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[jongomez98]

Disruption of Culture

The last major standpoint that will be said is the great disruption of culture that comes with migration to the US. As a young boy I remember taking a trip to Dominican Republic and enjoying the natural scenery and authentic Dominican food. The atmosphere provided by the seemingly more natural lifestyle added an appreciation to my heritage as well as a deeper understanding of how my grandparents lived. As aforementioned in my last post, food is a very easy means to associate loosely and interact with a person’s culture. When coming to the US, food is made at a faster pace and met with different standards as food is considered safer and cleaner as opposed to small islands in the Caribbean. But there are natural processes such as generational cooking recipes that may seem outdated due to technology, but impact the way food tastes. This is just one of the many ways that disruption of one's culture can occur and is very prevalent when considering that many migrants have a hard time adapting, especially in a robust city such as NYC. The interview that took place was between my grandmother who was originally from Puerto Rico and came over here when she was in her early twenties. She spoke in Spanish so I will be translating the interview into English; CG(me), DC(Grandmother).  

CG: So grandma, how did you feel when you first came to the US

DC: I remember how pretty the city was when I first got here, and also a sense of alienation as I felt truly far from home for the first time in my entire life.

CG: What were some of the things that you noticed about NYC?

DC: The first thing I noticed was that there were very few trees, there were huge buildings everywhere I looked and so many people everywhere. It was full of life though, the people themselves seemed like they were rushing somewhere while going about their day. 

CG: was the fast paced life something that was easy to adapt to?

DC: It was extremely difficult at first especially when trying to get a job, it was completely different to living on the Island, everything was high paced and high energy, I was overwhelmed at times trying to keep up. But eventually I learned the climate of NYC and once I learned how to tell which train went in what direction I became a real New Yorker (laughs).

CG: When you first arrived, where did you live? 

DC: When I first moved here, I stayed with a friend in Washington Heights, there were a lot of immigrants who had just moved too. Most of them couldn’t afford the rent in Manhattan so they all moved to either the Bronx or to parts of Queens. I moved to Bushwick in the 1980's, when I had your mother. It was a cozy tight knit community that was a mixture of Hispanic and other minorities. 

CG: Can you tell me more about what it was like in Bushwick raising kids? 

DC: It was pretty difficult as I relied heavily on my kids to translate a lot of the conversations, as the primary language was English. It was hard to give up my Spanish and adapt to English because no one ever taught me past my high school education. The community itself was filled with a lot of Hispanics who only spoke in Spanish as well, so it wasn’t always too difficult to find someone who spoke Spanish. The area was a lot more dangerous and there was an unwelcoming atmosphere surrounding the community to outsiders. A lot of the public places were either run down or vandalized to keep outsiders away. 

CG: When you say outsiders what kind of people are you referring to? 

DC: You know who I mean, young white couples and people who came from wealth, the community was very poor so it was very easy to come and buy property in the area, it was underdeveloped and the upper class saw an opportunity to convert the area. By the time I was ready to leave to another apartment in the early 2000s the area began to change. 

CG: What changes did you notice? 

DC: The first things that I immediately noticed were the rebuilding of a lot of public spaces, such as parks and modifying spaces that were lovely damaged, such as sidewalks and crosswalks that were rundown. But generally it was good for the community as it made the community appear to be clean. People of the community noticed these changes and others retaliated by continuing to vandalize public spaces, through graffiti and intentionally dumping trash. Crime rates also went up to dissuade people from moving in by making the area seemingly more dangerous than before. 

CG: Why do you think people didn’t welcome these new changes? 

DC: People obviously don’t welcome change, especially in a community with mostly poor residents, they feel as though having a nice area means higher rent and cost of living. In order to counter this they create unnecessary turmoil. 

CG: Is there anything else you want to mention in regards to disruption of culture within the area?

DC: It's clear to see that through these  niceties there were big changes that were brewing, and the community retaliation was a warning for these outsiders. Now that the community itself has changed, it's no wonder why those people fought so hard to preserve the organic sense of belonging within the community. Everyone used to be friends with their neighbors and kids would often run around together and play on the sidewalks and sit on stoops having a laugh. It's sad to see that this culture no longer exists within this community with new renovations of old buildings getting rid of the simplicity of older times. Now with all the rent skyrocketing, the people I used to be friends with have either been forced out or are struggling to survive now. 

This interview that I had with my grandma highlights some of the organic culture that was formed by a melting pot of culture and as it has been gentrified more and more it seems that the culture has been discarded in place of more modern and formal life. The community still holds certain traditions, but the culture that once used to be is no longer here. After immigrating to this country in pursuit of a better life, it's sad that a place my grandma had made her second home has been uprooted in an effort to make a more desirable community to gentrifiers. Below is a picture of me and my grandma.

[jongomez98]

Assimilation and Preservation

The burden of gentrification often exemplifies itself with the loss of culture that was aforementioned in my last post. This essentially leads to the feeling of a loss of “heart” within the community. With anything that is lost it can be regained and often portrayed in a new light than previously imagined. In my community a staple form of community often comes from the food and architecture of the area. It is the easiest way to portray one's culture in an often inviting matter to anyone that has interest about that culture. My neighborhood has two massive supermarkets within a mile of each other and relatively close. The name of this chain of supermarkets is Food Bazaar, and is often found in a plethora of other communities as well. They carry a variety of ethnically diverse foods from multiple cultures and have deep ties to their communities. In my neighborhood the food bazaar decided to let the community paint a mural for their plain white wall. It was every local artist's fantasy, as the huge blank wall remained lifeless for many years.

