1. Topic Proposal

   I will be researching Gentrification in Harlem resulting in positive more than negative. As well to mention the interest in investigating The SkyRise for Harlem being an important concept created by June Jordan in 1965, not only that but evaluating the situation and context to know why it did not succeed and could have been different for it to take it on plan.
   The reason this topic has had me interested has been because I am extremely encouraged to talk and convince my audience in order to show them why gentrification can bring constructive results. One of them is improving the infrastructure when it comes to observing Harlem as part of New York City, one of the most important and famous cities in the world.
   Harlem has been one of the most affordable neighborhoods in Manhattan, however recently there have been new architectural projects being constructed in Harlem bringing negative and positive impacts to the community. Highlighting some positive aspects are the economic growth bringing construction activity jobs and declining crime rate. For that reason I will be bringing up June Jordan’s concept “SkyRise for Harlem”, a project where “no one would move nowhere but up”. This plan was a radical landscape where she planned to accommodate half a million people, and even though this resulted in not being constructed it is important to go back in time to know what can be different in order to succeed. Important to discuss that gentrification has had positive impacts and if it keeps developing the way it is now, in the future it will have economic opportunities by raising business jobs and expanding the number of entrepreneurs within the neighborhood.

   Annotated Bibliography

   Bryant, Maya. “The Gentrification of Harlem.” Dialogues RU@: 98-107.
   “The Gentrification in Harlem” by Bryant Maya discusses the side effects that Harlem has developed due to gentrification when it comes to their residents. Maya specifically refers to wealthy gentry moving in are the responsible for residents losing their jobs or mass displacement, claiming gentrification in Harlem as unethical because it has created “irreparable social, cultural, and economic repercussions” on the other hand she as well encourages to see the positive effects of this issue, reinvestment in the neighborhood’s infrastructure. She begins by bringing up important topics such as it’s Black population historical context and how this has harmed the neighborhood economically by recreating ghettos and its failure to reconstruct its infrastructure because of the aforementioned. Specifically in 1930, Harlem suffered by augmenting its crime rate, this has happened before Harlem being gentrified. During the process of gentrification later on in 1986, this neighborhood began to regenerate Harlem’s economy and real estate. Another point which Maya points at is Black middle class being pointed as positive effects for Black population since before gentrification, Black Culture has been seen more as a minority more than a community being able to succeed. Nowadays in the 21st century, Gentrification has arisen its economic revitalization where housing and security for the low income residents has been provided. Even though Maya mentions “Harlem is being remade, upgraded, and transformed, just for them, for wealthier white people”, in some ways they apport to the majority to the economy of Harlem, which leads to this neighborhood in better physical conditions lowering crime rate. This text will support my thesis because even though they show most of the negative effects of gentrification, they prove that economically speaking, gentrification will turn Harlem into a wealthy city where low income families who are willing to live there and work as well will be able to stay, since the number of job opportunities will be increasing oftenly not just in upper degree professions but as well in non required experience such as restaurants, bars, small supermarkets etc.

   Williams, Trenessa L., and Charles R. Needham. “Transformation of a City: Gentrification’s Influence on the Small Business Owners of Harlem, New York.” Sage Open 6.4 (2016): 2158244016673631.
   In the journal “Transformation of a City: Gentrification’s Influence on the Small Business Owners of Harlem, New York.” by Trenessa Williams, the author focuses towards how gentrification has changed the way a city looks like by increasing the value of properties. She claims that gentrification “contributes to a positive social change” , which is important to consider because she considers gentrification not only social but economic as well where each individual that possesses capital is able to reinvest in
   neighborhoods whose are abandoned more than forwarding to gentrification as a term to refer as decreasing its value or being negative. On the other hand, the author still manages to show the negative side effects of gentrifying Harlem, for example deciding to choose whether the neighborhood should invest in recreation areas and bike lanes or give capital for low income families in order to survive. As well as forcing small business to survive while gentrifying. Positive aspects of gentrifications are turning Harlem into a safer community by remodeling old and abandoned buildings and bringing in new residents. This Journal claims Gentrification as being positive for Harlem, a neighborhood where crime and poverty were major issues affecting the community, for that reason this information will be helpful for my argument in my research project. The author supports most of my reasons for why Harlem should Keep progressing when it comes to its infrastructure making my ideas stronger versus the negative side effects of Harlem being gentrified.

