Take Back the Block

Three weeks after Kari’s departure, Wes is excited for Halloween, which will hopefully take his mind off his current worries. Usually, Wes and his friends dress in group costumes and go to Mya’s affluent neighborhood to trick-or-treat, because people put up elaborate decorations and hand out full-size candy bars. However, this year, Wes, Jas, and Brent have not been invited to Mya’s, so they trick-or-treat around Kensington Oaks instead. The night is disappointing because many neighbors either aren’t home or aren’t participating, and unfamiliar police officers are patrolling the neighborhood, which makes Wes nervous after Kari’s experience.

Wes is feeling discouraged because Kari and Mya are both gone, Kensington Oaks is still at risk, Halloween was a bust, and he’s still missing a piece of his new superhero puzzle from Mr. Hank. Mr. Baker asks Wes why he picked climate change instead of gentrification. He offers Wes an extension so that he can change his topic. While researching, Wes discovers that some neighborhoods stop gentrification from happening by getting on the “National Register of Historic Places” (149). He wonders if this strategy could apply to Kensington Oaks.

Wes learns that 85 years ago, Kensington Oaks used to be called Pippin Village. It was named after Frederick Pippin, the state’s first Black owner of a lumber mill. He built the neighborhood to accommodate his 75 mill workers and their families, who rented the houses. The city noticed that Pippin was successful, so they gave him fines for trash and noise violations and arrested mill workers. When Mr. Pippin retired and closed his mill, his workers moved out of the neighborhood, and Pippin sold the houses. The land was bought and sold several times, and it was renamed Kensington Oaks three decades ago. Because Mr. Hank is elderly, Wes asks him if he knows about Mr. Pippin, but he doesn’t.

Wes tells Ms. Monica and Mr. Baker about Pippin’s mill and how the neighborhood originated. Neither of them has heard of Pippin either, and Mr. Baker points out that the history of Black achievements is often erased. Mr. Baker is proud of Wes for discovering a historical hero. Ms. Monica warns that she has never gotten a neighborhood designated as a historic district, but she is willing to try, as long as Wes obeys his parents and gets his schoolwork in order first.

Wes tells his parents about his social studies project on gentrification and his research on Frederick Pippin. They are willing to help him get Kensington Oaks designated as a historic place. If they are successful, this would prevent Simmons from implementing certain types of redevelopment. To get the designation, they will have to prove that Kensington Oaks has historically significant buildings or objects. They call Ms. Monica and agree to keep their new plan to themselves so that Simmons does not learn of it.

Other kids give their presentations in social studies. Wes admires how calmly Brent speaks in front of people. He also admires Brent’s topic of free speech, especially when Brent praises Colin Kaepernick for “speaking” on behalf of those who don’t have as prominent a voice. This statement reminds Wes of Kari. Alyssa’s presentation is about gender equality, and it covers the gender and racial wage gaps. She has also researched the inferior health care that Black women receive, especially while pregnant, which results in a higher maternal mortality rate for Black women. Alyssa’s mom nearly died giving birth to her, and Wes privately shares with her that his own mother also experienced complications with childbirth; after Wes, she was unable to have additional children. Wes and Alyssa bond over this.

Brent’s family officially accepts Simmons’s second offer and will sell their house. They are moving to another, bigger house that is a 15-minute drive away, but Brent will still attend school with Wes. Wes recalls six years prior when Brent moved in: he threw a ball over the fence, and Wes went to return it, excited to meet another kid his age. Brent’s parents say that Wes can visit their new house soon.

Wes and his parents continue searching old photographs for any evidence of historical buildings or objects that are still in Kensington Oaks. Ms. Monica says a historic designation wouldn’t bring back people who have already left, but it would probably prevent Simmons or other developers from building condos or other large buildings. The designation would therefore make developers less interested in buying Kensington Oaks. In one photograph, Wes notices that a fountain near Pippin’s mill looks like the fountain that is still in the neighborhood park. Ms. Monica submits their application, and they’ll have to wait about six weeks to find out the results.

Wes and his dad attend a football game at his dad’s former high school, which Wes plans to attend one day. It is only five miles away, but the neighborhood has become heavily gentrified and the school has been renovated. There are more white people in the audience than usual. Mr. Reggie, a friend of Wes’s dad, used to live near the high school. Today, he is there watching his son play. Mr. Reggie says that his family sold their house and moved, and construction happened fast. Mr. Reggie is disappointed that the school was only fixed up after wealthy white people moved into the neighborhood to replace the Black people who used to live there. Wes reflects that maybe gentrification is the new segregation after all.