Oral Histories Takeaways

The following points were brought up in all the oral history interviews that were conducted:

Education is a major driving force and trigger for the narrators’ initial involvement and intensification of involvement in the community. In general, children’s wellbeing and quality of life is a motivator in community organizing and advocacy, especially in parents (but not exclusively so). Many narrator’s stories of involvement in Sunset Park start with advocacy for quality education and school conditions, and while some are dedicated exclusively to this goal, others have branched out into other areas that are in urgent need of providing adequate living conditions for the working class and immigrant communities that live in Sunset Park.

The main themes that narrators have participated and organized for in Sunset Park are education and school overcrowding, rezoning and gentrification forces, immigrants’ rights, and housing rights (tenant organizing, rental assistance, eviction prevention).

The majority of narrators are first-generation immigrants who came to the U.S. when they were younger. This means that they have experienced first-hand the hardships of immigrant communities, and feel a personal connection to the neighborhood and its cultural heritage.

While Sunset Park has a diverse range of identities and immigrant communities, the people interviewed described it as feeling familiar. They like Sunset Park because it harbors people of shared backgrounds, exemplified in the neighborhood’s food, services, and languages. Through these things, they feel belonging, safety, and comfort. This close connection to the neighborhood creates a protectiveness over it and a willingness to defend that can be very fierce.

“But for the whole, as a group, for the future, we should fight. We should stand up for, for our neighborhood.”

Joey Zhang

As residents of Sunset Park, the narrators are also experiencing first-hand the gentrification that the neighborhood is going through and the impact it has had on their daily lives, including the financial strain and displacement of their communities.

When talking about activism and community organizing, narrators feel a strong sense of pride in their participation and the goals they have achieved as a community. The fight for a common goal itself is acknowledged as a process that creates a lasting sense of unity and solidarity. Cultural and racial divides that exist in Sunset Park disappear in these situations, and in its place emerges a collective mentality centered on “the good of the community”, and the “fight for all” that can be very powerful. This moment fosters a bond that feels very unique and special for those involved.

Narrators also sustain that spaces for advocacy are powerful opportunities for exchanging ideas and knowledge, as well as fostering dialogue in constructive ways, even while admitting that people can disagree and change their minds without disqualifying them from the conversation. This is a process that needs to happen continuously and never ends.

“I do a lot of times think about like, well what am I gonna do in like 15 years if everyone I know is gone? Like will it still feel like home? Will it still feel like my community if every other person I know has to leave?”

Rebecca Giordano

When thinking about the interim public library and community spaces, narrators identify them as fundamental in providing many needs for the community. Libraries provide access to free internet and computer services, reading and education resources, job applications, etc. They also emphasize the importance of engaging the residents in thinking who has the right to that space and how it can be used for something that actually has a positive impact in the community. It also opens up conversations with the community about inequality and marginalization, while at the same time fostering connection and closeness between the residents. Engaging in these conversations itself is valuable and important for community members to communicate their needs and priorities, as well as their imagination in what can contribute in a meaningful way to their lives.

Shared experiences between the narrators include the fight against rezoning in Sunset Park as well as the fight against school overcrowding. Although the former was considered a loss and the latter a big victory, they were experiences that shaped their lives and taught them important lessons in leadership, dialogue, negotiation, conflict, and activism.