   Fish, Cheryl J. “Place, emotion, and environmental justice in Harlem: June Jordan and Buckminster Fuller’s 1965″ architextual” collaboration.” Discourse 29.2 (2007): 330-345.
   In the essay written by Cheryl Fish, she discusses June Jordan and Buckminster collaboration in 1965. June Jordan and Buckminster Fuller planned an environmental and social urban planning where they wanted to develop the term “environmental quality and economic social health are mutually constitutive” meaning that they wanted affordable housing where culture displacement would not be a side effect, this would be
   called “Skyrise for Harlem”. Both images wanted to erradicate the image of poor communities suffering discrimination. June Jordan being a poet and a Black English Advocator was able to not only draw this plan but also write it describing how this project would be conceptualized. The idea of this project consisted on building over 100 levels, building bridges that would cut through each tower in a way to connect them along with green areas, and as I agree with June Jordan she mentioned that this would “Account the psychological state of living in an area deemed a ghetto”, the Sky Rise would have avoid Homelessness and people being evicted from the neighborhood. And even though they are aware of the negative consequences of this project such as economic and environmental factors within poor communities, they consider applying an utopian technological mode. June Jordan’s definition for Skyrise for Harlem is “Not anywhere but up”, where she mentions how the community would be revitalized with the support of schools, playgrounds and shopping areas. At the end, Skyrise for Harlem did not have enough support and infrastructure. This will completely support my thesis because nowadays we live in a “milieu of globalized neoliberal capitalism with its megacities and mega slums” as the author defines, where they have the philosophy of how the economic system works in a community functions, they have the base of how this would look like and makes it easier to convince my audience for why it is important to gentrify Harlem as soon as possible.

2. Language and Literacy Narrative Essay

   Lost and Found

   Born in New York City but grown in Mexico the second half of my life. Learning English as my first language sounds normal but turns frustrating when suddenly I must move to another country and forget all I knew in English because everyone’s first language is Spanish. Going into 4th grade in Mexico was harder than I expected. I took a Spanish placement test, which awoke me with a monster headache. Feeling frightened because I couldn’t communicate with others, I wanted to become a decent Spanish speaker and writer. The problem came up recently when I decided to move back to NYC to finish high school and noticed how oxidized my English became. A struggle that I knew it just couldn’t last forever.
   Unfortunately, my school credits were not enough since classes are different between countries, making me course my junior year twice. The school year had begun with an autobiography essay, having no idea of how an essay was structured I still decided to give it a try. By the following week my teacher collected them and called my name, it gave me chills, surprisal she said, “Your essay is a puzzle, and it frightens me, you need help ASAP”. My heart was uneasy, I didn’t know enough, panic was surging all through me, but still, even with my sweaty palms I gave myself courage to ask for help toward receive morning tutoring, to which she accepted. I felt responsible in some way but still flush my face at my parents for not giving me a stable life instead of rolling my eyes to myself for not being mature enough. As soon as the first day started with the basics of how to create an essay my pupils delated, I was smiling and dancing because I noticed a pattern between both languages, I only needed to analyze it and draw it as a math case to make it easier.
   Knowing two languages can be confusing, I started struggling with grammar errors such as false cognates and wrong word choice making me feel lost. Now imagine that you pronounce phrases incorrectly in front of your classmates, they would laugh for at least the time a dog finds a spot to poop, my face would get red as a tomato, I wanted to smash everyone but I didn’t, instead I would just stare at them until they stopped. Now when I moved to NYC, I started to think in Spanish what I wanted to write in English, instead of directly thinking and writing in English, this caused me trouble at the time of writing essays, I got dizzy pretty quick. And even though I was not an English expert, I still believed many times that I probably ended in the wrong high school.
   I imagined that coming back to NYC was coming back to a circle where everyone’s first language is English but this time that wasn’t the case, I got placed at an International school where most students spoke Spanish, the language I wanted to avoid. Being there frustrated me in two ways: Firstly, every time I spoke to someone in English they would respond back in Spanish, how are you supposed to learn if they don’t collaborate, instead they would create their own Spanish speaking community, and second, some of the teachers treated you with enough kindness that at some point it felt like they were only being nice because they felt pity. All this felt like a knot in my chest making me decide to learn on my own.
   After all, I did felt some gain of knowledge while writing and speaking in English, some it I owe it to my English teacher, some of it to the activities I did at home to catch up and some to the techniques I learned in Mexico with my teachers starting from elementary school all the way to middle school. If I go way back to the beginning it seems like it has taken me 10 grammatical years to be where I am now. Finally, after everything I have through, I learned that we tag negative moments when we don’t know how to take advantage of the consequences after, in order to turn them into great experiences, as well that we cannot leave our education in hands of someone else, it is a personal responsibility.

