next week
Blog post due 10/21:
Response to The Landlord