In this video, TikTok user @ohhey_jeannette discusses a 2022 Atlantic article by Xochitl Gonzalez entitled “Why Do Rich People Love Quiet: The Sound of Gentrification is Silence.” The article explores the effect of gentrification on the racial and cultural landscape of Brooklyn over recent decades. Both the article and the TikTok video note that as wealthy (mainly white) people move into these (largely Black and Brown) neighborhoods, they have transformed from places where large communal gatherings once thrived into neighborhoods that lack life and noise after dark. In the video, the TikTok user shares her own lived experience to confirm the article’s claims, and in posting to a social platform, opens the conversation up to others who may share her views and concerns.  

discussion

According to this video, how have the cultures of Brooklyn and Harlem changed due to gentrification?

Why does the TikTok user share her story in relation to this specific article? How does the combination of these mediums impact the opinion of a viewer who is not from the area?

What do you notice about the drawing alongside the article and what it is trying to say about the effects gentrification has on the future of a neighborhood?

What are some examples of how local communities can respond to gentrification and displacement?