3. Research Essay

   Should Harlem still be named Harlem after Gentrification?

   Harlem, a historical neighborhood with mostly Black culture has recently been experiencing gentrification due to its social problems along with ghettos. Important to mention that in the years of 1970 and 1980, Harlem was considered a neighborhood with concentrated crime, however since then according to a study by DNA info, crime has dropped 70% while murders by 75%(DNAinof.com). Gentrification has gained many understandings on its concept, one of them translates it to a result of an economically damaged neighborhood that has been seen in the necessity to restore the infrastructure. And even though it may help, at the same time it does increase its real estate economic value. Once gentrification raises the value of the real estate, it is common to create a social change, where poor families are seen obligated to evacuate the neighborhood, causing social and cultural displacement. Gentrification has positive and negative effects. On one hand the negative effects can result in raising the economic value of the real estate, forcing low income families to move out due to the excessive percentage increase in the rent. At the same time gentrification may increase its socioeconomic of the neighborhood creating a separation between races. On the other hand, it increases the population coming from the outside making it an exotic
   neighborhood as has been proved from the year 2000 to 2005, “32,500 blacks moved out and some 22,800 whites moved into the Harlem district”(Fellowship). As well the resources when it comes to stores, schools and architectural projects leading into economic investment. Because of its history, many Halremites have not been satisfied with the idea of investing in Harlem’s infrastructure. Having June Jordan as an important image to focus on when it comes to her plan “Skyrise for Harlem” where she introduces the concept of “Not anywhere but up” making it easier to understand the importance of gentrification in Harlem. Harlem’s gentrification, at the possible expense of its cultural legacy, is necessary because such changes can bring economic growth through improving its infrastructure which will then encourage commercial investment, increasing employment and decreasing crime.
   Once the renaissance era occurred between the Harlemites, this is to say when most of the demographics was fulfilled with Black members mostly, notable changes happened. Langston Hughes has been chosen to help understand what Harlem means from the beginning of time. He has managed to introduce so many high-value questions in a poem as short as “Harlem” in which he discusses the possibilities of chasing a dream, and the awareness of Black communities trying to pursue their dreams in a neighborhood such as Harlem where they are being blocked from advancing because of racism, creating hope in a hopeless place. It is important to mention that the poem was written in 1951, 20 years after the Harlem Renaissance where Non-Hispanic White people started to emigrate from Harlem because of the rapidly high concentration of African American communities. Langston specifically mentions “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”(Line 2-3), pointing at the time an aim is being delayed because of this social injustice. Although some people argue that racism may not be the major factor for Black people to chase their goals, the poet shows the contrary by stating “Or does it explode?” (Line 11) where he gives the final option for one’s goal, after listing all the negative paths for someone to pursue hope on the objective. Making it a score of four negative choices versus two positives, giving a low chance for a Black person to succeed. In sum, his view toward Harlem is based on hopelessness because of racial separation and dividing social classes based on skin color as well, for that reason Black communities are pushed back from what progression can be in them.
   Though gentrification is often seen as a threat to the culture of a longstanding community, Harlem’s changing landscape, some people may argue that “Harlem is being remade, upgraded, and transformed, just for them, for wealthier white people”(Bryant) causing to increase the value of rent, housing and taxes as well making business owners able to pay. However, a small business owner must have an adaptable plan in place to help adjust to the unexpected changes in the community brought by the issue of gentrification” (Williams). It is important to emphasize that wealthy communities, not only White but black members as well, do contribute to the majority of Harlem’s economy leading to better physical conditions lowering crime rate. This allows the numbers in the chart to increase job opportunities, not only degree professions but for inexperienced people as well.
