What went wrong with Public Housing? What worked? What might have been done differently? And what can history teach us about how to create development without displacement?
Join NPHM for an oral history listening session and community conversation to celebrate the online exhibition, Silent Voices Among Us: A Montage of Chicago’s West Side, a photojournalistic series by Dr. Cranston Knight, who grew up in Henry Horner Homes, formerly located in Chicago’s now gentrifying Near West Side neighborhood. Dr. Knight's images, taken in Austin and Garfield Park, document decades of systemic inequities which persist to the present day not only on the West Side, but across the country.
In addition to hearing from Dr. Knight, we’ll listen to stories from other Henry Horner residents, and explore how their social and cultural capital might be leveraged to close historic gaps and rebuild stronger communities.
Recap
The NPHM hosted an online oral history listening session and community conversation to celebrate the online exhibition, Silent Voices Among Us: A Montage of Chicago’s West Side, a photojournalistic series by Dr. Cranston Knight, who grew up in Henry Horner Homes. The complexes were formerly located in Chicago’s now gentrifying Near West Side neighborhood. Dr. Knight's images, taken in Austin and Garfield Park, document decades of systemic inequities which persist to the present day not only on the West Side, but across the country. Knight spoke of his history in the Henry Horner Homes, as well as his interest and engagement in both the Austin and Garfield Park communities.
Tiff Beatty, Program Director of Arts, Culture, and Public Policy opened the community conversation portion of the event by proposing a list of "community agreements" to set the tone of honesty and deep listening and reflection.
In addition to Dr. Cranston Knight, NPHM Board Members and public housing alumni Crystal Palmer (Henry Horner) and Michael Rogers (Robert Taylor), and current public housing resident and housing activist Nakia Sims (Houston) shared their responses to what went wrong (and right) with public housing, as well as potential solutions based on their lived experiences.
In the conversation, Dr. Knight raised the notion that perhaps nothing "went wrong" with public housing; rather, housing policy was designed from the beginning to hinder true economic stability and upward mobility for residents, especially after poor whites had the ability to move to the suburbs. This is echoed with continued sentiments of disenfranchisement on a national level, as the federal government's disinterest in funding public housing continues to this day. At the same time, the four guests reflected fondly on living in their communities; the resilience, the innovation, and the creativity that helped residents survive and thrive. The conversation ended with a decisive demand that the state and federal government must invest in the people, not in failed systems.
We invite you to follow us on YouTube to re-watch the program and read the transcript from the community conversation.
The NPHM receives program funding from a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, the Allstate Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Crown Goodman Family at Crown Philanthropies, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Kresge Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, National Endowment for the Arts, Landau Family Foundation, Terra Foundation for America Art, and Illinois Humanities.