CHANGE
CHANGE --
CHANGE -- AND CHANGE CAN MEAN LOSS. THIS WEEK -- WE ARE FOCUSING ON
WHAT AUSTIN'S
LOSING AS WE APPROACH
"TOMORROW'S A-T-X"..
AND THAT LED KVUE'S ASHLEY
GOUDEAU TO EAST AUSTIN.
NESTLED BETWEEN THE MODERN HOMES
AROUND EAST MLK --
"LOOKA THERE, THERE GOES ONE OF
THE BOXES'."
IS A PIECE OF THE OLD EAST
AUSTIN.
"I CALL IT LITTLE SHOTGUN."
IT'S NOT THE BIGGEST HOUSE ON
THE STREET -- BUT TO
BETTYE WASHINGTON -- THE FOUR
WALLS SHE
BUILT WITH HER HUSBAND BILLY 50
YEARS AGO -- ARE PERFECT.
"WELL IT MEANS EVERYTHING TO ME.
I LOVE THIS LITTLE HOUSE."
THE 86-YEAR OLD MOVED TO AUSTIN
WHEN SHE WAS JUST
THREE YEARS OLD.
BEFORE THE CITY PLAN OF 1928 --
THAT CREATED A
"NEGRO DISTRICT" -- PHYSICALLY
SEGREGATING
THE CITY -- FULLY WENT INTO
EFFECT.
"WHEN I WAS A LITTLE GIRL, BLACK
PEOPLE LIVED ALL THE WAY ON RIO
GRANDE. AND THEN THEY STARTED
MOVING US THIS WAY. ALRIGHT,
THIS
IS HOME. WE GOT IT. YOU KNOW,
BUILD
BUILD YOU
BUILD YOU SOME HOME. FIND YOU SOME HOMES OVER HERE IN EAST AUSTIN. AND THIS WAS OUR EAST
AUSTIN."
AUSTIN."
BUT
BUT OVER
BUT OVER THE LAST DECADE -- OUR EAST AUSTIN HAS STARTED TO CHANGE.
THE LAND CONSULTING ENGINEERS
ONCE DEEMED
AS "VERY LOW" VALUE -- IS NOW
DESIRABLE.
"NOW IT'S CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN."
WASHINGTON ISN'T OPPOSED TO
CHANGE.
BUT SHE'S NOT A FAN OF THE
ATTENTION HER HOME HAS
GOTTEN IN THE LAST SIX YEARS.
UNSOLICITED CALLS AND LETTERS
FROM REALTORS AND
COMPANIES -- OFFERING TO BUY HER
OUT.
AND ONE LETTER -- CROSSED A
LINE. "THE TOP SAID 'MOVE OUT
AND MOVE ON.'"
"WELL THAT WAS APPALLING FOR
THEM TO SEND A LETTER TO SAY
'MOVE OUT AND MOVE ON.' I JUST
THOUGHT THAT WAS HORRIBLE."
"MEAN
"MEAN GET
"MEAN GET YOURSELF OUT AND GET OUTTA HERE. WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE. AND THAT, THAT KIND OF
DIGS YOU DEEP."
WASHINGTON'S STORY IS JUST ONE OF MANY -- AND WHILE SHE STAYED -- OTHERS DIDN'T.
SHE RECEIVED THAT LETTER DURING
A TIME WHEN U-T
RESEARCHERS FOUND AUSTIN WAS THE
ONLY MAJOR CITY IN
THE COUNTRY -- WHERE THE BLACK
POPULATION
WAS DECREASING AT A DOUBLE-DIGIT
RATE.
"THERE IS SOMETHING BOTH
VISCERAL AND, IN MY OPINION,
DISTURBING WHEN PEOPLE HAVE
WORKED DECADES ON DECADES TO
BUILD A COMMUNITY AND IN FIVE,
TEN YEARS, YOU WOULDN'T BE
ABLE
ABLE TO
ABLE TO TELL WHO LIVED THERE." VIRGINIA CUMBERBATCH IS THE DIRECTOR OF EQUITY AND
COMMUNITY ADVOCACY FOR U-T'S
CENTER FOR COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT.