   Gentrification in Harlem is necessary to reduce the crime rate. Crime rate has been one of the reasons for why it has decreased its real estate value. As the author of “The Gentrification of Harlem” Maya Bryant puts it herself, “The maintenance of neighborhood buildings was successively neglected and overcrowding, disease and crime became widespread” (Bryant). Way back Harlem was having no change towards trying to invest in their infrastructure because of the idea that Harlem was Harlem due to its culture and race. Nowadays that there has been a change in how buildings and streets are modernizing has shown a raise in the chart when it comes to employment and housing. Proponents say that the rezoning will create nearly 9,000 jobs, provide hundreds of units of affordable housing and lead to more restaurants and shops in the neighborhood(Fellowship). If jobs increase, there is more capital moving in Harlem, and if there is enough capital in this neighborhood, it increases tourism, safety, high quality schools referring to Harlem’s education and as well coming back to more possibilities of having a job. In sum this will give local economic stability through time because of being an affluent neighborhood.
   In the article “Gentrification and Displacement in Harlem: How the Harlem Community Lost Its Voice En Route to Progress they discuss the fact that buildings remained unwanted shells used as congregating points for drug deals and other nuisance activities back in 1970(Fellowship). Until now that Harlem has been changing its view toward building towers and retail stores there has still been controversies for why Harlem should not rebuild itself as they have mentioned, “Without culture there is no Harlem”(Fellowship). If that is the case which affects the plan from moving on then the answer would be to rezone Harlem and change its name. An example of how this would look is equal to Hell’s Kitchen, this neighborhood was known mostly for its combination of wealthy people along with gangsters, streetwalkers, mysterious murders and disappearances. Because of this, they rezoned the area and changed its name to Chelsea North or Hell’s Canyon. In sum, if the place was known for its culture by name, then a suggestion would be to change the name and keep reinvesting. June Jordan, a Jamaican American teacher, activist and poet mostly known for her writings where she would explore issues towards representation, immigration, race and gender. One of the issues she wrote about would be Harlem and its poverty status in 1965 along with Buck minster. As she emphasizes and recite: In today’s milieu of globalized neoliberal capitalism, with its megacities and mega slums, we need to insist on studying the effects of social, environmental, and economic deprivation on the daily lives of people and their home places, the eco social contexts of communities”(Fish 342). Meaning that back in Maya’s period, gentrification was not a major plan yet, however she structured a strategy to promote gentrification with the goal of harming the fewer people as possible. Now that this plan of improving Harlem has occurred, it is important to bring her project back and make as many families aware as possible to deliver and spread the plan in order to really succeed with it. Her plan was powerful because she was originally from Harlem, making her able to really observe the issues in her community. From there she created a scheme where residents would be displaced, meaning that saving this as an alternative answer to people’s fears of displacement was an excellent way to combat that.
   And, finally, with such magnificent and much-needed improvements and a wealth of new work for people living in Harlem, crime should decrease. Harlem is a neighborhood with too much potential that has not been exploited yet and it is necessary to keep New York alive. Harlem is located in a wonderful position in Manhattan, making it easier for them to succeed with rezoning. If gentrification delays or stops, and decides to stick to maintaining its culture because Harlem is a Black community then Harlem is prisoning themselves from modernizing.

   Works Cited

   Bryant, Maya. “The Gentrification of Harlem.” Dialogues RU@: 98-107.
   DNAinfo.com. “Central Harlem — DNAinfo.com Crime and Safety Report” http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/crime-safety-report/manhattan/central-harlem/.

