That is why I recommend "Boom: The Sound of Eviction," playing at the
Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan from December 13th
through the 19th. Produced by Whispered Media and directed by
Francine Cavanaugh, A. Mark Liiv, and Adams Wood, this documentary
provides an extremely useful glimpse into what happened to the residents
of San Francisco's Bay Area, particularly in the Mission District, when,
in the 1990s, gentrification hit like a ton of bricks.
As the documentary lays out, when the dot-com madness began, of the
$20 billion in venture capital that was spent worldwide in just
one year, $7.5 billion went to enterprises in the Bay Area. The result
was that instead of reaping the benefits when their neighborhoods
improved, the people who had stuck with their communities through the
worst of times were suddenly tossed out on their ears.
The impact on the Mission District was enormous. Historically a place
where immigrants came for low-cost housing, it had been a longtime
Latino working class neighborhood as well as home to many artists. A
dance company that had been there through thick and thin had its rent
raised from $3,000 a month to $15,000. Families who were the very soul
of the Mission District were being displaced by single individuals with
no children and no commitment whatsoever to the community. In fact, the
newcomers lodged complaints about the very things that gave charm and
character to the Mission District - kids playing on the sidewalks,
people hanging out on stoops, lively music, and more.
As the film makes clear, immigrants and other low-income families -
many just one paycheck away from homelessness to start with - as well as
the aging, are always the ones hurt most by gentrification. As yuppies
by the hundreds and thousands poured into new pricey live/work lofts,
there were 15,000 "legal evictions" in San Francisco alone. When you
consider the fact that most of these evictions were of large families,
it's mind boggling to think of how many men, women and children lost
their homes--and that isn't even counting all those in surrounding areas
that were hard-hit as well.
In
Oakland, for instance, they didn't have laws protecting renters from
"No-cause Evictions" so people were given 30 days notice and tossed out
of their homes right and left. "Boom" follows the heartbreaking story of
Cathy Acosta who was thrown out with her children so the homeowner could
rent out the space at a much more exorbitant rate. We see Ms. Acosta
unable to go into a woman's shelter because 2 of her sons are above the
age limit for male children. Her whole family had to perch in the living
room of a friend. All the while she searches diligently for a new
affordable home. Finally, she gives up altogether and moves to Phoenix,
Arizona.
We also learn the fate of many older people. As statistics show, when
they lose their homes and are forced into nursing homes or other
situations they don't want, they simply expire within a year or even six
months. Witness Lola McKay: born 1917, died 2000.
Regrettably, one of the things we see too is San Francisco's Black
Mayor, Willie Brown, looking for all the world as though he's been
bought out by the real estate interests. He seems to care not a fig
about the Mission District's displaced populace. For example, when 500
concerned residents turn out for a Planning Commission meeting in order
to object to the displacements, he sloughs it off, saying these people
are "not representative of the district." And he glosses over the
evictions as voluntary moves. According to him, all the people received
enough money to relocate quite happily and well.
But "Boom" shows us what really happened to many of these people.
They had no alternative but to move to such places as highway
underpasses where they set up tents or "cardboard condos" next to their
shopping carts filled with their meager possessions, all they have left
of their once cherished homes. One man, who lives in his car, states
that he works over 55 hours a week at $10 an hour and still can't afford
a home.
The film also documents the coming together of the neighborhood with
the formation of the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition and other
community organizations, people taking part in electoral politics and
direct action. We follow one family's successful struggle to keep their
home as they mobilize the entire community on their behalf.
Over the 5-year period "Boom" covers, the economic bubble bursts, and
80% of the dot-coms go bust. The cost of housing, however, is yet to
return to anything near its former level. But the film is a valuable
tool for seeing what works and what doesn't as people fight to save
their community from gentrification. It can help one become more
prepared, if need be, to defend one's own.
"Boom: The Sound of Eviction" will be showing December 13th
through the 19th at 7:30 and 9:30 daily with an additional 5
pm show Saturday and Sunday. The Anthology Film Archives is located at
32 Second Avenue at 2nd Street in Manhattan. Take the F train
to Second Avenue or the #6 to the Bleecker Street stop. For more
information visit www.anthologyfilmarchives.org or call (212) 505-5181.
By Donna Lamb
t this period of
general economic hardship, as our government continues working overtime
to convince us that Saddam Hussein poses an immediate threat to our
national security, there is another very actual "clear and present
danger" that stalks many an inner city neighborhood: Gentrification.
That war is raging in Harlem, Bedford Stuyvesant and the South Bronx to
name just a few of the areas most under siege right here in New York
City.
