Narrowing Topic Ideas: “You Burned It, Now Live With It”
February 25, 2014
The riots of 1968 are of particular interest to me for the final project since I live near and spend much of my time in the areas that were affected the most by the destruction, particularly the U Street corridor. I thought that my project could discuss the neighborhood prior to the riots as well as the economic demise that came after. I really like the idea of incorporating, or maybe focusing this topic through the lens of Ben’s Chili Bowl, one of the only business to survive the riots and the 30 years of a neighborhood in ruins. I really want this project, while as unbiased as possible, to come from the voice of long time residents of the city. The U street corridor was once nicknamed, “Black Broadway,” as it was home a rich African-American art community. The vibrant commercial district was painted with jazz bars, cabaret restaurants, successful family-owned stores and famous residents such as Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes. After the riots, few places were salvageable, even fewer were able to remain open. What I do not want to do is discuss how U Street has become a thriving neighborhood once again without mentioning the race relations, the erasure of culture and history, and without getting the perspectives of those who lived through the shift.
There are plenty of sources I have found thus far. Aside from the personal interviews that I plan on conducting with people I know who experienced the riots first hand, I also found a collection of interviews through the Library of Congress, which includes an interview with Virgina Ali, the wife of Ben Ali, and current owner of Ben’s Chili Bowl, and other interviews by residents of D.C. The collection is not digital, but I can easily go to the museum since I live in the city. There are also multitudes of photos from the weekend of the riots, as well as before and after photos.
2 Responses to “Narrowing Topic Ideas: “You Burned It, Now Live With It””
February 26th, 2014 at 8:34 pm
Ellie, your point of view, or perspective, on your project–working through the voices of the people is a solid viewpoint. This came to be called history from the bottom up during the last quarter of the last century when historians turned from telling the history from the perspective of the powerful, the leaders, the institutions, to voicing the history of laborers, enslaved peoples, women, etcetera. Howard Zinn, called the People’s Historian, is prominent in this perspective–although not always acknowledged in academia or at least the ivory tower part of it.
I would suspect that images will be powerful here, too. And I think when we hit the mapping tool, among others, (a requirement for the project), you’ll find plenty to work on or with.