Reclaiming Your Community

Reclaiming Your Community
Reclaiming Your Community
You Don't Have to Move out of Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One
Edition: 1
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 01 February, 2022  Available in all formats
EPUB ISBN: 9781523000319
PDF ISBN: 9781523000302

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Majora Carter shows how brain drain cripples low-status communities and maps out a development strategy focused on talent retention to help them break out of economic stagnation.

"My musical, In the Heights, explores issues of community, gentrification, identity and home, and the question: Are happy endings only ones that involve getting out of your neighborhood to achieve your dreams? In her refreshing new book, Majora Carter writes about these issues with great insight and clarity, asking us to re-examine our notions of what community development is and how we invest in the futures of our hometowns. This is an exciting conversation worth joining.”
-Lin-Manuel Miranda


How can we make the promise of America more accessible and equitable for everyone? What is a path toward wealth creation, quality of life, and happiness in low-status communities, whether in the inner city, in Rust Belt towns, Native American reservations, or other “marginalized” places?

There is an alternative to programs that simply ameliorate poverty without building wealth or counteracting the effects of displacement and cultural erasure through gentrification. What Majora Carter proposes in this inspiring and eye-opening book is a talent retention community development strategy.

Low-status communities have never had a shortage of successful people emerging from them. What they have had is a shortage of successful people staying. Carter focuses on retaining homegrown talent to create a robust, economically diverse ecosystem. She advocates

• helping property owners resist selling to speculators
• assembling available resources to build local businesses
• creating vibrant third spaces where personal and professional connections can grow
• and much more

Throughout the book, Carter shares key lessons from her personal and professional journey. The result is a powerful, heartfelt rethinking of poverty, inequality, economic development, and individual and family success.
Description
Majora Carter shows how brain drain cripples low-status communities and maps out a development strategy focused on talent retention to help them break out of economic stagnation.

"My musical, In the Heights, explores issues of community, gentrification, identity and home, and the question: Are happy endings only ones that involve getting out of your neighborhood to achieve your dreams? In her refreshing new book, Majora Carter writes about these issues with great insight and clarity, asking us to re-examine our notions of what community development is and how we invest in the futures of our hometowns. This is an exciting conversation worth joining.”
-Lin-Manuel Miranda


How can we make the promise of America more accessible and equitable for everyone? What is a path toward wealth creation, quality of life, and happiness in low-status communities, whether in the inner city, in Rust Belt towns, Native American reservations, or other “marginalized” places?

There is an alternative to programs that simply ameliorate poverty without building wealth or counteracting the effects of displacement and cultural erasure through gentrification. What Majora Carter proposes in this inspiring and eye-opening book is a talent retention community development strategy.

Low-status communities have never had a shortage of successful people emerging from them. What they have had is a shortage of successful people staying. Carter focuses on retaining homegrown talent to create a robust, economically diverse ecosystem. She advocates

• helping property owners resist selling to speculators
• assembling available resources to build local businesses
• creating vibrant third spaces where personal and professional connections can grow
• and much more

Throughout the book, Carter shares key lessons from her personal and professional journey. The result is a powerful, heartfelt rethinking of poverty, inequality, economic development, and individual and family success.
Table of contents
  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • Preface
  • Glossary of Terms I Use
  • Introduction: There Goes the Neighborhood
  • Chapter 1: Measuring Success by How Far You Get Away from Your Community
  • Chapter 2: Geeky Little Kid in the Ghetto
  • Chapter 3: Conditions for Brain Drain: How to Disinvite Your Hometown Heroes
  • Chapter 4: When Everything Tells You the Same Thing, You’ll Probably Believe It
  • Chapter 5: Daring to Name Our Dreams
  • Chapter 6: Convenient Prey: If You’re Not at the Table, You’re on the Menu
  • Chapter 7: Why Must We Do Real Estate Development the Same Old Way?
  • Chapter 8: Success Doesn’t Live around Here for Long
  • Chapter 9: If They Don’t See It, They Won’t Believe It
  • Chapter 10: Garbage and a Golden Ball
  • Chapter 11: Despite Incredulity, Planning with Joy
  • Chapter 12: Stay in Your Lane
  • Chapter 13: Sellout
  • Chapter 14: Controversy: Teachable Moments
  • Chapter 15: So What Is the Problem?
  • Chapter 16: Constant Yearning
  • Chapter 17: The Illusion of a Perfect Opportunity
  • Chapter 18: Real-Life Examples Form a New Narrative
  • Chapter 19: Idea to Reality = Discipline + Work + Time
  • Epilogue
  • Discussion Guide
  • Notes
  • Acknowledgments
  • Index
  • About the Author

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