Chocolate City

The documentary “Chocolate City” began with the sound of bongos, and people rapping “black on black, now it’s black on white.” The point of the rap was to show how much the demographics of Southeast D.C. have changed over the past couple of years. A program called Hoped VI was implemented in the city, which destroyed public housing and brought in mixed economies, which essentially ran out the lower class. The director of the movie showed the neighborhood of Arthur Capper, which featured run-down apartments, some of which did not even have any doors or windows. The director of the movie interviewed people from this community, who voiced their opinions about how invisible they feel. One lady, who was filmed multiple times throughout the movie, expressed how she felt all the government cared about was money, and that they wanted the poor black people to move out in order to bring in white upper-class people.
The people of Arthur Capper talked about how they were forced out of their homes, and were told that they were allowed to move back in soon. One woman, however, had been out of her home for three years, and it didn’t look like they had done anything to her apartment. One instance, the kids of Arthur Capper wrote up a petition and went around the whole neighborhood in order to keep the Recreational Center, which they were able to do. The adults realized that if the kids could do it, that they could too. The movie director created her own play write, where she impersonated the people of the city, with the purpose of letting others know their struggle. I had no idea that this was even going on in D.C., even though I live so close. I feel horrible for them and can’t ever imagine that happening to me.