   Williams, Trenessa L., and Charles R. Needham. “Transformation of a City: Gentrification’s Influence on the Small Business Owners of Harlem, New York.” Sage Open 6.4 (2016): 2158244016673631.

   Fish, Cheryl J. “Place, emotion, and environmental justice in Harlem: June Jordan and Buckminster Fuller’s 1965 “architextual” collaboration.” Discourse 29.2 (2007): 330-345.

   Fellowship, Marie Gørrild 2008 New York City, et al. “Gentrification and Displacement in Harlem: How the Harlem Community Lost Its Voice En Route to Progress.” Humanity in Action,
   http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledge_detail/gentrification-and-displacement-in-harlem how-the-harlem-community-lost-its-voice-en-route-to-progress/.

4. Summary and Response Essay Project

   Langston Hughes: “Harlem”

   Langston Hughes has managed to introduce so many high-value questions in a poem as short as “Harlem” in which he discusses the possibilities of chasing a dream, and the awareness of Black communities trying to pursue their dreams in a neighborhood such as Harlem where they are being blocked from advancing because of racism, creating hope in a hopeless place. It is important to mention that the poem was written in 1951, 20 years after the Harlem Renaissance where Non-Hispanic White people started to emigrate from Harlem because of the rapidly high concentration of African American communities. Langston specifically mentions “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”(Line 2-3), pointing at the time an aim is being delayed because of this social injustice. Although some people argue that racism may not be the major factor for Black people to chase their goals, the poet shows the contrary by stating “Or does it explode?” (Line 11) where he gives the final option for one’s goal, after listing all the negative paths for someone to pursue hope on the objective. Making it a score of four negative choices versus two positives, giving a low chance for a Black person to succeed. In sum, his view toward Harlem is based on hopelessness because of racial separation and dividing social classes based on skin color as well, for that reason Black communities are pushed back from what progression can be in them.

   The author Langston Hughes is an American poet and importantly a social activist who through this genre, a poem, he directs the tone of anxiety, frustration and oppression, wanting and willing to find an answer to why racism has not stopped yet and when will it be enough. Throughout the list of questions, his purpose is to encourage African American to stand up and combat their fear, importantly making the idea that race cannot be a struggle for them to become successful. That Harlem cannot maintain its concept of hopelessness. Hughes develops these questions through printed words, demonstrating his stance as a passionate person willing to encourage everyone by causing the same frustration he feels while writing this poem. “Harlem” is forwarded to African American communities that are still believing that they will never be able to encourage themselves to be someone important because of their race, especially to young people who can be able to stand up and speak for everyone. But not all African American, this is being said because it is necessary to have historical context on the poem, meaning that someone who would just read this at once without knowing the background information, may get another perspective and purpose towards it. It is clear that the language Langston Hughes tends to manage in his lines were majorly assonance, consonance and metaphor, helping him to convey his exigence which is to invite Black communities to be aware of the existing racial inequality being the main cause for their dreams and goals to be rotten, also important to discuss some constraints, as there may be many African American young adults that may not be interested in being informed about this issue because of the feeling of not being taken seriously after taking the first step due to their skin color.

   Langston’s piece has become meaningful to me because it has made me see another perspective about how Black communities may stand out in an American society. In comparison to White people, Black dreams are being delayed, making it feel as “First let every White reach their goals and then Black people can take their turn”. However, even though this inspired me to see a new point of view, I do not want to share Langston’s same argument and only target African Americans but to invite everyone with general knowledge on the history context way back in the 1930s. I would like to also involve infants, and the reason for this is that I feel that racism nowadays is happening mostly because of vengeful people who had families that suffered racism before and in some way had the need to still do something for them in honor more than every Black people suffering racism directly from white people nowadays. Overall, then, I believe that races really do not matter, it does not define superiority, and it should not be the cause for achieving objectives. I am completely passionate about showing the ideas gathered in a visual art, painting is a universal language where not only adults but kids can be involved, my objective is to make it simple for children to understand but as well make it abstract and detailed for adults to analyze. Through the tone of enthusiasm and persuasiveness my purpose is to demonstrate the different role that an African American plays and a Caucasian act in society, how we should blur that line. Some constraints that have been taken into account have been people who may not agree with my idea because of the idea that there is still racism as deep as it has been since 1930, people who are involved in movements such as Black Lives Matter and believe that I am not taking this issue seriously. However, I am willing to maintain my stance of an optimistic person who needs to show the other side of what racism can turn into if we start the initiative to leave aside the word “Race”.

