Episode 16: Keep Our Courts with Joele Newman, Jenn Arens and Amy Silver

On the corner of Main and Schiller in Over-the-Rhine, a neighborhood in downtown Cincinnati, there are two public basketball courts and a garden; located across the street from an elementary school, this is a spot for neighborhood kids and adults to play basketball, work in the garden, or just hang out. Since 2015, outside developers have been interested in buying this property from the city and their intentions and plans for the land do not put the needs or desires of the community first. Over-the-Rhine has faced rapid gentrification since the beginning of the 2000s with many longtime residents being pushed out as the cost of living has gone up. Keep Our Courts is an ongoing community(and kid!!)driven campaign developed to save the basketball courts and garden; the movement creates a space for the voice of local residents in the dialogue about what happens in their own neighborhood. During my time as an artist-in-residence at Wave Pool Gallery in Cincinnati, I had the chance to sit down with Joele Newman, Jenn Arens and Amy Silver at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, which is the meeting place and center point for the Keep Our Courts campaign. While Keep Our Courts is one of many battles being fought to preserve the integrity and affordability of the area, I was immediately drawn into this story because my belief that basketball is more than a game. Joele, Jenn and Amy also encourage everyone who is listening to pay attention to any issues of injustice arising from gentrification in their own neighborhood and city. For more information about the Keep Our Courts campaign, visit the link below: http://peasleecenter.org/keep-our-courts/ This episode was edited and produced by Eliseo Casiano.