Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” is by far one of the most timeless cultural productions I’ve ever encountered . As Spike Lee does with much of his work, he uses film as a tool of social commentary and the critiques of police brutality, segregation and gentrification that are present throughout Do the Right Thing, which was released in 1989 remain…[Read more]

Immigration is one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century, especially in the United States. Often times we look at immigration as an internal problem without evaluating foreign policy and the role it plays in shaping the lives of immigrants. In most cases immigrants come from countries who are destabilized by powerful nations such as the…[Read more]

The refugee crisis has intensified over the last few years and made its way into everyone’s broader global consciousness. There is an intense discourse emerging surrounding refugees, the circumstances they flee from, and the circumstances of the countries they flee too. In the case of the United States, the conversation surrounding refugees…[Read more]

What I find primarily interesting about these readings is that while they all embrace this pluralistic idea being a multicultural melting pot and generally welcome immigration – there is still an overwhelming gap between this sentiment and the sentiments of the average American voter. Through my encounters I find that the best case scenario is…[Read more]

Gentrification seems to present itself as probably one of the most pressing urban planning dilemmas of the 21st century. There is this strange paradox in which “revitalizing” neighborhoods with the (supposed) intention of improving living conditions for what are usually disenfranchised communities ends up making the unlivable and displacing these…[Read more]

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this week’s readings is centered around the strange but intense possessiveness surrounding spaces and the ways in which White people demarcate and protect their “territories”. As per our in class discussion, humans haven’t caught up to the civilizational developments made and thus still operate on instinct -…[Read more]

I think the most interesting thing about these readings is the idea that segregation and almost all forms of oppression are deliberate and constructed processes. There is a strange pattern of mainstream thought that insists segregation is either a natural and spontaneous process, or occurs through the act of “self segregation”, essentially…[Read more]

In essence I feel like that this weeks readings essentially are meant to assert the idea that a city is a coalition of individuals, rather than a detached sovereign entity. This exposes the importance of “characterizing” the modern city, as cities manifest themselves as microcosms of society. In order for a city to be “compassionate” or…[Read more]