5. The Self Assessment Essay: Did I grow?

   Everything that has happened in life when we are just beginning to learn something new becomes difficult, however practice makes perfect. The fall semester has passed by already, and felt as if a storm came and left leaving a sunny day in a blink of an eye. In these past months I have gained a great amount of knowledge whether it is from learning strategies and techniques or applying skills in writing, leading me to facilitate my writing to become fluent when it comes to word choice. I have noticed that my writing has evolved this semester as well as my time management. It became easier to write a 1500 word paper now in contrast to the beginning where I struggled with writing a three page paper. A way of demonstrating my development in reading, drafting, collaborating, revising and editing can be shown in the comparison of the Summary and Response Essay along with my research essay “Should Harlem still be named Harlem after Gentrification?”.

   I learned how to analyze different genres with a variety of rhetorical terms, an example of this can be seen in the Summary and Response Essay where I analyzed the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes, I was able to contextualize the poem with background information in order to understand each line in the poem and find its abstract impact. I felt able to describe as much as possible in one sentence as shown ahead, “It is clear that the language Langston Hughes tends to manage in his lines were majorly assonance, consonance and metaphor, helping him to convey his exigence which is to invite Black communities to be aware of the existing racial inequality being the main cause for their dreams and goals to be rotten, also important to discuss some constraints, as there may be many African American young adults that may not be interested in being informed about this issue because of the feeling of not being taken seriously after taking the first step due to their skin color”. However, even though I had the idea compressed, I was struggling with the run-on sentences, it was quite long and at some point confusing for my audience when they read it. As I go back to past essays I am able to notice the struggle I was going through and now how because of those errors I have improved with it.

   Moving forward to my most recent essay, “Should Harlem still be named Harlem after Gentrification?” I have observed a major change in getting an idea and writing it down clearer. A perfect example is shown in my thesis, “ Harlem’s gentrification, at the possible expense of its cultural legacy, is necessary because such changes can bring economic growth through improving its infrastructure which will then encourage commercial investment, increasing employment and decreasing crime”. It is shorter and clearer when showing my arguments in less words as possible. I practiced different sentences with different words and summarized it many times until I came up with a clear and argumentative idea.

   A way to demonstrate how I have engaged when it comes to collaboration and the social aspects of writing can be through the Research Essay Rough Draft peer review with a classmate. I received the following feedback, “I liked how in your essay your title introduced your topic automatically grabbing the reader’s attention. One thing that could be improved on is double checking your work for spelling errors. Overall good job!”. The feedback I gave was “While reading your research paper I felt intrigued to keep digging into your information. I believe that your quotes were the correct ones to help you support your paper, however I misunderstood your main focus about Harlem, you mentioned the pros and cons of gentrifying Harlem but I did not catch your position to narrow your information. Overall, the ideas were well structured and had good choice wording”. I felt that the connection between both suggestions were fairly contributed. With the suggestion I received I was able to make corrections with the way I would write my ideas, this as well helped me with the progress on finding primary and secondary sources.

   In conclusion, through the semester I have been able to explore and analyze different categories in genre and rhetorical analysis. Because of the aforementioned I have gained techniques and applied these strategies to my earliest research essay, “Should Harlem still be named Harlem after Gentrification?”, in comparison with the amount of errors and struggles in the citations and explanation of the evidence presented when I began writing as a college student. My main goal has been to understand the importance of using primary sources but as well manage to correctly analyze them, which I found difficult in the beginning, matter of fact at the end of the semester I learned to evaluate the information based on its credibility and accuracy.

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