East of Liberty: Chapter II
East of Liberty: Chapter II “The Fear of Us,” a documentary by Chris Ivey, will play this weekend at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater. The shows will be Friday at 7 pm, Saturday at 7 pm, and Sunday at 4 pm. Ticket are $10. Ivey will also be showing Chapter 1, “East of Liberty”, on Saturday at 4 pm.
i can’t wait to see the fear of us!
February 29th, 2008 | #
We went to see the movie last night. I was surprised that the theatre was not filled, though a fair amount of people did come. The movie was an hour and 40 minutes, and afterwards we all stuck around and asked Chris questions and voiced our feelings and opinions on the topic. The movie itself dealt mostly with the views and vision of those who are making the changes — planning that has been in progress for 5 years or more — and the residents and existing business owners who have various hopes and concerns. The residents of East Liberty do want to see their community thrive once again, but fear that they will be priced out of living there by incoming developers and national franchises. The “fear” is much more about the effects of this redevelopment than about black/white race relations. I did benefit from hearing the stories and opinions of the people Chris interviewed, and while some of the information was not new, he did a fair job of weaving them together in a way that covers many issues at once. The after movie session was also revealing, and while Chris was able to answer many questions from the audience, there was a venting of feelings and opinions from the audience — the dialogue this movie was designed to spur. It’s too bad that the audience wasn’t more representative of the East Liberty community, as it is their future, especially the future of nearby neighborhoods, that will be most effected by the changes being planned today. Part of the message is that they don’t have to be left out of these new developments if they get involved now. The rest of the message, one felt particularly by myself, is that even moderately successfully businesses may get priced out of the area. Is bringing back the outside shopping traffic to East Liberty the solution to improving the lives of residents there?
March 3rd, 2008 | #