FUREE Downtown Campaign Poster

  • This poster calls for the end of gentrification and the harm it does to the community.

Project Description

Groundswell artist Christopher Cardinale worked with youth and adult members of Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE). Together, they designed a poster for FUREE’s Downtown Campaign to organize community members around the real estate development of Downtown Brooklyn. Cardinale discussed the concept over several sessions with FUREE members and organizers before finalizing the poster design. The poster depicts residents of Brooklyn rising up to preserve the integrity of their neighborhoods and fight development that leaves populations displaced. Underneath the image, the poster proclaims “Stop Gentrification in Brooklyn!” It is a powerful statement said on behalf of community residents who feel pressured to leave by developers seeking to build condos. The residents are portrayed as people of color and the developers as white to illustrate the racial tension often involved in gentrification.

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Project Info

Location: 81 Willoughby Street Brooklyn, NY 11201
Neighborhood: 
Downtown Brooklyn


Program: 
Community Commission


Theme: 
Community


Year: 
2007


Partner(s): 
Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE)


Lead Artist(s):
Christopher Cardinale


Participants: 

 

Medium: 
Printed Posters


Dimensions: 18 x 24in

Fun Facts

Quote
"Our lives are a battlefield on which is fought a continuous war between the forces that are pledged to confirm our humanity and those determined to dismantle it." – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenyan author and activist
Suggested Activity
Discuss the meaning of the poster’s headline, “Their Profit vs. Our Community.”
Research
Gentrification is the change brought onto a community when wealthier people move into low-income and working class neighborhoods. Many times, the original residents are forced out of their community because of price increases in rent and local purchases.