Who are we
BrickTwentyTwo Productions, Inc. is a non-profit Community Organization aimed at progressing the lives of African-Americans as it pertains to education, mental health, financial literacy, careers/employment, spirituality, civil rights, self-love, black history and behavior. We financially operate on ticket sales from events and donations in order to provide Educational Impact, Business Grants and Scholarships in addition to our Community Development projects.
problem statement
It seems as though African Americans are always being promised something with every presidency. However, nothing is done for them on the scope that they are looking for. A bill (H.R.40 - Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act) calling for the federal government to “study and consider” how to provide reparations to African Americans for slavery has been introduced into every session of the US Congress for the last thirty years. The bill’s aim is “to address the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the thirteen American colonies between 1619 and 1865.” Unfortunately, little is done to improve the lives of African American residents in highly distressed and under-invested communities.
Public schools are failing their kids (45% of black students attended high-poverty schools during 2014-2015). They’re living in neighborhoods with concentrated poverty, which has increased since 2000. Some neighborhoods are taken over and gentrified, which forces people out – especially when they can’t afford to live there after the gentrification has been completed. Black neighborhoods are valued less than other neighborhoods. The authors (Andre Perry, Jonathan Rothwell, and David Harshbarger) of a recent study titled “The devaluation of assets in black neighborhoods” from the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution stated that, “Much of the research on implicit bias focuses on individuals’ perception of individual members of an oppressed class. However, we should expect some of these biases to carry over into places where there are high concentrations of black people. The value of assets — buildings, schools, leadership, and land itself — are inextricably linked to the perceptions of black people.”
the rationale of building bricktwentytwo park
There was a point in time when African Americans thrived. They had their own, they supported one another, they depended on each other, and they kept their dollars circulated within their community. The black dollar is a powerful thing. How often do you drive through “rough” looking areas (mostly the hood/projects, or any area that’s filled with almost 98% blacks) and then all of a sudden it starts to look nice . . . and there it is, nice communities – the landscape is nice, no trash, property taxes and the buildings are beautiful? As you drive into these areas, you’re met by Whites or Asians. You start to feel uncomfortable, or you have to act a certain way in order to be tolerated by them. How often have you driven to a neighborhood and was looked at as though you didn’t belong there, or was even pulled over because the value of homes didn’t match your skin color? How often have you been in complexes where the rent kept going up in attempts to make you move – slightly gentrifying the area until the mission was complete?
At some point, many have asked these questions or have said these statements. How long are we as a people going to complain and not do anything about it? African Americans spend BILLIONS of dollars every year. There’s no excuse why we can’t assist in re-building our communities across the country. BP has a plan to facilitate and provide African Americans with functioning, effective and thriving communities.
bricktwentytwo park
objectives
What is BrickTwentyTwo Park?
It’s not a place. It’s a unified people. It's THEE community. It’s wherever we make an impact that increases the progress of Black America. There’s not a single location – we can reach horizons beyond, everywhere.
BrickTwentyTwo Park is no longer about building ONE community per state. We will expand and disburse our funds amongst different Black neighborhoods, but we will still use B22 Park’s development ideas and designs.
There are Black communities that don’t need EVERY item/facility we are offering. They may just need one (or a few) of the following:
- grocery store (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- few apartment complexes with reasonable rent (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- few homes that’s affordable (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- school (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- daycare (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- better roads
- contract with a landscaping company
- medical complex (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- homeless shelter (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- rehab center (renovated and/or newly constructed)
- tourist attraction to bring in revenue
- affordable summer camp
The list goes on and on, but we will reach out and partner with their community leaders (those the streets chose and trust) to see what’s needed in that area and we are going to make it happen.
BRICKTWENTYTWO – it consists of the family/team, this is us.
PRODUCTIONS – it’s the action of making or manufacturing from components or raw materials, or the process of being so manufactured (look at list above – those are our productions).
meet the FOUNDER
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The Founder and CEO, Shamirah Ross-Gowdy, has graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice (minor in English) and a Masters of Public Administration (concentration in Justice Administration) from Troy University. She gained one year of courses at Walden University under their Public Policy & Administration (specialization in Criminal Justice) Doctorate program. Shamirah originally created BrickTwentyTwo Productions, LLC (which was certified on 12/4/18) so that she can release all of her (and others) literary, and other forms of art, under a company that she can build into an empire.
Keeping its intended purpose alive, she added on the production of community developments as a priority to her company, which is why it has been converted into a non-profit organization. Upon watching more black communities fade away, along with our mental health and education, Shamirah wants to initiate the change that others need. On February 8, 2019, B22 Park was born. |
articles for your benefit
HOW TO START YOUR OWN CITY.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS MOSTLY BLACK. THE HOME BUYERS ARE MOSTLY WHITE.
WHY BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS ARE VALUED LESS THAN OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS.
BLACK SPACE, WHITE BLINDNESS.
BROKEN HOMES.
ARE AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES MORE VULNERABLE IN A LARGELY WHITE NEIGHBORHOOD?
NEW STUDY SHOWS WHITE PEOPLE DON’T LIKE LIVING NEAR BLACK PEOPLE.
WHITE AMERICA IS QUIETLY SELF-SEGREGATING.
'WHITE FLIGHT' REMAINS A REALITY.
WHITE FLIGHT AND HOUSING MARKET COLLAPSE.
WILL AMERICA'S SCHOOLS EVER BE DESEGREGATED?
HOW HOME OWNERSHIP KEEPS BLACKS POORER THAN WHITES.
A TAX ON BLACKNESS.
GENTRIFICATION, ‘NEGRO REMOVAL,’ AND A HOUSING CRISIS.