Race, Culture, and the Politics of Public Space

Through reading passages from Haymes' Race, Culture, and the City: A Pedagogy for Black Urban Struggle our photojournalists reviewed the theory of public "space as a metaphor" where power struggles and resistance are represented through the ways in which people and institutions make use of public space on a day to day basis. Some of the concepts we covered in class are:

Placemaking: The formation and use of public space through principles of culture, ideology, or politics.

Centralization: Upholding a particular perspective, idea, or principle as an authoritative position above all other perspectives, ideas, or principles
To DECENTRALIZE is to remove an idea, perspective, or principle from its assumed authoritative position.

Gentrification:The displacement of a group of people by another, more economically wealthy group of people.
The displacements of local businesses, housing, or any public spaces or institutions that support the group of people being displaced.

Commodification of Culture: The distortion of culture from its historical and/or political context for the purpose of consumerism and economic capital.

Spaces of Self-Actualization:The formation and use of public spaces that not only resist oppression but also creates community self awareness.

Students are in the process of researching how these terms play a role in their own communities in East Oakland.
More to Come!