PROPOSAL:
Looking back at the works of master teachers like Gil Scott Heron, The Last Poets, Amiri Baraka, The Digable Planets, etc…allows us to get a more vivid perspective of the future, and how we should proceed. We plan on using this inspiration to carry the beautiful legacy they left behind, by creating our own spoken word poem over a beat we will produce together. Through the combination of poetry and music we will deliver a powerful message, one that speaks on… A message that reaches the core, and brings forth understanding in the topic, shining light by way of art.
Our project spans the utility of law and economics as it operates to prevent communities from staking a true claim to their environment, land, and space. We will focus in on urban spaces and communities – as neoliberal tenets of redevelopment, individualism, and privatization tend to dominate the urban landscape. Exploring what the environment can and does mean in a city pushes the limiting and intentional boundaries set by centuries of separating humans and nature. The role capital and quantifying struggle plays in attempting to snuff the people’s voices will be centerfold as we extrapolate on case studies and qualitative research that challenge notions of validity in claims-making and the constitution of a community [historically, legally, culturally, socially, etc.].
SOURCES:
- ‘ARISE! Global Radicalism In The Era Of The Mexican Revolution, Christina Heatherton, 2022. Intro + Chapter 1
- “Histories of Racial Capitalism” (Jenkins and Leroy, editors, 2021), particularly the Forward by Angela P. Harris
- “Asian American Immigrant and Refugee Environmental Justice Activism Under Neoliberal Urbanism, by Julie Sze
- “Latinos in New York” Chapter 14, Latinos and Environmental Justice: New York City Cases by Sherrie Baver
- Roane, R.T., “Mapping Black Ecologies”: https://crdh.rrchnm.org/essays/v02-05-mapping-black-ecologies/