Black neighborhoods in "Non-Black" Cities

Biscayne

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Let's explore Black Denver ya'll.

Five Points:


History
Five Points came to historical prominence from the 1860s through the 1950s. The neighborhood was home to Denver's aristocracy, housing mayors, governors, and prominent business people as well as middle class laborers. Rino, Prospect, Clement, Old San Rafael, Curtis Park, Arapahoe Square, and Ballpark neighborhoods are in the larger Five Points neighborhood.

Five Points was known as the "Harlem of the West". It became a predominantly African American neighborhood in Denver because discriminatory home sale laws in other neighborhoods forbade black people from settling in them. From the 1920s to the 1950s the community thrived with a rich mix of business and commerce along the Welton Corridor offering the neighborhood butcher, real estate companies, drug stores, religious organizations, tailors, restaurants, barbers and many other main street services. Welton Street was also home to over fifty bars and clubs, where jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and others performed. Black performers that other hotels in Denver would not accommodate stayed at the Rossonian Hotel, built in 1912, and performed there, making it a famous music venue.


Five Points district c. 1885
The Five Points community suffered from the late 1950s through the late 1990s because of drugs, crime, and urban flight. Many properties were abandoned, the local economy became somewhat irrelevant and the larger market found local business conditions unappealing. Attempts at redevelopment were made but there were many hindrances to reinvestment. The district became a no-man's land in need of a larger vision and a new generation of leadership.

Five Points has always been a neighborhood with a diverse economic mix of residents, evidenced by the variety of houses there. Mansions were built next to row homes. Many of the rich began moving out of Five Points in the late 19th century to live in the more popular Capitol Hill neighborhood. Five Points was also home to a large Jewish population and is still home to a former synagogue, Temple Emanuel, on the corner of 24th Street and Curtis Street. After World War II, many Japanese-Americans lived in Five Points. Agape Church on the corner of 25th Street and California Street was once a Japanese Methodist church.
 

@OffHalsted

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Let's explore Black Denver ya'll.

Five Points:


History
Five Points came to historical prominence from the 1860s through the 1950s. The neighborhood was home to Denver's aristocracy, housing mayors, governors, and prominent business people as well as middle class laborers. Rino, Prospect, Clement, Old San Rafael, Curtis Park, Arapahoe Square, and Ballpark neighborhoods are in the larger Five Points neighborhood.

Five Points was known as the "Harlem of the West". It became a predominantly African American neighborhood in Denver because discriminatory home sale laws in other neighborhoods forbade black people from settling in them. From the 1920s to the 1950s the community thrived with a rich mix of business and commerce along the Welton Corridor offering the neighborhood butcher, real estate companies, drug stores, religious organizations, tailors, restaurants, barbers and many other main street services. Welton Street was also home to over fifty bars and clubs, where jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and others performed. Black performers that other hotels in Denver would not accommodate stayed at the Rossonian Hotel, built in 1912, and performed there, making it a famous music venue.


Five Points district c. 1885
The Five Points community suffered from the late 1950s through the late 1990s because of drugs, crime, and urban flight. Many properties were abandoned, the local economy became somewhat irrelevant and the larger market found local business conditions unappealing. Attempts at redevelopment were made but there were many hindrances to reinvestment. The district became a no-man's land in need of a larger vision and a new generation of leadership.

Five Points has always been a neighborhood with a diverse economic mix of residents, evidenced by the variety of houses there. Mansions were built next to row homes. Many of the rich began moving out of Five Points in the late 19th century to live in the more popular Capitol Hill neighborhood. Five Points was also home to a large Jewish population and is still home to a former synagogue, Temple Emanuel, on the corner of 24th Street and Curtis Street. After World War II, many Japanese-Americans lived in Five Points. Agape Church on the corner of 25th Street and California Street was once a Japanese Methodist church.

heard the whole point been gentrified too
 
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Biscayne

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heard the whole point been gentrified too
I've heard the same. Which is a shame, because cities like Denver in the Western US have a small percentage of Black people as it is. So when you see the few islands of Blackness in those cities start to gentrify and get overtaken by Whites, it's like they're blotting out the black stain on a White city. This is what makes me even more interested in the black history of these "non-black" cities. Are you from Out West?
 

