blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

Ground Provisions I learn about ground provisions,  from my grandmother who tells my 12 year-old self,  "You don't need to eat meat  everyday."  She tells me about ground  provisions- yam, cassava, eddoes-  food that grows underground,  "Slave food," she says,  "and breadfruit too." "These are the foods  that sustained our ancestors-  Slaves.  These are the foods that have  sustained us."  "You don't need to eat meat  everyday,"  my grandmother says, while  making oil down,  all you need is ground provisions. 

illustration by Elianna Morningstar inspired from a chapter from my childhood memoir, "Brooklyn is War".  For the Say it Loud! event last Wednesday, I read an excerpt from my childhood memoir entitled "Brooklyn is War." One of the audience members, Elianna Morningstar jotted these illustrations while she listened. I love them. 

Like most other major western cities, Copenhagen has increasingly become a more difficult place to find affordable housing. When I first arrived 17 years ago, the neighborhood I moved into was in the process of an aggressive form of gentrification. Vesterbro, a traditionally working class neighborhood in Copenhagen, has now been dubbed "the hipster capital" of Denmark - and rent there, if you can find a rental, is comparable to all the other major cities around the world. Where do all the lower-income residents go? How is the present political landscape contributing to this change? What are the solutions for low-income housing? Are there any?  I know many people, including myself, who are having a challenging time finding a place to live. As luxury buildings are being erected throughout the city it is not difficult to imagine what Copenhagen will look like in a few years' time.  With the so-called financial and refugee crisis, the patterns that are seen in other citi...