So lets talk a/b the complexities of "buy the block" & its liberal application and invocation of Nipsey Hussle's name, especially when claiming such is "anti-gentrification" or what Nipsey was doing.
This article has been making the rounds. A thread. /1
la.curbed.com/2019/12/12/209…
This article has been making the rounds. A thread. /1
la.curbed.com/2019/12/12/209…
First a point: Black ownership does not equal anti-gentrification. Two tenant clinics per month are operated out of @CrenshawSubway's @TheUmojaCenter most of the complaints tenants make r against mom-and-pop landlords. This is a not so quiet secret out there. /2
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter I know hella Blk landlords who specifically claim they charge market-rate rents 4 apts they inherited free-and-clear, or paid a fraction of the cost 4. They r enjoyin a certain lifestyle profiting (in some cases mightily) off someone else. Nothing special or unique a/b them. /3
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter And it sure as heck ain't anti-gentrification.
Conversely, I also know several Black landlords who haven't raised the rent in over a decade or charge significantly below market-rate. "What am I gonna do with all that money?" one famously says.
The diff: benevolence.
/4
Conversely, I also know several Black landlords who haven't raised the rent in over a decade or charge significantly below market-rate. "What am I gonna do with all that money?" one famously says.
The diff: benevolence.
/4
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter While benevolence is great & should be encouraged, it is no replacement to law - stuff like deed restrictions, rent control, etc. (u know: legal reqs) if for no other reason, changes n ownership due to death often take a good landlord-tenant relationship & turn it n2 a bad 1. /5
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter So when I read the article in @CurbedLA my 1st though was: oh here's another group doing around first-time homebuyer education & talkn real estate investment strategy. Nothing new. There r lots of 'em. Diff is now groups claim they r "anti-gentrification" invoking Nipseys name /6
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA This is highly problematic 4 obvious reasons. And for now I put the blame on @CurbedLA 4 not explaining or posing the Q on exactly how this group is actually engaging in anti-gentrification. There's really only two options here: /7
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA 1. the group is operating by some principles/reqs that make them distinct from other real estate investment workgroups & that wasn't articulated by @CurbedLA
2. the group has not operating principles/reqs & is just mostly younger & Blacker & that wasn't called out. /8
2. the group has not operating principles/reqs & is just mostly younger & Blacker & that wasn't called out. /8
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA But there r general problems w/an analysis that looks at rental income property or residential real estate investment n low-income communities as a means to "create generational wealth."
That's the historically & much discussed problem w/#BlackCapitalism /9
That's the historically & much discussed problem w/#BlackCapitalism /9
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA And for the many great books & leaders who r on Nipsey Hussle's book list (includ. Dr. Claud Anderson, Huey Newton & Fanon) many of the seminal works that among other things critique Black capitalism r not.
That's not an indictment, but rather a description. /10
That's not an indictment, but rather a description. /10
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA If u look at the Black Panther Party book list u c this systems analysis & effort 2 build conscious critique of global oppression & need 4 collective action. U see DuBois, father of African Socialism Kwame Nkumrah has 2 books, there's Frazier's famous Black Bourgeoisie. /11
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA Proceeding in real estate investment w/an absence of this consciousness & lacking community accountability is dangerous. Invoking Black power, anti-gentrification & Nipsey name is very powerful.
But what is Black power? And what is an anti-gentrification real estate agenda? /12
But what is Black power? And what is an anti-gentrification real estate agenda? /12
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA It's not lost on me that the day this article came out we publicly announced we were getting in the real estate game. There is a way to engage principally. Our goal is to take land that is currently unaffordable and make it affordable to stabilize our communities. /13
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA As we begin to articulate our vision & principles I think distinctions will b clearer. & I think a lot of people r best served n this conversation by knowing history & being real a/b the limitations/problems of individual ownership 4 the purpose of creatin generational wealth /14 
@CrenshawSubway @TheUmojaCenter @CurbedLA ...versus collective ownership for neighborhood stabilization.
Most are unaware of the alternative.
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Most are unaware of the alternative.
/15