Insun Park

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I'm originally from Detroit, but I live in El Paso, TX. Not too many Black people here, especially ones that are actually from here. You can find a large portion of the few Black people on the Northeast, though. It's not really "the hood", but not the greatest area neither. Any other area in this city is Mexican majority. It's a top 20 US largest city, but it might as well be Mexico in terms of culture and proximity to the border.
cool
 
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FruitOfTheVale

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I've heard of Pine Bluff. I had no idea it was that Black. You being from The Chi, do you have family down in Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta area? Like Memphis, Mississippi, Louisiana, etc.

My grandad was from Pine Bluff. He used to shine shoes when he was a boy, grew up in a shotgun house with no plumbing :wow:

That Mr Predicter album was classic :wow:

Cougnut/ IMP :wow:

I remember when OV used to be lit :wow:

Sideshows on the Dolph, Plymouth and Broad was lit :wow:

I stay off of Randolph rn, oceanview aint changed as much as ingleside but it's definitely changing. Broad & Plymouth still there though, shout out my nikka Don
 
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Biscayne

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My grandad was from Pine Bluff. He used to shine shoes when he was a boy, grew up in a shotgun house with no plumbing :wow:



I stay off of Randolph rn, oceanview aint changed as much as ingleside but it's definitely changing. Broad & Plymouth still there though, shout out my nikka Don
You used to stay in Frisco?
 

FruitOfTheVale

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You used to stay in Frisco?

Yup I went to USF for a year and dropped out, lived on the border of uptown fillmore and the USF area.

Even before I went to school here I was in the City a lot though, I used to take the NL into the City from Fruitvale because they didn't check the fare if you got on in East Oakland lol. It was $1.05 to cross the bridge :russ:
 
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Biscayne

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Yup I went to USF for a year and dropped out, lived on the border of uptown fillmore and the USF area.

Even before I went to school here I was in the City a lot though, I used to take the NL into the City from Fruitvale because they didn't check the fare if you got on in East Oakland lol. It was $1.05 to cross the bridge :russ:
That's dope. Filmore has so much history, and beautiful architecture. I saw a Thizz Nation block report on Filmore. And they were speaking with San Quinn, he showed them around. He had a lovely purple classic Victorian-style home on Divisidero ST. in Filmore.
 

FruitOfTheVale

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One town most don't associate with a black population is Berkeley. There used to be a lot of industry jobs along the waterfront which attracted black families. South Berkeley was 70% black at it's peak, West Berkeley (across San Pablo) had a significant black population as well. Now south berkeley is around 30% and rapidly decreasing because of gentrification via UC Berkeley and the Temescal section of North Oakland.

Same deal with Emeryville, It used to be >35% black when there was more industry but it gentrified when they redeveloped the western edge of it into Bay Street and built all the high rise condos. The eastern edge around 59th & Vallejo used to be all black just like the section of North Oakland that bordered it (Golden Gate).
 
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The_Hillsta

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Potrero Hill Housing projects in San Francisco

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Hunters Point/ Bayview in San Francisco







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West Point/ middle point



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Harbor Road

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Sunnyvale/ Towerside San Francisco





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Fillmoe/ Fillmore San Francisco





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@Fillmoe15 @BayArea @Keyser Soze @The_Hillsta @MrFettuccinePockets


nikkaraaaaaaaays!!!!!!!!:russ::russ::flabbynsick::flabbynsick::flabbynsick::blessed:

 

Biscayne

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One town most don't associate with a black population is Berkeley. There used to be a lot of industry jobs along the waterfront which attracted black families. South Berkeley was 70% black at it's peak, West Berkeley (across San Pablo) had a significant black population as well. Now south berkeley is around 30% and rapidly decreasing because of gentrification via UC Berkeley and the Temescal section of North Oakland.

Same deal with Emeryville, It used to be >35% black when there was more industry but it gentrified when they redeveloped the western edge of it into Bay Street and built all the high rise condos. The eastern edge around 59th & Vallejo used to be all black just like the section of North Oakland that bordered it (Golden Gate).
South Berkeley 70% Black!!!

:damn:

That's more than some Southern cities and towns.
 

RadaMillz

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Central District area in Seattle always had the biggest black population, followed by the South-End. Unfortunately due to major influx of California tech transplants, all those areas got gentrified and people moved to other cities like Tacoma, Washington.

Even the best radio station that played hip hop packed up their equipment and left. Now when ever I turn to 93.3, all I hear is CAC songs smh
 
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Biscayne

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Slam Nuba is an award-winning performance poetry event based in Denver, Colorado, USA. Originated in 2006 as a program of the Pan African Arts Society and certified by Poetry Slam, Inc., Slam Nuba has become a collective of many of the nation's finest poets.

