Black-and-Proud: The Soul of Residents in a Birmingham Housing Project and Federal Housing Policy

• In Event: “Slum Life Is Squalid”: Challenging Urban Renewal Through Critical Race Place-Based Research in Historic Schools/Communities

Abstract

Emanating from a historical and sociological analysis of Black community life in a southern public housing community (Author, 2024), this presentation amplifies Black residents’ stories, perspectives, and agency to save their community from planners’ efforts to demolish the community during the 1970s. A former community resident from 1968-1999, the presenter provides a view from the inside, countering the top-down narratives perpetuated by policymakers and external observers. In doing so, the presenter underscores the vital importance of centering the experiences and insights of those historically marginalized or silenced in discussions about their own communities. Through a detailed examination that includes interviews with forty participants between 2005 and 2020, archival research, and the presenter’s lived experiences, this research captures the enduring spirit of solidarity that pushed residents to political action. In particular, residents’ victory during the 1970s against the Federal Highway Commission’s plan to tear down the public housing community is highlighted. Central to the presentation is the emphasis on the agency and voices of the residents themselves, echoing the symposium’s focus on community-held forms of knowledge.

In 1974, the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) revealed plans to extend the Red Mountain Expressway in Birmingham, Alabama, by cutting through a mountain and eliminating Central City, a housing project, in the process. The FHA and Birmingham’s planners undermined families’ efforts to foster community while buttressing the infrastructure and growth of nearby suburbs. However, Central City’s residents did not sit idly by as their homes were threatened. Their protest would eventually result in the city, housing authority, and federal officials changing their plans. The Alabama Tenants Organization assisted Central City’s residents in filing a federal lawsuit alleging the FHA violated residents’ rights by planning the Red Mountain Expressway.

The Central City community protest during the 1970s led to sweeping changes around public housing throughout the United States, which included ensuring residents served on the committees that made final decisions about housing replacement. The final agreement provided “one-for-one replacement housing for the displaced tenants and provided tenants the right to influence decisions on the location and design of the replacement units” (Connerly, 2005). Two of the decision-makers on the committee would be Central City residents, who would help determine the location of the new public housing complex and advise the architects.

This presenter's portrayal of the resistance by Central City’s residents is a poignant reminder that urban spaces, often depicted through a white gaze and lens of deficiency, can be sites of protest and resistance and reservoirs of resilience, cultural significance, and community strength. In aligning with the symposium’s themes, the presenter’s exploration serves as a profound call to action, urging scholars, policymakers, and advocates to engage in more nuanced conversations about the soul and solidarity of the people who continue to inhabit public housing communities. The presentation further serves to remind audiences of some of the victories by public housing residents that would shape housing policies locally and nationally.

Author

• Jerome E. Morris, University of Missouri - St. Louis