Presented with inCOMMON Community Development, this one-time screening will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic of gentrification in Omaha with local experts, activists, and thinkers.

MY BROOKLYN is a soul-searching documentary on gentrification (the renovation of low-income, urban areas to attract migrations of wealthier citizens), a national issue in action in Omaha areas like Park Avenue and Benson. The film follows director Kelly Anderson’s journey, as a Brooklyn gentrifier, to understand the forces reshaping her neighborhood. The film documents the redevelopment of Fulton Mall, a bustling African-American and Caribbean commercial district that – despite its status as the third most profitable shopping area in New York City – is maligned for its inability to appeal to the affluent residents who have come to live around it. As a hundred small businesses are replaced by high rise luxury housing and chain retail, Anderson uncovers the web of global corporations, politicians and secretive public-private partnerships that drive seemingly natural neighborhood change. The film’s ultimate question is increasingly relevant on a global scale: who has a right to live in cities and determine their future?

Post-show panelists will include:
o David Levy (moderator), Partner at Baird Holm
o David Harris, Graduate Student at University of Nebraska at Omaha
o Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Advisor at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Omaha Branch
o Tony Vargas, OPS Board Member, District 9