#2 - author's note on vignette

i am not from philadelphia. i grew up in the suburbs of new york city, in nassau county on long island. i live in philly for a little under 3 years during which i helped gentrify a couple different neighborhoods, writing music and bussing plenty of tables while i was at it. it should be noted that while the piece at times attempts to humorously reflect on race as it functions within a city landscape, it is an issue that i reflect in a serious way on daily.  i believe that gentrification is unequivocally an act of violence that i need not necessarily take part in; accordingly my current living arrangements (some bullshit too expensive converted factory space in bushwick) speak volumes as to the extent that i'm willing to address the issue --- apparently, it's all fun to do creative work that addresses the problem with which i am directly involved in, but it need not translate to my actual behavior (here i am, gentrifying brooklyn).

at any rate, i think i quite like the piece. the only thing i'm concerned about is the (possibly) two dimensional representation of the woman in question, especially as she is all but explicitly identified as a woman of color. this is an issue i might like to discuss in peer review, had i turned the assignment in on time.