Hello! Welcome to COTL, a discussion place for BIPOC. Posted the first 3 Wednesdays of the month

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1. We ask that only those who identify as people of color participate in this discussion. White Avocados, while valued members of this community, should remain in ‘lurk’ mode.
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4. Nobody on this thread is more or less a person of color than anyone else. (We will not set clearly delineated boundaries on who qualifies as a ‘person of color.’ As a starting point, this thread uses the definition of ‘non-European heritage of sufficient prominence to affect one’s navigation of a society built on white normativity.’ However, we recognize that there are identities which skirt either side of the divide. If people feel that they meaningfully experience the identity of being a person of color, then they are welcome to participate.)

 

Howdy CotL community! Your regularly scheduled host is on holiday for the next couple of weeks, so it’s me, HP, keeping the chair warm.

I’m not sure if this topic has come on the thread before, but today I was hoping we could share something about neighborhoods. When I talk to my mom about how and why I not only love being in/traveling to cities, but why I love Chicago in particular, the first thing I mention are the many cool ethnic neighborhoods here. If I want some good churros, I can go to Pilsen and find some of the best. If I want to see what Bollywood films are popular, I can head up north to Little India to see what they have going on. And the Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown in Chicago is wonderful!

Not only is it a lovely event, it’s nice to see folks from other communities there to help celebrate. When my mom and aunt were here visiting a while back I drove them through some of these neighborhoods (particularly on the South Side of Chicago), and my aunt said, ‘Gosh, we don’t really have stuff like this in Denver.’ I’m from Denver, and I understood what she meant. Growing up it wasn’t that there wasn’t diversity in the city, but instead that it didn’t seem marked in any particular way unless you really knew your way around. So of course there were ethnic grocery stores, and neighborhoods that were populated by people from similar backgrounds, etc. It was just different. And in my travels I’ve seen ethnic neighborhoods in many places- Paris, Berlin, London, New York.

The Lunar New Year is always my personal reminder to go out to these communities if I can, to see friendly faces and learn new things, but I also was thinking about the importance of ethnic neighborhoods when I came across the sad story of Altadena. Altadena is a predominantly Black neighborhood in Los Angeles that was decimated by the recent fires. I read one stirring account of this awful tragedy here. And of course there was devastating coverage from the L.A. Times . There is so much at stake for these neighborhoods, and the history lost when horrible events happen is difficult to accept.

If there is anyone who wants to reflect on the effects of the LA fires, please feel free to do so here. For the topic this week, I wanted to ask about your own experience of ethnic neighborhoods. Did you grow up in one? Do you have a favorite enclave that you visit? Have you travelled to a new place and found a community that has had an effect on you? Feel free to share as much as you feel comfortable!

Lastly, I want to leave space for/encourage Sanity Checks. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, from a research paper published in 2000: Of vital importance to emotional survival and well-being for African Americans are personal “sanity checks.” These are steps taken to seek corroboration from other African Americans of experiences and treatment at the hands of a racist society. For example, sanity checks are another reason black students and co-workers “sit together in the cafeteria,” and talk with each other at school and work.

Imagine that we’re all sitting together in the cafeteria. The definition above is specifically about Black people, but it is readily applicable to any PoC. If something’s weighing on you and you’d like to share it here, that’s fine!

Be safe and well this week.