Something I found particularly interesting about the “Legacy of Courage” short film was Ronnie Hodges’ account of the apprehension she felt approaching her grandmother’s house. She explains her fear that she would be seen as an intruder or potential criminal in the neighborhood, which had over time become “ritzy” and predominantly white. This gentrification can be seen not only in the former Seventh Ward of Philadelphia but in neighborhoods of major cities across the nation. It is particularly important because of its effects on the populations of the areas pre-gentrification: often black people and other people of color. Homes and local businesses in areas that are often very poor are ‘taken over’ and replaced by newly constructed upscale buildings and chain businesses. Though this phenomenon can improve the areas in an economic sense, it is also often responsible for pushing out the original residents, displacing them from their long-time homes through rising prices. The Seventh Ward, which was not long ago the center of black life in Philadelphia, is now a place where the families of black residents are afraid to knock on their grandmothers’ doors. The principle of gentrification – meaning the improvement of local houses and buildings and the influx of money into poorer communities – is not necessarily bad. Gentrification, in my opinion, is harmful when it deprives the ‘native’ communities of these benefits and leaves them with only the disadvantages. Gentrification has serious consequences, including the destruction of hubs of black history and culture. It also creates, over time, insurmountable wealth disparities: those original inhabitants who are not forced to leave get poorer, excluded from economic success, and the ‘gentrifiers’ (be them wealthy individuals or corporate businesses) generate profit and remain affluent. Further, the gentrifying agents are usually white, repeating an historical pattern on a small scale by destroying neighborhoods of historically oppressed ethnic groups. It would be interesting to hear of other benefits of gentrification that I did not address, or to see examples of gentrification that were not a harmful burden on preexisting communities. It is normal for areas to shift and change in demographics, but gentrification is an accelerated and localized agent of this change, especially in areas like the Seventh Ward which held such historical significance for a specific community.