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By: Stephanie Mejia, EMPA, Community Advocate
I moved to Buffalo from Long Island when I was twenty-two years old, still fresh out of college and looking for the next step in my career. I moved knowing that a new area would be an adjustment, as all new areas are, but quickly noticed that Buffalo was different. It’s a medium sized city with a small-town feel, which I really grew to love since it reminded me of my hometown just a stone’s throw from NYC. So, when I recognized this familiar feeling, I was excited and did everything I could to make new friends and try new experiences. However, I quickly started to notice a big difference between the community at home and here.
I grew up in a diverse area much like Buffalo, but the Latino community was tight knit where everyone was aware of each other’s needs. More specifically, we knew who in our community was an immigrant, documented or undocumented. From that connection, we all learned of each other and our household needs and provided support for each other. You may see it as being all up in each other’s business (which is true, who doesn’t love chismosiando?), but most of the time it was to help each other. You need a new apartment because your landlord is illegally evicting you? Call Rosa, she’s renting out a room. Need more work as a house cleaner? Call Marta, she needs an extra hand with some houses. Jose is new to the area from El Salvador, he needs work? OK, no worries, they’re looking for workers to help with shoveling for the upcoming snowstorm, so call Alex. There was a network ready to go all the time, and that network grew as the Latino community grew their families and their kids started to go to school.
My childhood friends became my network, and their family and elders were included in that. I have fond memories of planning my quinceñera and having a strong network of Latin moms directing me to the dress maker, the venue, and the tamalera for food.
When I was twelve years old, ICE came to our doorstep looking for my stepdad, and things became difficult after that. Our community, however, was there ready to assist. My mom knew who to call for information on a good immigration attorney, someone to watch my brother and I while she figured things out, someone to give us a ride to after school activities while my mom processed the grief of her partner leaving. In the community, mutual aid was abundant, which is why, as I sit here and write this, I have hope that Buffalo can one day have that network.
Right now, we are facing unprecedented times in our nation and community where there is instability in all areas – finances, housing, health, human rights, and more. We are witnessing in real time the kidnapping of our undocumented and documented neighbors – empty cars found with driver doors left open in the early morning because ICE took someone on their way to work, kids coming home from school to no parents, businesses struggling or being forced to shut down because their staff were taken by ICE. Community support is needed now more than ever, and the building of it can be done if we understand the root issue of our disconnection with each other, which is segregation. I believe that our community is unaware of how our city has been purposefully made into the disconnected and isolated communities we see now. If you drive down Niagara Street or Main Street, you can see the vast difference in poverty and community make-up – the difference in how our roads is maintained, number of homeowners, vacant buildings, and green space. You can also see how some areas are dense with a specific race/ethnic group or economic class. Elmwood has a predominantly higher income of residents who are White, they also have an active strip of small businesses that are held up by continued financial support by not only its residents but also the leaders representing those areas. In contrast the West Side has seen an inconsistent trend in growth in small businesses, homeowners, and infrastructure that has been tirelessly held together by the low-to-middle class residents who still live in the area. So, what are the reasons for this inconsistent distribution of resources and growth? And how does that impact the ability of the Latino community in strengthening itself?
The areas mentioned above are referred to as “historically excluded areas” because that’s exactly what they are – an area that has been historically ignored and prevented from easily accessing opportunities to grow. More specifically, historically excluded means the systemic marginalization of certain groups using laws and policies to limit things such as economic opportunity or societal power. The West Side, an area predominantly composed of BIPOC residents, is a strong example of the effects of historical exclusion as it was impacted during COVID-19/by COVID-19 at a higher rate compared to areas that are not historically excluded. An example of early historical exclusion is redlining, which was a tactic used beginning in the 1930’s and continued to the 2010’s in Buffalo to segregate areas by social and racial class to maintain their value.
This was a popular tactic used in the City of Buffalo to disenfranchise certain ethnic groups. The Federal Housing Association developed a system to categorize different neighborhoods with ratings from A-D, used to alienate Black and immigrant households by ensuring they remained in specific neighborhoods with limited social mobility and growth (United States Federal Housing Administration, 1936, p. 198). Green, or Grade A, was considered “best” and often used for White and higher-income communities. In contrast, red, or Grade D, was considered “hazardous” and often used for BIPOC and lower-income communities. So, why the history lesson? Because it’s important for our Latino/Hispanic community to understand where we are living and how the past policies made by discriminatory parties have impacted our ability to grow. I can write a book on how it has impacted our health, housing, school system, roads, etc., but the main thing I want to address is how our ability to build community is weak, almost non-existent, compared to other areas, and how we can easily start to remediate that.
The segregation we experience in our city is man-made, policy by policy, and brick by brick. Systemic racism impacts more than how much funding or attention an area gets, but it impacts our ability to connect. Because what is stronger than separating people by zones or streets? Convincing them that the separation is “natural” and “normal.” As a Latina, it is in my bones that community and connection is natural – not this separation of communities based on “sides” or spaces.
I am confident that we can improve our current community by taking steps to connect us more with our neighbors. Here is a quick step-by-step guide that anyone reading can use to create or strengthen the community they live in. It does not require funds to build community, but it does require time and willingness to step out of our comfort zones. It might be awkward at first but trust me when I say that it will become natural (especially for us Latinos) after we take the first step of saying “Hi, I live across the street.”
How to Build Community
1. Introduce yourself to your neighbors – The one next door, the one across the street, or the one around the corner. A simple “Hello, I’m in your neighborhood” is enough, and from there you can build a relationship. Maybe the next conversation is about their garden, bulk trash day pick up, or a mutual dislike of how long it takes the street to get plowed.
2. Share Information – Heard that street parking days changed? Let your neighbor know. There’s a new compost program for city residents? That neighbor around the corner with the new vegetable garden might love to hear about it. A neighbor has landlord who is refusing to make safety repairs? Connect them with a local organization fighting for tenant rights.
3. Share Resources – Yes, a cup of sugar can go a long way or maybe even some clothes that no longer fit your kids but might fit your neighbors. An elderly neighbor might need hand-shoveling – a quick shovel of their front porch is something they will for sure appreciate. Sharing items like tools or exchanging services is a great way to build community (my neighbor borrows our mower and he in turn snowplows our driveway).
4. Create Other Lines of Communication – When you are ready, sharing contact information is a great way to build trust and other lines of communication. This is especially helpful for when emergencies happen, especially weather-related ones like the Blizzard of 2022. We can keep ourselves and our neighbors safe by just checking in on each other and making sure we each have everything we need. Heat is out for your neighbor across the street? Offering your home for warmth may save their life.
5. Sharing Privilege– Yes, we all have privileges we can share with others. Some have the privilege of knowing how to access 311 as a resource (and maybe even the privilege of having the language skills to do so), so helping a neighbor call to file a report is using your privilege efficiently. Some of us have the privilege of status, where our undocumented neighbors might be scared to carry out daily tasks like getting groceries. Going grocery shopping for those who do not feel safe leaving their homes or going out in public is a privilege that can go a long way.
This work on relationship building creates capital, which is vital for community development. When you do not have the money to make structural changes, you use social capital. The larger your network, the more empowered you are to make change. But when you live in a city built to separate, not many are used to crossing lines to build relationships and, therefore, capital. So, here is your push, the go ahead you needed to introduce yourselves to that neighbor you always see a few houses down. And yes, building connections will strengthen our capital, but I believe the best part of growing our Latino community is that more than just our community will reap the benefits in the end.
If you see me in the neighborhood walking my dogs (perro salchichas), please don’t hesitate to say ¡Hola!