Slam Nuba holds its poetry events at Cafe Nuba, and they major slam at The Crossroads Theater, both located in the Five Points neighborhood in Denver.

The National Poetry Slam is the largest team performance poetry event in the world.[citation needed] Teams from all over North America and a few from other countries converge in a different city every summer for five days of poetry, revelry, and competition.

In 2007, the Denver Slam Nuba team placed fourth in the United States. In 2008, Slam Nuba won two separate regional bouts including the Southwest Shoot Out Poetry Slam in Dallas, Texas, and The Denver 40 ounce Poetry Slam. Slam Nuba competed at The National Poetry Slam in Madison, Wisconsin in 2008 and made it to semifinals for the second successive year. In 2011, the Slam Nuba team won The Nation Poetry Slam Championship.




Slam Nuba was conceived by Ashara Ekundayo, Ken Arkind and Panama Soweto. Café Nuba, Denver's premier monthly poetry showcase had been a registered Poetry Slam, Inc. venue for several years and had never sent a team to the National Poetry Slam. With the support of the community Slam Nuba was created for the purpose of representing the versatility of Denver's poetry scene under its parent organization of Café Nuba.

Slam Nuba is a registered program of a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization meaning that their funds are from donations and fundraising. This keeps the group close to Denver and helps further the sense of community in the metropolitan area.

The team has performed in many places outside of poetry slam including an event hosted by Democracy Now, sharing a stage with Amy Goodman, opening for recording artists Les Nubians, sharing a stage with the hip-hop group Dead Prez, and at such local events as Denver's Black Arts Festival, The Poet As Muse, Club Reign, and Café Cultura.


Slam Nuba 2007
In 2007, its first year of competing, Slam Nuba had four competing members, Jai Harris, Bobby Lefebre, Panama Soweto, and Lucifury (Theo Wilson). Suzi Q. Smith was the team's founder and Slam Master (organizer and manager), and Bianca Mikahn Shaw was the team's coach. Most of the team were rookie slammers yet they won several regional bouts including the Lincoln, Nebraska Invitational and the Dallas Invitational Poetry Slam.

During a week of events at The National Poetry Slam 2007, Lucifury won the Erotic Poetry Slam and earned the coveted title of "Most Erotic Slam Poet in the Nation."[citation needed]Throughout team finals, Slam Nuba placed fourth in the United States out of a possible 75 teams.

2008 saw a change for Slam Nuba. Several of the previous teams members remained but a few new ones were added to the troupe. Bobby Lefebre, Panama Soweto, Lucifury, Original Woman, and Ayinde Russell represented Slam Nuba during the 2008 slam season. Suzi Q. Smith left their ranks as Slam Master, but Bobby Lefebre and Panama Soweto picked up where she had left off. Bianca Mikahn remained on as coach.

During the 2008 season, the team won a variety of tournaments and performed at a wide range of venues in the Denver area, including the wrap up party for DNC (Democratic National Convention) volunteers. The team was also featured in an article in El Semanario, Denver's weekly Latino newspaper.


Slam Nuba Team 2008
Slam Nuba won the Flagstaff "Win and You're In" bout, a match they needed to clinch a spot at the national competition, The 2008 South West Shoot Out Poetry Slam, and The Denver 40 Ounce Invitational Slam. The team won both of their preliminary bouts at the national event, then came second in the semifinals bout to team Austin Egos and tied with the team from Hollywood.

In 2009, the poets representing Slam Nuba on a national level were Bobby Lefebre, Ken Arkind, Panama Soweto, The Original Woman, and Lucifury, joined by their coach Suzi Q. Smith. Amy Everhart, who was to join the Slam Nuba team the following year, won the Individual World Poetry Slam. The 2010 team was coached by Lucifury and added to the team Jen Rinaldi, Jovan Mays, Megan Rickman, and Amy Everhart. Lucifury ranked fifth in the 2009 Individual World Poetry Slam. Amy Everhart was the Individual World Poetry Slam Champion of 2009.

The 2011 SlamNUBA team, consisting of Theo "Lucifury" Wilson, Brando Chemtrails, Ayinde Russell, Jovan Mays and Dominique Ashaheed, and coached by Jen Rinaldi, won the 2011 Nation Slam Poetry Championship.
 
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