Summer film series: DC Housing for All

I am impressed that the DC Housing for All campaign is sponsoring a summer film series, "Summer in the City: A documentary series exploring gentrification and urban renewal," showing some key films in the field.

Although I have always hesitated wanting to show "Holding Ground" here because it highlights how the organization featured in the film received eminent domain authority over vacant property in their neighborhood, and I was afraid that DC's community development organizations would use this as justification to seek similar authority.  In any case, the book Streets of Hope, about the organization, the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, is well worth reading, and proves you can run a community development corporation as a participatory democracy.

Southwest Remembered
Tuesday, July 16 at 6:00 PM
Martin Luther King Library: 901 G St NW
The history of urban renewal in Southwest Washington, DC.

Flag Wars
Tuesday, July 23 at 6:00 PM
Martin Luther King Library: 901 G St NW
Tensions rise in a community in Columbus, Ohio, when gay and lesbian white homebuyers move into a working-class black neighborhood.

Holding Ground
Tuesday, August 6 at 6:00 PM
Martin Luther King Library: 901 G St NW
The story of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative. In 1985, African-American, Latino, Cape Verdean, and European-American residents in Roxbury, MA united to revitalize their community.

Boom: The Sound of Eviction
Tuesday, August 20 at 6:00 PM
CNHED: 1432 U Street NW
Like DC today, when the dot-com industry was booming in California, it made it hard for existing low-income residents to stay in San Francisco and Oakland.

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They aren't showing "Downside UP," which is about arts-related revitalization in North Adams, Massachusetts.