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what is the role of middle-class/college-educated Latinx in gentrifying Chicago neighborhoods? is it possible or paradoxical? what do we make of the narrative of âreturningâ? is it âokayâ bc the people moving in ~look like~ the people being pushed out? letâs discuss pls
i ask as someone whose family was displaced from Pilsen due to a severe+sudden rent hike in 2014, and has gotten a degree + access that comes with it
very important thread about nuance/responsibility of "returning" as a college-educated Latinx from gentrified neighborhoods https://twitter.com/cholulamami/status/1278057504602075136?s=20
based on the testimony above, , there must be a distinction between the experiences/impact of "returning" (college-educated Latinx from gentrified neighborhoods) and "arriving" (college-educated Latinx not from those neighborhoods)
the notion of "returning" is not defined by pure physical presence (as many students stay in the city/live at home), but a more abstract, 'coming back' to the community with more opportunities inside + particularly out of it
a more abstract def. of "returning" is helpful given 'returning' students/graduates 1) may not have been displaced and still live in the community, 2) may have already been displaced, + 3) may have left the community as a youth due to other reasons
though i do believe that each subset above carries their own implications/experiences/responsibilities in relation to gentrification
"arrival" by students/graduates not from those neighborhoods, on the other hand, i would argue is inherently a physical experience, considering aesthetic motivations for moving into/taking up space in a community that is actively being gentrified
a more narrow, physically-based notion of "returning" would imply that if someone goes to college, they have to move out of their neighborhood or they are gentrifiers, which cannot be true and does not work against gentrification
as @cholulamami stated, experiences in higher education can make it so our individual "relationship to [our] people has changed, but that is something to work WITH, not around"
https://twitter.com/thatsnotcj/status/1273324019132104708?s=21 https://twitter.com/thatsnotcj/status/1273324019132104708
