Focus News
Hood
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of it.
We were shooting the video for instance,
there was a police officer who was giving us
a little hassle, what are you guys doing,
what’s going on here? And so we said we’re
shooting a video about gentrification. And
she said, don’t use that word. I asked why?
What’s wrong with the word? I’m a black
man, my director’s a white guy; we went to
high school together. What’s wrong with the
word? And she said, it means to black peo-
ple that white people are coming to take
your community away.
Well, that’s not what it means to me. You
know what I’m saying? There’s so much
more. There are racial implications – but it’s
not just about race. There’s class, there’s
economics.
story earlier this month that said part of the
reason economic inequality dropped in
Seattle is essentially because of ethnic
cleansing, pushing people of color to the
suburbs outside the city. Did you see that?
Draze: In some ways it sounds good,
right? If you’re looking at the numbers I
hear you. But the lens is important.
For instance in my community, my
daughter cannot go to the bakery that I once
went to. That matters, because when you’re
talking about leaving a legacy, and passing
things one generation to the next, it’s impor-
tant. That’s what community is.
You have a people displaced from Africa,
if you will, here they are in America and
they still cannot plant roots. That’s huge.
How do you leave a legacy?
I don’t know if there’s ever been a topic that I’ve
ever seen in my lifetime that is so multilayered
TSN: How do you personally define gen-
trification?
Draze: For me it’s the shifting of the
community, like a ripple effect. Does that
make sense? Behind the scenes, a shift in
the class and the status and the values of the
community, via financing – it’s done eco-
nomically — that inevitably drives people
out. So I could no longer afford to live here.
And there are other factors that go with it.
That, in the simplest form is how I view it
personally.
TSN: What I’ve heard people talking
about lately is that it’s more than just a force
of displacement, it’s something that drives
out the best and brightest people from the
entire region. So it amounts to a significant
brain drain. The Associated Press wrote s
Wealth in America is passed down from
one generation to the next to the next. We
can’t pass wealth down from one generation
to another, so in Seattle the numbers might
reflect one thing, but realistically, we don’t
have our own radio station. We have no way
to get our information out. There’s no way
to get our story out. There’s no way to con-
nect as a community.
And gentrification divides people. Yeah
we’re spread out in all the areas in Seattle.
The numbers might look good, now we’re
out in Kent, some of us, and we might have
a home that might be worth a little bit more,
but our community is suffering. And if the
community continues to suffer and our peo-
ple continue to suffer, it’s a problem.
TSN: Do you think are some other
hotspots of gentrification right now in Seat-
Draze’s new video, ‘It Ain’t the Same,’ features many shots of Seattle landmarks
that have been shut down, torn down or otherwise wiped out from
gentrification, including his childhood home in the Central District, above.
tle?
Draze: You know to be honest with you I
focus so much on the south and the central
area. It was mind-blowing for me to sit
down with the guy who directed the video,
he’s white, we went to high school together
at Franklin High School. And we were talk-
ing about gentrification, for me I was seeing
it through my own lens. And then he just
started talking about Green Lake, and Capi-
tol Hill, and I was going hunh? What do you
mean?
And he said, gentrification is happening
in all our communities. And I said, okay, let
The idea is, when you change these buildings
you don't just change the buildings – you
change the people who frequent the buildings,
and thus you end up changing a community
me start to look at this through your lens,
and if you look at it through mine — I think
the journey he and I went on in creating this
video was amazing, because I was able to
see that, yes, Green Lake and in Capitol
Hill, it’s actually being gentrified but maybe
not at the same rate, maybe not with the
same intensity. But it’s still happening.
TSN: What do you think is the most
important thing to get into a story about this
amazing project you just did that shook up
the whole town of Seattle?
Draze: What I would really like people to
take away from this is: Care for one anoth-
Page 8 The Portland and Seattle Skanner March 5, 2014
er. I think some people in this country – we
tend to be so consumed with what we want
that we don’t care who it affects. And so at
the end of the day to solve gentrification,
were all going to have to sacrifice a little bit.
For example with my music, I have
watched people of other cultures – I’m talk-
ing about Zimbabwe – I’ve watched people
of other cultures want to take it and do
whatever they want to do with the music.
But it’s hurtful to me, as a person who is
from Zimbabwe, to go, hey man, you’re
playing “The Little Mermaid” on a marim-
ba. That’s not okay with me. You know
what I’m saying?
I love that you love the music, there’s an
appreciation there, but there has to be some-
thing on this side of the fence where you go,
hey man, how do I do this a respectful way?
And I think it’s the same thing with us liv-
ing together, in community. How do I live in
community with you and still be respectful
to you? And that comes from conversation.
But I’m determined my music is going to
make a difference. I’m determined and I’m
not going to stop until change is made.
For more on his work go to
www.draze206.com.