Day 3: Urban Renewal and Contradictions

Today, my class and I took the train to Center City, where we had our first class field trip. We first visited Independence Hall, which is one of the few places you can peaceably assemble. We had a guest with us on our field trip who had been a former student of Professor Lamas, but is now a professor herself. Her name is Katera Y. Moore and she spoke to us today as well. Today was dedicated mostly to urban renewal and pointing out its contradictions. Urban renewal is something that had never really interested me and I had never learned much about. But what I learned today opened my eyes to so much.

Michael talking to us at Independence Hall

Urban renewal is also known as negro removal. In the past, African Americans lived, and were slaves, in all parts of America. Now, when you go to certain places, you will not see many Black people. You typically will see, or expect to see, African-Americans in urban neighborhoods. It is not that Black people make these areas bad, it is that not as much work is put into taking care of these areas, and providing resources, like it is in predominantly white neighborhoods. This is due to urban renewal, or negro removal. When cities were being made into suburbs or tourist locations, African American people would be made to move or leave these areas; different strategies were used. Lamas, Katera, and Michael would point out places in Philadelphia, like Independence Hall, that was made to cover history, make it "pretty," and make a profit. These areas have experienced urban renewal and contradictions.

We briefly saw Liberty Bell and then had a longer lecture in the grass with Katera, with input from our other professors. Katera really opened my eyes to a lot, and she even gave me her card so that I could contact her in the future.

After this, we were taken out to lunch in Center City. Everyone separated into their groups with a new group leader. My group's new leader was Nicole. We ate Greek food and talked about school and sports. Without a social justice oriented topic to discuss, my group was pretty quiet.

Flame of Liberty by Dale Chihuly

After lunch, everyone rejoined and went to The National Liberty Museum. We talked and looked at all of the glass sculptures, paintings, and walls dedicated to some of the recognized "heroes" of our world. We analyzed the meanings for a lot of artwork, which was actually quite fun. It was interesting hearing the different interpretations for the works of art. The differences in how people think have become to interest me more and more.

There was a replica of the Liberty Bell there, so it was rang for us to know how the real Liberty Bell most likely would sound if it still worked. Our tour guide told us that the sound of the bell, if rung with enough force, could be heard 5 miles around and shatter all of the windows and glass in the building. A part of our tour was to visit the gift shop. The point of the museum is to teach us history, make us look at the world from a different perspective, but it also wants to make a profit. This is another example of a contradiction.

On our way back to the train, we stopped at varied locations to hear short lectures about parts of Philadelphia from Professor Lamas. We saw the Benjamin Franklin cemetery, we heard the story of why the streets are named after trees, and the story of why fire stations are no longer privatized.

We took the train back to campus and we said our goodbyes to Lamas. There is no class tomorrow because of the Fourth of July.

Today was very hot and tiring, but I loved learning about urban renewal. It was very interesting and something I had never thought of before. Today has opened my eyes and it was fun!