Media SREEEEEE

Two wonderful but "underdeveloped" neighborhoods in Berlin - Kreuzberg and Friedrichstein - house the city's punks, artists, squatters and night owls. Families have moved into gentrified Mitte but these two areas are havens for the culture and atmosphere the city is known for. 

Yet a development plan called Media Spree is currently in affect to knock down the nightclubs and squats that give the area it's charm to build concrete and brick palaces for industry.

The first sign of this new development plan is a performance venue o2 World. Financed by a right wing rich American business man that thinks homosexuality should be outlawed in every state, this new venue built on the water violates terms of moving the Berlin wall and putting up a road billboard that keeps people up at night with its bright beaming lights. 

Over the next five years, the squats in the area will be torn down and hideous but important commercial buildings will be put in their place. Go to Berlin now if you want to hit famous riverside bars like BAR 25 and Kiki Blofield before it's too late. 

Get Out of SF Black People

This is basically what San Franciscans are saying to the African American population of the city that once was a haven for jazz musicans, navy workers and families whose lineage stretched back to the migration of the California Gold Rush. Check out Sarah Phelan's article "Black Exodus Emergency" in today's Guardian newspaper and you will see what my eyes have already confirmed: the African American population has declined by 40.8 percent since 1990.

Despite the Mayor's Fillmore Street historic restoration plan blacks are leaving because of increasing rents and cost of living, lack of affordable housing, no creative new jobs and loss of support from friends and families that have already moved.

What should be done to prevent more and more African Americans from leaving their homes and heritage in San Franciso and other increasinly gentrified cities? I propose a lot more than we are currently doing! There needs to be community involvement and cross communication. We all need to speak up for more affordable housing for everyone and to stop the development of luxury condos unless it benefits the people that have lived in these communities their whole lives.