In this series of Juxtaposed, I remix West Coast Rap All-Stars' "We're All In The Same Gang" music video with the audio of John B Calhoun's research on social crowding and aggression. The video, which I first shared during my Hip Hop Architecture lecture at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, details how the built environment influences behavior.
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Spike Lee's "Chiraq" and The History of Public Housing
Following an extended screening of Spike Lee's new film "Chiraq" a heated exchange occurs between Spike and Umi Selah during a questions and answer session. The exchange brought the seldom told history of the systematic destruction of working-class and poor African American communities to the forefront of discussion. Ultimate, Umi Selah was looking to halt historical discourse and acceptance of the black ghetto's existence solely becaue of the "cultural behaviors" of black and brown people. Just as I, Umi Selah looks to expose the conscious efforts of our profession to absolve the most powerful shapers of society, architects, urban planners and social scientists from their responsibilities.
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