Cleveland State University Forum on Foreclosures 5/11/09

Report from forum: Building our Future Beyond Foreclosure: Creating a New Story, From Crisis to Opportunity with Alex Kotlowitz on Monday, May 11, 2009 at CSU's Levin College of Urban Affairs.

“All Boarded Up” by Alex Kotlowitz New York Times Magazine 3/4/2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/magazine/08Foreclosure-t.html

Alex Kotlowitz talked about narrative and how we use stories to make sense of the world and our lives. He believes that narratives can energize social change. Good stories help us to identify and understand feelings and motives, enabling us to be empathic. Narratives can answer contradictions, divisiveness, and give voice to the powerless.

Using the analogy of Katrina, he observed that we want to turn away from suffering. Kotlowitz came to Cleveland asking what happens to the fabric of a city where a large number of people are losing their homes. As he met people and wandered through Slavic Village he saw suffering, and things that looked dumpy, but was most struck by those who remain, those who cling to their neighborhood, and invest themselves in their space and place. By spending time with people who are powerless, he was able to share their stories, and then bear witness to what is real, authentic, and perhaps true.

One of the reasons Kotlowitz came to Cleveland to write about the foreclosures is because Cleveland is one place where people are pushing back and responding instead of passively resigning themselves to the situation. Kotlowitz referenced Nelson Algren’s observation: “American literature is the woman in the courtroom who, finding herself undefended on a charge, asked, ‘Isn’t anybody on my side?’” (Donohue’s Conversations with Nelson Algren p.279.) As a teller of stories, Kotlowitz is responding to the woman’s plea. In Cleveland’s Housing Court Kotlowitz found Judge Pianka responding to the woman’s plea by using narrative in another fashion. Judge Pianka looks for a truer story than resides in the mere letter of the law; he looks at the current situation, but also takes the time to ask how we got here. When excuses are offered and time requested, Judge Pianka reminds them of the larger story: the situation of others in who live in the same neighborhood. After Kotlowitz’s talk one of the respondents was Judge Pianka, who observed that some people and corporations were ignoring their responsibilities, and did not want to be held accountable for their actions.

Kotlowitz observed that storytelling is an act of hope. Stories look at what is, and say it might be different. Stories are fluid and help us re-imagine things, though their fluidity can take us to unexpected places. The story of people caught up in the foreclosure crisis is exciting because it becomes a question of the future of our cities, of re-building our communities, of people pulling together at the local level.

After Kotlowitz’s presentation, Dan Moulthrop, of “The Sound of Ideas” and “ideastream,” moderated a discussion with Kotlowitz and four panelists: Chris Warren, Cleveland’s Regional Development Chief; The Honorable Ray Pianka, Cleveland’s Housing Court Judge; Marie Kittridge, Executive Director of Slavic Village Development; and Tony Brancatelli, Cleveland’s Ward 12 Councilman. They shared stories that were poignant, passionate, and for the most part – hopeful. The counternote stories were cautious – fearful that Cleveland’s understated defiance might slide into hopeless resignation. Audience members pleaded for the future discussions in this series to move down into the neighborhoods, instead of remaining in an ivory tower.