Gentrification's latest target ... the fashion industry
Why do so many gentrifiers dismiss the legitimacy of those they're displacing? It happens in all spheres, even fashion, as seen in Brooklyn.
"The New Face of the Brooklyn Look? A White Woman"
http://www.dominionofnewyork.com/2012/12/27/the-brooklyn-look-is-now-white
Not only has Brooklyns black style been upstaged. It has been rebuked.
Bird was one of the first to bring fashion that wasnt dumbed down to Brooklyn, said Mary Alice Stephenson, a stylist and fashion commentator who has lived in Brooklyn for some 20 years, according to the Times. Dumbed down is how she described Brooklyn fashion before Mankins. Wow. That is so offensive.
... The failure of the newcomers to acknowledge the creativity and style that preceded them is the modern day equivalent of landing in the Caribbean and saying you discovered it. I hear the same thing about Harlem all the time. ...
Im really tired of seeing us and our contributions erased, belittled and rendered invisible. Its good that we all voted for Obama, but if we want to be one nation, we really need to sit down and talk about a lot of things, including what it means to acknowledge and respect the existence and culture of other people.
Well said.