      Due to popular demand amongst the community the community sent a petition in order to gain permission to draw a mural on the blank wall. This mural was able to assimilate many of the cultural significance of my area and was a way to express feelings for the community. Just like most art this is completely subjective to one’s own opinion, but I believe this mural was to show the unity of the community even while undergoing these dramatic and rapid changes to the neighborhood. This mural was a way to unite the community as it was a large mural and took many months to complete by a large group of artists. One of the aspects that truly let the community really be included in this process was the fact that the artists themselves have grown up in the community. It was a celebration of the acceptance of changing times as well as a nod to the old community before the gentrification took place.  

 The piece was divided into three sections with their own aspects that make each unique and distinct, but collectively they tell a story of the community and its values. The combination of colors and detail that was put into this mural was honestly awe inspiring. Every day I walked past from my summer job and would watch as they made more and more progress on the mural. It was a symbol of happiness, the dedication of the artist to present the community with a piece that would represent the culture was amazing. Unfortunately over the many years since its been up it was vandalized to the point that it was restored, and then eventually covered up. It was a big blow to the community and was a rebellion against the mass gentrification. The pictures that remain exemplify the beauty of the piece and was a always a reason to look up on my walk home. 

[jongomez98]

Gentrification in Bushwick

       In this class we talked about the gentrification of neighborhoods and the impact on the native people that have kept the culture of an area. In this section of the blog I want to highlight a shift in the landscape in my area. When I was growing up I lived in a predominantly Hispanic/Latin community. It was in a little grove of  Brooklyn, or Queens depending on which side of the street you lived on, and it was called Bushwick. My neighborhood is one of many that has been affected by gentrification and has begun to see a decrease in the area's culture. 

       This plaza is one of the steps that the officials of NYC try to tidy up low income communities to make them more desirable for higher income people. This plaza used to be an intersection that caused a lot of accidents and traffic jams so it was a suitable solution to cover it up. The people of the community, myself included were alarmed to see it patched up as it was a staple to hear all the loud noises in the area ruminating from this intersection. Although this solved a long time community issue, it gave way to a start of cultural shift. 

       The theme that I want to keep relevant is the shift in culture over time and the plaza signifies the start of change within my community. This intersection right next to the train station was always filled with street trucks and local cultural sellers. If you walked even a little bit to the left of the train station, you’d be met with a Mexican bakery that I stopped by before school for a concha (Mexican sweet bread) and coffee. Now because of the creation of the plaza the rent of these shops became too high and were replaced by corner stores and corporations, such as a CVS, Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks. 

       It's truly disheartening to see the neighborhood that I grew up in slowly change before my eyes. Even with all the cultural disparity because of the plaza, it has brought more consumers to our niche community, and has been a huge aid in maintaining the community. Public spaces around the plaza have also begun to improve as a result, run down facilities are rebuilt and offer the community safer and cleaner spaces. So even with all the negative impact it has on the culture of the area, it offers some benefits to a community that has needed support structurally for a long time.  Although it was almost 8 years ago that the plaza was made, its effects amongst the community have been felt. It continues to be the beacon to prompt more gentrification in the surrounding area. 

[jongomez98]

Migration of Latin American’s and the Impact of Leaving a Country

       I want to talk about the concept that was a main focus in one of our classroom discussions, it was the migration of Central American groups all traveling northward in a caravan. For another class that I had, we saw a movie about this same migration route. It traced the autopsy of a migrant who got lost along the trail. Unfortunately the reality is that many don’t survive the journey past the border. The conditions of this caravan are very poor and many starve or die from disease before they can even reach the border. Even the strong and healthy find the treacherous journey to be too much and oftentimes turn back. This guilt and pain of not being able to provide for their families who desperately need aid is awful, and is the driving force behind this mass migration. Although they face many dangers they do it for the next generation in order to provide opportunities that they may have never been able to do in their native countries.

       As a Hispanic person myself it is heartbreaking that people who want a chance at a better life have to face such a hurdle in order to survive. As a second generation child, I don’t know how life would’ve turned out had my Grandparents didn’t come to the US. I empathize a lot with the movie, especially with how it portrays how people are fueled by their families and loved ones in order to make a better life for them. The film was called “Who is Dayani Cristal?” It's an enjoyable watch and it was filmed pretty recently. The relation of this movie to the course is that it exemplifies how Latin Americans struggle to find opportunities in their native country and are willing to sacrifice for the people they love. Watching the documentary leads to a newfound appreciation of the sacrifice from previous generations, as it has only become increasingly more difficult to migrate to the US. 

     The following image is about a group that is followed through the film and the journey that the caravan has to do in order to help people migrate northwards. In this instance the group is taking a stray train that is notorious for hitchhiking along the path to the caravan, they stay on the train for a day and half and it is merely only the beginning of a long journey north. Throughout the film we follow their journey and the dangers that migrants face as they approach the border. Even after they reach the US border they have to cross the Arizona desert, which after this long journey is where the highest fatalities occur. It is quite a tragedy that there are no safe ways to process immigrants and allow them safe passage onto US soil. This nation was built on migrant workers, and the whole premise of the US when it was founded was to be a safe place of equal opportunity no matter what race or creed for the oppressed.