If any one message has remained consistent coming from both Africatown residents and stakeholders since MEJAC was founded 10 years ago in 2013 by Africatown residents in partnership with community stakeholders and regional advocates, it is the recognition that the community needs systematic economic development that is neither polluting nor disrespectful to the community’s residential heritage as having developed from a group of survivors who were illegally trafficked as enslaved people into the United States in 1860.
An Africatown Studios artistic rendering, as offered on the Africatown Studios website
An idea is being shopped to the community that claims it would do exactly that and with no down sides, and it is was presented to the community as “Africatown Studios” in a meeting that presented an exciting promise of jobs and economic stabilization to some and a deeply problematic boondoggle to others. The roll out has been nothing short of polarizing, and many long-term advocate Africatown community organizations are praying the polarization isn’t the point of the project promotional exercise.
Several Africatown residents attended and community stakeholders the meeting held by Africatown Studios proponents on Saturday, March 4 at the Robert Hope Community Center. The meeting won support from some of those present but easily just as many were left with lingering questions and concerns while a few rejected the proposal outright. Some residents left unhappy with how the meeting was conducted while many residents simply couldn’t make the meeting due to not hearing about it until a day or two before it was conducted.
Another presentation of Africatown Studios was made to the Africatown Redevelopment Corporation monthly meeting on the evening of Tuesday, March 7, which reinforced some concerns from residents and stakeholders unhappy with the public engagement process for the project.
MEJAC encouraged all those who came to our organization with concerns to write them down, think about them, and seek feedback from friends and family. We discussed them and decided what questions we would simply publish on our blog in this fashion to the developers and promotional team of Africatown Studios and the broader interested public.
This isn’t simply a gish gallop debate tactic for us but we wish to seriously consider the proposal with the goal of there being a respectful prospective partnership conversation between hesitant residents and the developers and also to make what our members have learned so far from Africatown Studios developers and promoters transparent to others.
To hear more and to better understand not just the potential economic benefits and burdens of the project but also its cultural purpose is critical, because that reflects the values with which we feel prospective community developers should engage Africatown.
If we have misinterpreted or mischaracterized previous statements made by the Africatown Studios project promoters, we invite them to help us better understand.
We also want residents and stakeholders to have a clear understanding of their right to public participation well before and during any permitting phase for the Africatown Studios project, as we would for any project of this scope and magnitude in any environmental justice community in our region. Where zoning designations must be changed or variances sought to make the project conform with protective standards for vulnerable Africatown neighborhoods, the Substantial Justice of the changes must be proven.
We invite the Africatown Studios project promoters to not jump to any conclusions about where MEJAC stands.
This post is broken up with narrative background and questions generally falling under the following headings:
- Why Is Africatown Studios Being Proposed?
- Substantial Justice: What all does the Africatown Studios Flyer Say?
- Location Background
- Land Use and Zoning Background
- How’s Community Engagement Been So Far?
- The Good: Who Will Africatown Studios Benefit and How?
- The Bad: What Risks would there be for Residents?
- The Ugly: Why Was the Community Told Houses Can’t Be Built There?
- What’s Next? How Does the Community Weigh in?
