Rooted and Grounded Desmon DUNCAN-WALKER
Deep family roots hold a Gainesville resident secure to the community she works to protect. Story By:
C. M. Schmidlkofer
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s a descendant of one the earliest families to put down roots in the now historic Pleasant Street district over 100 years ago, Desmon DuncanWalker fights against gentrification and inequitable housing in one of Gainesville’s first Black settlements today. She founded Gainesville Alliance for Equitable Development (GAED) in 2018 ― an organization of community advocates dedicated to improving quality of life outcomes for the most vulnerable ― as a way to protect its history while ensuring development of affordable housing for residents there. GAED is credited for launching the “Stand for Seminary Lane” campaign and Gainesville’s Black Communities Matter movement in 2020. “We began with the challenging but important undertaking to protect the historic Fifth Avenue community and to ensure that the former displaced residents of the affordable housing complex ― Seminary Lane ― would be able to return to the homes they were promised would be rebuilt for them,” Duncan-Walker said. When demolished in 2009 after the buildings fell into disrepair, the Gainesville Housing Authority promised to rebuild them but today considers a proposal for luxury student housing from an Orlando developer. GAED organized a protest gainesvilleblackprofessionals.com
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