From South Bronx to Washington Heights: Interviewing for City Lore’s Place Matters

From South Bronx to Washington Heights: Interviewing for City Lore’s Place Matters

While the first two weeks were about researching and getting accustomed to City Lore, the third and fourth weeks were when the action happened: I interviewed my first two sites for Place Matters. As described in the previous post, the first site was the Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC), in which I interviewed the Co-Artistic Directors Elena Martinez and Bobby Sanabria. Last week, I interviewed Bobby and this week, I interviewed Elena. Check out the audio of the interview below:

Following the interviews, I wrote a piece in first-person but for the purposes of Place Matters, I re-wrote my BMHC piece in third-person and incorporated Census data pertaining to the South Bronx racial and ethnic demographics. I have provided part of my article below:

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the South Bronx community as being approximately 30 percent impoverished by July 1, 2016. Based on race and ethnicity, the 2000 Census cited the South Bronx as being 39 percent Black and 60 percent Hispanic. However, according the 2010 Census, the population has shifted to 37 percent Black and 56 percent Hispanic. These numbers show a slight decrease in both racial and ethnic communities presence in the South Bronx community. These changes could be attributed to a variety of factors, one of them being the increased rent and cost of living in the area.  

In spite of the slightly declining demographics, black and brown residents remain a majority in the South Bronx area and need services that cater to their cultural identities. This is where the importance of community development organizations like the Bronx Music Heritage Center come in. The BMHC was created as a part of their parent organization, The Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco.). WHEDco provides community development resources for the Bronx community, including but not limited to housing development, childcare assistance, youth education, and commercial revitalization. When asked about the importance of WHEDco, Bronx Music Advisory Board member Elena Martinez eloquently responded:

“Their unofficial motto is ‘We don’t build buildings, we build community.’ Because you can build apartments, but people need many other things when they have an apartment. Their children need to go to school. You need to eat . . . You need to be able to buy clothes, shoes, furniture. You need cultural and community activities.”  

Prior to serving on the WHEDco Bronx Music Advisory Board, Elena Martinez and Bobby Sanabria produced a film called “From Mambo to Hip Hop” and have written an article about the latin music scene in the Bronx. After reading their literature, WHEDco founder Nancy Biberman approached Elena and Bobby to be members of their Bronx Music Advisory board. Through serving on this board, Elena and Bobby went on to run the Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC), another initiative of WHEDco. BMHC produced three types of artistic performances on a once-a-week basis during their first three months of operation. The organization worked towards bridging the gap between WHEDco resources and the South Bronx community by providing local music and arts education. The keyword being “local.”

Since its inception five years ago, BMHC Co-Artistic Directors Bobby and Elena have continued to provide a variety of cultural exhibits and programs to reflect the cultures within the South Bronx. The list of programs includes a sliding scale of free to affordable music and dance classes for the community members, the monthly Bronx Rising! artistic showcase sponsored by City Lore, and the Bronx Living Legends Concerts. The residents who live in the affordable housing complex that BMHC is housed do not have to pay for the classes. The exhibits and programs reflect the cultures pertinent to the Bronx community, including by not limited to Puerto Rican, Cuban and African American music heritage.

The Bronx Music Heritage Center’s new home is currently under construction in the Melrose section of the South Bronx. The new location will be accompanied by their new organizational name, The Bronx Music Hall (BMH). Melrose and an adjacent neighbor Mott Haven are made up of 72 percent Hispanics and 25 percent Black residents. Therefore black and brown communities maintain access to the organization’s services despite relocation within the South Bronx area. The new location will come with a permanent exhibit displaying Bronx music history along with spaces for music and other artistic performances. The new affordable green housing complex in which the BMH will reside, is planning to provide housing for elderly musicians. The focus on this community is due to the combination of society’s disregard for the arts as well as the elderly.

I am currently in the process getting my BMHC article posted on City Lore’s Place Matters website. The full article includes quotes from my oral history-styled interviews with Co-Artistic Directors Bobby Sanabria and Elena Martinez. In conjunction with writing this article, I also visited the Washington Heights area to interview Word Up Community Bookstore Founder Veronica Liu. I will provide more details about the interview in the next post.

 

Work Cited (for section of my BMHC Article)

Bobby Sanabria, face-to-face interview, 6/20/17

“Building a Greater Bronx!” WHEDco. WHEDco, 2017. Web. 30 June 2017.

Bronx Music.” About Us | Bronx Music. Bronx Music Heritage Center, 2017. Web. 30 June 2017.

“Community Health Profiles 2015| Mott Haven and Melrose.” The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2015. Web. 30 June 2017.

Elena Martinez, face-to-face interview, 6/28/17

Giron, Will. “New Bronx Music Heritage Center Combines Affordable Housing with Green Design.” Inhabitat New York City New Bronx Music Heritage Center Combines Affordable Housing with Green Design Comments. Inhabitat.com, 02 June 2011. Web. 30 June 2017.

“Population Characteristics and Trends in the South Bronx.” South Bronx. Institute of Civil Infrastructure Systems, 2009. Web. 30 June 2017.

“QuickFacts.” U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts Selected: Bronx County (Bronx Borough), New York. U.S. Department of Commerce, 2016. Web. 30 June 2017.