In Shaw (an historically gentrified blog): My best guess of why that's not a problem

Monday, December 11, 2006

My best guess of why that's not a problem

Over on the eastern side of New Jersey Ave we have our problems in the TC. One that I think (and I'm sure others will have different opinions) isn't a big problem is the oldtimers vs newcommers battles that plague the other side of NJ Ave. I have a couple of guesses of why that boil down to leadership, and the problems of vocal/active old timers.
When I first moved in back in 2001, there was the old vs new vibe. No doubt about it, but now it's less of an issue. In those earlier years for me I attended the PSA meetings and the BACA meetings and you would get the old woman, always a woman, who railed against "them", "them" usually being the white people buying up the houses, making the prices go up, and wanting to change everything. And this is where leadership came in. The leaders of the meets be they the police officer heading the PSA meeting or Jim would give them an opportunity to vent their frustrations, but would not validate, or affirm the argument that the problem was the newcomers.
Also Jim is a Great Leader. He was worked for the people of the northern 1/2 of the TC, called the Bates Area, and not for himself. He saw the opportunities that came with having an influx of new people. He stressed the importance of voting so that ANC 5C01 could rightly demand a bigger chunk of the Ward 5 pie. Bigger chunk of pie, more attention and services for the people. This past primary election showed how far we have come from being treated like the redheaded stepchild of Ward 5 to having Marie Johns and Adrian Fenty coming to our area as well as the Ward 5 front runners showing up at our events. But I'm really digressing.
Another leader, Mary Ann Wilmner, of the BACA membership committee and Flower Power queen. She has pulled together old timers and newcomers to get involved in Flower Power to beautify the neighborhood and make it a better place for all of us. She is a positive force and an asset to Bates Street.
Then there were the consistent loud old timers. G-d bless 'em. These were the women who showed up almost regularly, or enough times to make their voices heard. They wanted the neighborhood cleaned up. They were tired of living near group homes and bad section eighters. Their problems weren't the newcomers but some of the crap that already was here.
I guess when the old vs new divide isn't agitated by the leadership AND the more vocal and involved old timers don't see the new people as their biggest threat, then the divide isn't that problematic. There is a divide, but it doesn't color everything.