The St. Augustine branch of the American Association of University Women will host Mary Gatta and Molly Vollman Makris at its March 11 meeting.
They will discuss their recently published book “Gentrification Down the Shore,” an ethnographic investigation of Asbury Park, New Jersey, to better understand the connection between jobs and seasonal gentrification and the experiences of longtime residents in this beach-community city.
Asbury Park and St. Augustine have much in common as both were developed as seasonal seaside resort towns for the wealthy to escape to during hot weather in the case of Asbury Park or cold weather in the case of St. Augustine. The study documents the tragic consequences of this kind of redevelopment, which bypasses longtime residents in favor of seasonal visitors and deprives them of access to nature, culture and civic life. In both cities, their Black communities have been left behind.
Palestinian singer, Faraj Suleiman, has released an album in collaboration with the novelist, and songwriter Majd Kayyal. Titled “
Better than Berlin,” the album was initially livestreamed on Facebook and then released on various platforms, including Soundcloud and Spotify. Its songs grapple with the conundrums that undergird the Palestinian realities in contemporary Haifa. It covers a wide range of topics from love, migration, the city, gentrification, marriage, to the “monster” that continuously reproduces the city. The album includes eleven songs, and though the wide majority of the songs are sung by Suleiman, there are two songs, namely “Melodies No More” and “Tasteless,” that bring in other characters and artists, including Shaden Qanboura, Sama’ Wakim, Wa’el Wakim, and Henri Andraous.