The End of Black Harlem

[Responsible Allen Iverson]

We have to make the South ours. Honestly. Mexicans have the west coast, cacs will takeover the east etc.

The same thing is happening in the South. Even though most Black people live in the South, we still don't have the money to compete with white people. We HAVE to improve our economic situation, and it starts with people improving their personal finances, but a lot of people get defensive when you tell them that the way they spend money is contributing to keeping them poor, so a lot of times it's hard to even start that conversation.

 

[KENNY DA COOKER]

The same thing is happening in the South. Even though most Black people live in the South, we still don't have the money to compete with white people. We HAVE to improve our economic situation, and it starts with people improving their personal finances, but a lot of people get defensive when you tell them that the way they spend money is contributing to keeping them poor, so a lot of times it's hard to even start that conversation.

EXACTLY..im in the south right now

there is this MYTH that blacks in the south are more practical with money

BULLSHYT....THESE COUNTRY AZZ HOES will empty out thier checking account for MICHEAL KORS BAGS.....EXOTIC WEAVE...AND TOP SHELF LIQUOR....

IT'S EVERYWHERE....WE ALL FUKKED UP....

personal accountability with our finances is one of BLACK FOLKS worst enemy..

and it's gotten worst with this generation

this whole FUKK A CHECK up menality is dumb as fukk...

cause its coming from cats who have NO OTHER revenue to suppliment that check they fukked up

I've tried telling my last two exes to be more resourceful with the money..even when it came to me...

all the fukking gifts...and impulsive shopping wasn't good..

and now it's caught up to both of them......

its like they don't fukking care....

i was eating dinner with her one evening and asked her how is she doing with that new credit card she got...

and she just started laughing......

it was obvious that the byatch had already MAXED THE CARD OUT and only had it a week

the other ex me and her would go on a vacation trip....and before we even got to the destination she hollering we broke

cause the byatch had to go to every shoe store and flea market along the way...

needless to say I CUT OFF BOTH THOSE BYATCHES

one of them had gotten evicted from her "luxury" apartment and is now living in a trailer park i heard

and the other one has moved in with her mama

but they ain't wanna listen to me

act like im being condescending or arrogant.....

look who's the a$$hole NOW...

cause both of them are fukked

and that's not to say im proud of that

i really wanted us to come together and build......i helped both of them all i could....

the first ex bought her a fukking car that she couldn't afford the insurance on later down the line

and the other started a business for the both of us.. this byatch fell back on it..cause she didn't like the idea of working for me

WE CAN'T HAVE SHYT AS A COLLECTIVE...NOW I DO IT DOLO....

 

[Red Shield]

we ain't cursed...i think we just RETARDED

 

[Bawon Samedi]

HOW SWAY????

Type in Chinatown and the first thing you'll see next to Chinatown on Google is "gentrification." Just type in Chinatown and gentrification and you'll see. Currently people in my Jason Black thread are having a hissyfit because they still can't believe that their precious Chinatown who they hail as the object example of group economics is getting gentrified and FAST.

You people seriously thought your "group economics" would shield you guys from white supremacy. Sorry its way more complicated than that and I believe the Chinese in Chinatowns can cosign.

 

[Danie84]

B-b-but, GentrifiCaCation revitalized the community

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Pretty much all of Manhattan is going to get gentrified. And no not just the black areas...

 

[gogogubari]

Smh y'all don't even wanna know what's happening to my city.

 

[Colicat]

it's TOO LATE mane

i just spent the weekend travelin thru charleston , savannah and jacksonville... cause im seeking to purchase property

it's a gottdamn shame cause i loved living in the city limits when i was a freelance writer..but now i have to seek places way out in the suburbs aka "the country" like 30 miles out just to find something affordable for me and my family

and spots i use to know where you could get a two bedroom apartment for like 625 a month are now like 1,200 a month ....

particularly in downtown savannah....the home of "camoflauge" and the place where gucci mane first got put on ....

matter of fact Pure Pain studios the original home of camo and gucci is in the midst of a serious urban renewal...

because of that high end Art College there....where one semaster is like 20gs......