"I THINK THE PART THAT STARTS TO
RATTLE PEOPLE IS YOUR ARRIVAL IN
THIS COMMUNITY SHOULD NOT BE AT
THE DETRIMENT OF MY SURVIVAL IN
THIS
THIS COMMUNITY." HER OFFICE IS WORKING TO PRESERVE THE CULTURE OF
EAST AUSTIN WITH THE COMMUNITY
HOUSING HUB.
EDUCATING PEOPLE ON TOOLS AND
PROGRAMS TO
HELP THEM STAY IN THEIR HOMES.
AND CAPTURING THEIR STORIES
AND FEELINGS.
"IT'S NOT JUST SOME PEOPLE WHO
HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY PROPERTY
MOVING INTO AN AREA BECAUSE THEY
CHOOSE TO. THAT IS NOT WHAT
GENTRIFICATION REALLY IS. IT'S
THE DEATH OF A HISTORY OF A
NEIGHBORHOOD."
SENTIMENTS SHARED NOT ONLY BY
SOME WHO ONCE
LIVED IN EAST AUSTIN LIKE ANGELA
MEDEARIS -- BUT
ALSO BY THOSE LOOKING FOR
COMMUNITY IN THE CAPITOL
CITY.
"I FEEL LIKE I DON'T RECOGNIZE
ANYONE OR ANYTHING
ANYMORE."
TIA WILLIAMS IS EXPLORING THIS
IN "GENTRIFIED."
"A FIVE PART WEB SERIES THAT
FOLLOWS THE LIVES OF THREE
BLACK MILLENIALS WHO ARE DEALING
WITH DIRECT IMPACTS OF
GENTRIFICATION."
IT'S INSPIRED BY THE
HOUSTONIAN'S OWN AUSTIN
EXPERIENCE SINCE MOVING HERE IN
2012.
"THE FACT THAT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE
TO PUT IN WORK TO LOOK
FOR OTHER INDIVIDUALS THAT LOOK
LIKE YOURSELF, FOR ME
IT
IT WAS
IT WAS A
IT WAS A PRIMARY ISSUE THAT I HAD." IT'S NOT THE AUSTIN HER MOM
DESCRIBED.
THE AUSTIN WILLIAMS WAS BORN IN
BEFORE HER
PARENTS RETURNED TO HOUSTON
WHILE SHE WAS STILL A
BABY.
NOW --
"HAVING TO CONSTANTLY THINK
ABOUT WHERE CAN I GO WHERE I'M
NOT
GOING TO BE THE ONLY BLACK WOMAN
IN THE ROOM? A
RESTAURANT, A BAR, A COFFEE
SHOP, A GROCERY STORE."
WILLIAMS HOPES THE SERIES PAINTS
A PICTURE OF
WHAT AUSTIN IS TO SOME.
A PICTURE CUMBERBATCH BELIEVES
HER HOMETOWN CAN
-- AND IS -- CHANGING.
CURRENTLY -- AUSTIN'S BLACK
POPULATION IS INCREASING.
"IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT'S A
PART OF THE ONGOING WORK
AND LEGACY OF OUR CITY TO MAKE
SURE THAT EVERYONE WHO
HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS
COMMUNITY, WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED
TO THIS CITY, THEY GET TO BE
BOTH VISIBLE AND ALSO DOCUMENTED
IN
TERMS OF THE NARRATIVE IN WHO WE
ARE AS THE CITY OF AUSTIN."
FOR
FOR WASHINGTON -- THAT NARRATIVE PARTLY LIES IN THIS HOME.
CONSTRUCTED TO ESTABLISH HER
FAMILY'S LEGACY AND
BUILD GENERATIONAL WEALTH. "I
WON'T BE HERE FOREVER BUT IT WAS
GOING TO BE FOR MY CHILDREN,
TO BE ONE OF THEIR HOUSES,
SOMEBODY'S HOUSE IN THE
FAMILY."
THAT INTENTION IS THE REASON
WASHINGTON CALLED THE MAN
WHO SENT THIS LETTER --
"HE SAID, 'HOW MUCH WOULD YOU
WANT FOR YOUR PROPERTY' AND I
TOLD HIM 'YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH
MONEY TO PAY FOR MY
PROPERTY.'"
BECAUSE NO AMOUNT IS WORTH --
HOME.
HOME.
ASHLEY
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