City Marshals raided the Rebel Diaz Arts Collective (RDAC-BX) Feb. 28, forcibly evicting the organization from its youth center.
RDAC-BX (pronounced are-dack) turned an abandoned factory at 478 Austin Place in the South Bronx into a Hip-Hop community center that served as a welcoming, daily safe-haven for more than 20 youth volunteers and artists from communities throughout the boroughs of New York City.
Julio Calderon (also known as DJ Illanoiz), a RDAC-BX member and producer/dj in the group Rebel Diaz, says officers broke through the studio door with guns in hand. They told him he had “five minutes to get the fuck out.”
The center’s locks were immediately changed and the collective’s possessions— including sound equipment, artwork and furniture—were quickly removed and thrown in the trash.
Karen Louviere, 19, a former participant in RDAC-BX’s youth programs, voiced her frustration: “They came with armed officers into what is supposed to be a safe space for the community, an alternative for young people in the area, helping develop their talents in a positive way.”
Rodrigo Venegas (also known as RodStarz), an emcee with Rebel Diaz and founding member of the arts collective, called it “an attack on young people, artists and Hip-Hop culture.”
The day after the eviction, supporters of RDAC-BX rallied in front of the closed building for a press conference and concert, during which the collective vowed to continue their work.
RodStarz explained, “RDAC-BX was a space that young people came to for after-school programming, workshops and summer youth employment, in a borough where the most common after-school activity for young people is being stopped and frisked.”
The collective says, “We are constantly being harassed in the streets, so the youth programming must continue.”
Dr. Mark Naison, a Fordham University professor, spoke at the “Defend RDAC-BX” rally and expressed that “our elected officials should be giving RDAC an award as well as a space, not evicting them.”
Emblematic of area’s gentrification
The eviction of RDAC-BX is just the latest symbol of the gentrification currently sweeping through the birthplace of Hip-Hop. The commercial landlord had proposed a “fair” rent increase of $1,000 per month, imposed outrageous graffiti removal fines and showed no remorse about the abrupt displacement of the youth organization.
Claudia De La Cruz, RDAC-BX member and activist, addressed the crowd on March 1: “This is a wake up call. This is something that doesn’t only happen to RDAC-BX!”
In 2012, approximately 11,000 households were evicted in the Bronx alone, according to the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.
Gonzalo Venegas (also known as G1), founding member of the collective and producer/emcee in the group Rebel Diaz, said: “The landlord told us he had tenants ready to pay triple what we were paying. He could care less about a community organization.”
Marc Pogostin, an attorney for Austin Property Corp., told DNAinfo.com that the landlord had “nothing personal” against the collective. The way in which the eviction was carried out suggests that the motivations were highly political.
The collective had been in dispute with the developer over “unauthorized” murals created on the outside of the loft, including one that read “I am Troy Davis” and another with the slogan “No human being is illegal.”
Just a few blocks away from the RDAC-BX center is a lot that became a site for a major battle between community members and developers. The local Mott Haven Herald reported in 2012 that for a mere $2 the city had given exclusive rights to the 14-acre area to “a trio of politically connected men” since the mid-1990s. The site was vacant for years—just like the old candy factory before RDAC revitalized it—until residents planted the Morning Glory Community Garden in 2010
The garden quickly became a site for local youth programs, activist meetings and neighborhood events.
Two years later, the Housing Department ordered the garden to be evicted and torn up. While the city claimed it would build affordable housing and a daycare center—which are badly needed in the poverty-stricken Bronx—the real purpose of the project was clearly commercial construction. The main developer’s partner is a well-connected political player in the Bronx Democratic Party.
Many Bronx residents see that city officials’ rhetoric about new development and cleaner streets seem always to go hand-in-hand with increased police harassment—not improving the community but driving it out.
RDAC-BX pushes ahead
RDAC-BX announced that they will continue their programs temporarily at the Bronx Music Heritage Center through its Artist Residency program, but they are attempting to find a more permanent home.
To make that happen, RDAC-BX announced the “I-AM-RDAC” fundraising campaign at Indiegogo.com. The goal is to raise $50,000 in 60 days in order to acquire a better space to host cultural performances and educational workshops and continue their recently announced plans for the creation of the Richie Perez Radical Library. They also plan on continuing their widely recognized Boogie Mics open mic series, and the SxSBX Hip-Hop Festival.
The I-AM-RDAC campaign was created to help replace equipment and art supplies and to find a permanent home for community activists, artist and teachers to continue their contributions.
“It’s not just about the space. It’s about the work done in the space,” Gonzalo Venegas says.
The landlord “took the space, he can’t take the collective,” said Frank Moore, 21, a RDAC-BX member.
Readers can donate and find out more information by visiting www.RDACBX.org.