all those students are being catered to by the former slumlords who are now hiking up prices to capitilize on the out of state and forigen exchange students

i had a conversation with a lovely old black libarian who was like a mentor to me when i was at Savannah State.....

and she commented how they are shutting down all the rooming houses which were good places for those in transition, laborers, or people whom couldn't find affordable shelter of thier own....

turning these mofos into condos one by one....

and all the good black owned soul food spots are being replaced by smoothie and bike shops all for the students and tourists

a nicca can't even get a nice tapeup for your fade anymore...cause the barbershops can't afford the rent.......

i use to be able to go to downtown savannah and get a nice meal under 7 dollars....

from one of the diners or Krystal fast food restaurant...

now you got 5 star restaurants all over the place some with valet parking...

everything is so corporate and alternative to what was considered "urban" (black)

cameras on every street light...

so it's the same shyt different toilet

black folks HAD the opportunity to empower themselves politically and economically but failed to do so

savannah had more dope kingpins per capita than any other city in that area ..

Cause them cats sat on i-95 and had the port..so they had the import and the means to export with traffic coming daily..

yet none of these niccas took advantage of assimilating that "wealth" into legal means..like them italians and jews do

i remember the Miami Boyz tried to set up shop during the late 80s and got ran the fukk out

the jamaicans came in the 90's and got shot da fukk up

yet

....a bunch of hipster white folks with no GUNS..can come and rape an entire district cause NICCAS DON'T WORK AS A COLLECTIVE

and the irony of the situation is that the hipster art college i spoke of was actually started by money financed by a major GUN RUNNER who was WHITE



we ain't cursed...i think we just RETARDED

I was with you until the end. Dap undap

 

[KENNY DA COOKER]

I was with you until the end. Dap undap

fine...i don't make NO APOLOGIES FOR WHAT I'VE SAID...

the term "retard" also means to stunt growth in a stagnate state...

and when i come across investors on a daily basis whom have these selfish ideals on not wanting to work with or for others whom happen to be of the same complexion ...than that's RETARDED TO ME

when i come across countless individuals whom will empty out thier accounts for "entertainment" but will hesitate to spend one dime on investing in themselves or thier ideals...than that's RETARDED TO ME

when i see a pleathora of rappers, dope dealers and hustlers whom brag about being bosses and running thier hood or thier cities, yet the only investing they do in the community is tricking on byatches...flossing in thier whips and buying clothes and opening the random cliche "record label" or "club" for vanity...than that's RETARDED TO ME

and most importantly when i see so much wealth amongst individuals but yet they won't network with each other or form a coalition to make more bread cause they too busy COMPETING with each other...that's SUPER-RETARDED TO ME...

so negging me won't solve the problem...you getting more sensetive about what i said

as opposed to WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING ...shows you are PART OF THE PROBLEM as well..

now let me exit this RETARDED A$$ discussion and go work on these invoices i got for my business

 

[ORDER_66]

Smh y'all don't even wanna know what's happening to my city.

Uhh whats happening to your city???

 

[Colicat]

fine...i don't make NO APOLOGIES FOR WHAT I'VE SAID...

the term "retard" also means to stunt growth in a stagnate state...

and when i come across investors on a daily basis whom have these selfish ideals on not wanting to work with or for others whom happen to be of the same complexion ...than that's RETARDED TO ME

when i come across countless individuals whom will empty out thier accounts for "entertainment" but will hesitate to spend one dime on investing in themselves or thier ideals...than that's RETARDED TO ME

when i see a pleathora of rappers, dope dealers and hustlers whom brag about being bosses and running thier hood or thier cities, yet the only investing they do in the community is tricking on byatches...flossing in thier whips and buying clothes and opening the random cliche "record label" or "club" for vanity...than that's RETARDED TO ME

and most importantly when i see so much wealth amongst individuals but yet they won't network with each other or form a coalition to make more bread cause they too busy COMPETING with each other...that's SUPER-RETARDED TO ME...

so negging me won't solve the problem...you getting more sensetive about what i said

as opposed to WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING ...shows you are PART OF THE PROBLEM as well..

now let me exit this RETARDED A$$ discussion and go work on these invoices i got for my business

You wrapped your position up with crap... I am not disputing your very valid points... The last statement was just "we are retarded," not; we aren't well equipped with the knowledge it takes to advance as a community.

