1203 - A People's Guide to New York City: Highlighting Histories of Resilience, Activism, and Social Change

Session Submission Type: Regional Spotlight Sessions

Description

This regional spotlight session examines sites of oppression, resistance, struggle and transformation in New York City. Utilizing work featured in A People's Guide to New York City (UC Press, forthcoming). Presenters provide a socio-historical and topographical overview of selected sites throughout the 5 boroughs that reflect the daily lives of New York residents. Typical tours and guidebooks of New York highlight places like Wall Street, Ground Zero, and the Statue of Liberty, or include sections on movies, art, shopping and style ¬opting to focus on glitz and glamor and ignore issues such as poverty, gentrification, discrimination, and environmental degradation. Despite the city's constant reinvention, the past is rarely entirely expunged from its streets and neighborhoods. Traces of its long history remain in the socio¬physical landscape of the city, and what is new tends to layer the old rather than outright replace it. The sites featured in this session highlight stories of activism, resilience, and fights for social justice that are integral to understanding the diverse communities within New York. Presenters will offer alternative histories of familiar and popular sites and locations. The goal is for participants to engage in conversations about the often ¬ignored histories and struggles of New Yorkers, and to make visible the multiple, contested meanings associated with spaces throughout the city.

Sub Unit

• Regional Spotlight Session

Session Organizer

• Belinda C. Lum, Sacramento City College

Presider

• Belinda C. Lum, Sacramento City College

Panelists

• Carolina Bank Munoz, Brooklyn College and Graduate Center-City University of New York

• Emily T. Molina, Brooklyn College - City University of New York

• Tarry Hum, Queens College, City University of New York

• Joshua Freeman, Murphy Institute

• Jen Jack Gieseking, Trinity College

• Prathibha Kana Kamedala, Bronx Community College