Reading Confession of a Black Gentrifier truly opened my eyes to all the possible ways that I am both a victim and perpetrator of gentrification. It also allowed me to take a view into a young millennials present life in Washington D.C. as he bravely accounts his role in the changing neighborhoods he resides in.

What I liked so much about this article was how personal it was able to get. For me the article was able to successfully show the flip side of gentrification, and how surprisingly people of color aren’t necessarily immune to it. More than anything the article spoke about how gentrification has its roots of course in race due to systematic oppression, but is more than ever now a class thing. Current resident of LeDetroit Park in D.C. and black gentrifier himself explained how post going to Howard University, which in itself shows truly how much privilege he has that he’s able to afford and attend a renowned Historically Black Institution (HBCU); explained how he had participated in these changes by moving into a neighborhood where he on the outside identified with his black neighbors, but once taken a looken at closely had attributes that related him to his white counterparts. For example he explained how being a black gentrifier is viewed as being simultaneously invisible while also being self-conscious; knowing that when looked at in comparison to white people you stand no chance, but are still known to your community as better off due to things like what you’re wearing, what you’re drinking, who you associate yourself with, and of course how you walk and talk.

I think personally what’s important to remember is that we all come from a certain level of privilege, no matter what race or social class we are. For example we students of Gentrification: Grasping the Phenomena through Media have the privilege of living in America (whatever that means), conforming to white America’s standards and attending a University to seek higher power, and of course we can’t forget the most important thing having the knowledge and courage to articulate our thoughts on this sea monster that affects us all, known as gentrification. At the end of the day it really does boil down to education I feel. It’s not that certain groups of people of color are white washing themselves to achieve a certain status, but it may just be that they know and have seen the effects of not being educated and therefore have decided to do things in a very specific manner; decreasing chances of being another statistic. When people are educated, and I don’t necessarily mean just from attending higher education because knowledge comes in many different forms; the chances of them doing better for themselves, their families, their community, and the world are likelier.

So yes, I do make up part of the black gentrifying group, however I’m only doing what I know will allow me to not be a product of my environment and the systematic oppression that’s fed to us; I’m combating that by getting educated and making distinct choices which will continue to allow me to exist in certain spaces and continue to break barriers for people of color, women of color, and Black people collectively.