Punk and Gentrification

The History of Punk recently examined the history and ongoing consequences of gentrification. Part one traced the origins of gentrification, its subsequent history, and its ongoing effects. A case study of New York City’s ABC No Rio serves as an example of resistance to gentrification, despite the removal of its physical space in 2016.

Here’s the reading list:
– Dawson Barrett. “The Direct Action Politics of U.S. Punk Collectives”. American Studies, Vol. 52, No. 2 (2013), pp-23-42.
– Ruth Glass. London: Aspects of Change. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1964.
– Jane Jacobs. The Death and Life of Great American – -Cities. New York City: Random House, 1961.
– Neil Smith. The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City. London: Routledge, 1996.

Here’s the playlist:
Malvina Reynolds – “Little Boxes”
Jonathan Richman – “New Kind of Neighborhood”
Arcade Fire – “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
Pretenders – “My City was Gone”
The Kinks – “Scrapheap City”
Talking Heads (official) – “(Nothing But) Flowers”
Lou Reed – “Hold On”
Reagan Youth – “Urban Savages”
Aus Rotten – “American Ethic”
Oi Polloi (Official) – “Let’s Go!”
MDC – Millions Of Dead Cops – “Church and State (Live at CBGBs 1983)”

And here’s part 1!

Part two examined the gentrification of Seattle’s Central District. Before the USA’s Civil Rights Era, the urban core of Seattle was where African-Americans could work, live, and go to school. Nowadays, as Draze raps, “The Hood Ain’t the Same”. We also looked at how punks have reacted to gentrification in Washington DC (and how agents of gentrification in DC have reacted to punks like Ian MacKaye). Finally, we looked at the wider punk reaction to gentrification and the myth of ‘progress’.

Here’s the reading list:

-“Chapter One: ‘Hit the Road Jack:’ The Rise and Fall of Seattle’s Black Music Scene, 1945-1960s” from, “This is Not For You: The Rise and Fall of Music Milieux in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, 1950s -1990s” https://era.library.ualberta.ca/…/a5ea3770-1f0b-438c-a4b4-d…

-“For Punk Music, Gentrification Is the New Ronald Reagan” https://www.citylab.com/…/gentrification-is-the-new…/379711/

Here’s the playlist:
Corb Lund– “That’s What Keeps the Rent Down Baby”
Ray Charles – “Rockin’ Chair Blues”
Jimi Hendrix – “Machine Gun”
Draze – “The Hood Ain’t the Same”
Fugazi – “Cashout”
Jack on Fire – “Burn Down the Brixton”
Jello Biafra & D.O.A. – “That’s Progress”
Wraths – “My Home”
Sick Of It All – “District”

And here’s part 2!

Part three focused on gentrification in Vancouver and Edmonton. Edmonton’s current wave of gentrification started with the development of a publicly-funded downtown arena and entertainment district. This is an example of what Peter Moskowitz refers to as “stage 0” of gentrification, when city governments enable “corporate control of neighbourhoods” though municipal policy.

Here is the reading list:

-Peter Moskowitz, “How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood”, 2017.
-Amber Dean, “Remembering Vancouver’s Disappeared Women: Settler Colonialism and the Difficulty of Inheritance”, 2015.
-Daniel Johnson, “This Is Our Land!”: Indigenous Rhetoric and Resistance on the Northern Plains. PhD., Diss, University of Alberta, 2014.
-Dwayne Donald, “Edmonton Pentimento: Re-Reading History in the Case of the Papaschase Cree.” Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies 2, no. 1 (2004), 21-53.
-Jay Scherer, “Resisting the World-Class City: Community Opposition and the Politics of a Local Arena Development”, Sociology of Sport Journal, 2016, 33, 39-53.
-Jordan Koch, Jay Scherer, and Nicolas Holt, “Slap Shot! Sport, Masculinities, and Homelessness in the Downtown Core of a Divided Western Canadian Inner City”. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 42(4), 270-294.