And I just dapped/undapped... No biggie

 

[Liquid]

Black folks going wherever the train lines don't work too well. You can gentrify bed stuy sure, but Brownsville?

It's an all around complex issue. The reality is my youth was spent going to Harlem to buy weed. shyt was dangerous and in a way I contributed to that problem. Harlem wasn't desirable then, yes it had culture and style that I loved, but it had that undercurrent of evil that poverty brings.

Poverty makes you want to leave your environment, not stay and invest in it. And even if you did try to invest, with what resources? White flight drains the economy, and drugs and lack of basic services like regular garbage collection turn the place to hell. The price bottoms out, whites return and the poor get kicked out. Saying "we need" doesn't solve this issue.

I didn't say we "needed" anything, but maybe you were talking about someone else.

It's a huge problem, but there is a bit of a disconnect in how you are trying to frame things. You didn't live in Harlem obviously, not sure where you lived in the city. I lived in Washington Heights and stayed in Harlem a lot of the time because my best friend was born and raised there. I have seen it first hand the blatant disrespect the renters in the communities faced. Time for your apartment to get a fresh coat of paint, new appliances and what not? Guess what, if you are living in a rent controlled apartment for 20+ years there is a good chance that you are receiving less desirable "fixes" because John and Amanda moved in recently and are paying double the rent you are. Let's go ahead and disregard the fact that the tenant who has lived in the community has paid anywhere between 200K-300K in the past 20-30 years and now can't get a high end Samsung Fridge that the 2 new tenants received because they agreed to sign a 1 year lease at 2.5K per month. It's ass backwards and I have had several conversations about this with @NYC Rebel @88m3 and @GinaThatAintNoDamnPuppy!

Is that how you really treat tenants that you profited off of for decades? Clearly the answer is no, but not surprising. The flip side to that is that your neighbors eventually find out what is going on and just gives off a bad vibe to those who have lived in the neighborhood for so long. Does that promote a sense of community that business owners and landlords constantly try to portray? Didn't you just get shytted on? It creates division and pushes out the ones who helped establish the community in the first place. Does it inspire the old tenants to possibly seek other ventures within the community after being treated like this? Of course not, chances are the old residents don't even have the capital to do so. This is a combination of bad spending habits and quite frankly not enough earned to realistically start something big in such an expensive city as New York. When they get into that position? As insignificant as it sounds...the sheer fact that you were given a stove from the 80's while your neighbors just got a high end setup after only investing 1% of what you have put in over the past 2+ decades is not going to go over well with most people. You are going to have a tough time convincing me that those who are subjected to this kind of disrespect should want to invest back into the community after being treated that way. This is just a small glimpse of the problems as a fellow New Yorker I am sure you remember some of the horror stories of the people in the poorest communities not have heat/water for weeks.

We can keep going back and forth and debate if gentrification is good or bad, but that's not really the issue. The problem is that we are letting the system take advantage of us because people tend to pride themselves saying they were born and raised somewhere. You have to be willing to look at the numbers, analyze your situation and move forward. For me? That was leaving Washington Heights and going to Kentucky. The jokes were plenty when I was 19, but I told everyone I was spinning my wheels out there and saw too many obstacles to climb to get to where I want to go. Some viewed me as weak, scared or a quitter. Those same people are working 80+ hour weeks today because they HAVE to pay their bills on things they don't own. Living in Harlem doesn't mean it's the best move for you financially. Even in 10+ years I will not be able to buy a building in Washington Heights in my current path as I have taken a safer and more conservative route to financial stability.

Even if I did, why would I want to at this point? I LIVED in Washington Heights, I did not at any point benefit from it. My mom received a fridge from the 80s as the replacement unit and it's something that will always bother me. 30 years later...a mortgage completely paid to the landlord for the privilege to live there and a USED stove is what is considered a just "fix" for a tenant who has helped pay off an aging building to a bunch of multi-millionaires. I still love the neighborhood, but I won't invest in it because there will be no considerable benefit. I recommended to a group of friends to start something in Detroit years ago and that went down the drain due to focusing on individualism instead of working collectively. A friend of mine lost 300K as a result of this mindset and a bunch of regret about 3 year later.