Here’s the playlist:

Robin Grey – “The Hackney Gentrification Song”
Alien Boys – “Gentrification”
Paroxysm – “White Picket Fence”
audio/rocketry – “The Way Ahead”
Latcho Drom – “Shit District”
Rebuild/Repair – “Burn Edmonton to the Fucking Ground”
Rebuild/Repair – “Above Ground Cemeteries”
Chain & the Gang – “Devitalize”

And here’s part 3!

Keep moving: a snapshot of life in the Ice District

The University of Alberta’s Images of Research Competition features submissions from UofA graduate students. One of the categories is “the People’s Choice Award”. I’ve submitted a photo on gentrification currently occurring in downtown Edmonton. I’m hoping this can help add nuance to what is happening, increase the visibility of existing residents and their concerns, and ensure future developments benefit all members of the community.

Please consider voting for “Keep moving: a snapshot of life in the Ice District”, or any of the other photos of work being done at the UofA!

Everyone can vote until March 21 2018!

https://libraryualberta.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bDftEiTvCU4w41n

And give these a listen to learn more:

https://soundcloud.com/user-171590664/homelessness-with-johnny-joanna-and-nigel

The Heart of Punk City!

Heart of the City Music and Arts Festival is a free event held in Central Edmonton every June. 2017 is the 14th year of the festival, happening June 3rd and 4th in Giovanni Caboto Park (95 street and 109A avenue in McCauley).

Ahead of the event celebrating grassroots creativity in Edmonton’s urban core, two acts at this year’s festival joined us on the show. Ben Freeland Writes is a historian and punk poet, and Quasar is a punk band formed in high school that’s participated in Edmonton’s punk scene ever since. This edition of The History of Punk covers punk culture far and wide, and why a grassroots festival in Edmonton is so important in a time of downtown gentrification.

Here’s the playlist!
Alien Boys (Vancouver) – “Gentrification”
Galaxy Express (Seoul) – “Jungle the Black”
Superman Is Dead 日本語 (Bali) – “Poppies Dog Anthem”
Quasar (Edmonton) – “Everybody”
Switches Band (Edmonton) – “Sauerkraut”
Propagandhi (Portage La Prairie) – “…And we thought that Nation States were a bad idea”
Quasar (Edmonton) – “Kydd”

Find out more about Heart of the City Music Festival:
www.heartcityfest.com

Ben Freeland:
www.benfreeland.ca

Quasar:
www.innerquasar.bandcamp.com

And here’s the show!

Edmonton’s Hour of the 2015 Homelessness Marathon

The 2015 Homelessness Marathon aired across Canada on February 25 & February 26. Hosted by CRFC 101.9FM in Kingston, 14 community and campus radio stations produced 15 straight hours of programming tackling homelessness issues.

CJSR contributed Edmonton’s hour, with hosts Daniel Johnson and Rylan Kafara focusing on two major issues – the impact of gentrification in the downtown area on the inner-city community, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Edmonton and Canada. It included interviews with the University of Alberta’s Jay Scherer, MacEwan University’s Michael B. MacDonald, as well as cultural support worker Gary Moostoos, and a number of inner-city community members.

2015 Homelessness Marathon

The 2015 Homelessness Marathon takes place Wednesday February 25 from 2PM MST to Thursday February 26 at 5AM MST and airs across Canada. Hosted by CRFC 101.9FM in Kingston, 14 community and campus radio stations will produce 15 straight hours of programming all tackling homelessness issues.

For all you night owls, Edmonton’s CJSR is contributing stories from 1-2AM MST. The hour focuses on two major issues – the impact of gentrification in the downtown area on the inner-city community, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Edmonton and the rest of Canada. It will include interviews with the University of Alberta’s Jay Scherer, MacEwan University’s Michael MacDonald, as well as cultural support worker Gary Moostoos, and a number of inner-city community members.

Locally, you can tune into 88.5FM, and globally online at http://cjsr.streamon.fm/!