The end of this almost non-sensible rant is that there are SEVERAL factors going on in a place like Harlem. We never had the capital to really own most of the section in Manhattan, that is dictated by those with the most resources and the landowners.

We also try to do and "own" things individually when the odds are against us. We don't OWN our place to live, which is one of the biggest keys to financial security in this country...we rent and claim it is "OURS". We need to at least get to that point before we are in a position to really influence the way a neighborhood like Harlem shakes out. The current landowners are going to give it up to the highest bidder and the cycle continues. Sometimes it is worth leaving your surroundings to put yourself in a position to capitalize and either help or inspire other minorities to do the same. I see it more often with the Hispanic community (Mexicans in general in the U.S.) more than any other minority group.

Washington Heights and Newark are next.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

We should have cashed in ~30-40 years ago. The wheels are already in motion now, it's like trying to stop a train with a human chain.

 

[KENNY DA COOKER]

You wrapped your position up with crap... I am not disputing your very valid points... The last statement was just "we are retarded," not; we aren't well equipped with the knowledge it takes to advance as a community.

And I just dapped/undapped... No biggie

that's BULLSHYT...breh

we have a vast amount of knowledge within the community as possessed by all these intelligent idealistic personalities in our community

the problem is WE DON'T APPLY THE SHYT!!!!

What good is KNOWLEGE without the application of it???

we got countless seminars..workshops and town meetings and classes for EVERY THING UNDER THE SUN in the community

but sad to say alot of it is being hustled to us.....because you know the saying in our community

the GAME IS TO BE SOLD...NOT told

so we got all these pimps, pastors and hustlers of cultures and scammers trying to tell you some shyt THAT'S BEEN AVAILABLE TO YOU


FREE OF CHARGE...

But nobody take advantage of shyt.....

like the amount of wanna be moguls and bosses whom never took a trip down to thier local SMALL BUSINESS ASSOCIATION

SO THEY CHOOSE THE LAZY PIMPED OUT ROUTE..and gotta PAY to get in the game..smh

that's why you got mofos that want you to register for CREDIT REPAIR workshops

or register to some workship on how to make money online....

you know what i said FUKK ALL THAT

I SELF EDUCATED MYSELF because the knowledge is available at the library and the internet

and have been able to do both..i got my credit right..and i have created a good stream of revenue online

simply CAUSE I APPLIED THE KNOWLEDGE GIVING TO ME...

niccas are just scared to take risks....

that deafeatest attitude which is being promoted by the negative people around them

and THEY mostly spread that negative attitude cause they are HATING and love MISERY and want you to be in thier same sorry state

meanwhile the smart dumb nikkas are hustling the fukk outta thier own people..

cause they know these negroes ain't gonna put that "knowledge" to good use

or they FEAR empowering another negro who might challenge them

it's like the PUBLISHING GAME....and the STREAMING BIZ

puff had all the knowledge about Publishing ..when Angie asked him to explain it to the audience

and all he said was "pick up a book called the business of music"

so i did that...and it saved me a gang of money as opposed to all these stupid azz seminars where they DON'T TELL U THE REAL DETAILS of how that game work .......

and i was able to get work as someone who was well informed about the publishing game

but it still vexed me as to why this information that all these negroes got wasn't shared

and it made sense they just wanna exploit you....

and if you're RETARDED (hustling backwards) then you have nobody to blame but yourself.....

 

[AtomicUse]

Black people have huge numbers in all boroughs. Everywhere isnt gentrified and everyone didnt leave the gentrified areas. In Brooklyn the demographs can change greatly from block to block. Some places are filled with hipsters while others look untouched. Willamsburg was never a black neighborhood and Brooklyn was never majorily black.


Harlem may be under 50% black but they still are the biggest group and a lot of people in Harlem are neither white nor black.

What areas in New York City are majority breh/brehette's?