Synopsis
Foreclosures. Unemployment. Childhood poverty. All these problems have hit American communities hard during the Great Recession.
Gaining Ground, a follow-up to the award-winning documentary Holding Ground (1996), shows how one diverse Boston neighborhood has managed to stem the tide against enormous odds. Building on a 25-year legacy of innovative community organizing, a new generation of Dudley Street neighborhood leaders has managed to foster hope and create opportunity in challenging times.
Kudos
Gaining Ground shows the potential for change and the possibility for betterment through community activism. As demonstrated by multiple generations of Dudley residents, community activism is not something one does on the weekend or in response to a single event, but is a shared and sustained commitment.
Seeing the DSNI stakeholders bringing their projects to fruition makes this documentary an inspirational and instructional tool for anyone working in community development. Of particular interest are the ways in which DSNI involves the next generation of community activists.
In its illustration of how deeply Roxbury’s citizens—particularly youth—are involved in efforts to make their neighborhood safe, provide economic opportunities, and develop abandoned homes or land in ways that will not price out local residents, Gaining Ground delivers a powerful and inspiring story of vision and persistence. Highly recommended.
If you care about urban neighborhoods, and are desperate for at least an occasional report of good news, "Gaining Ground" is the film for you...Gaining Ground leads us across the myriad bumps in the road faced by any serious community development organization. But the DSNI experience reminds us in a very powerful way that a combination of commitment, creativity and courage can produce hopeful results in even the most challenging circumstances.
DSNI proves that politicians and activists can negotiate peacefully and residents can work together for common good to restore neighborhoods...This inspiring film may spark others to become involved in their community.
The film is a powerful portrait of the challenges faced by the residents of Dudley Street and of the community’s long-term commitment to demand the best and to achieve results. The creators bring forth ‘the voice of a community’ and demonstrate what can be done when partners come together.
Gaining Ground tells the multifaceted story of a dynamic, grassroots organization that has strategically combined community empowerment with community ownership to achieve what is promised by many but delivered by few: equitable development without eventual displacement of a neighborhood’s most vulnerable residents. There are lessons in this inspiring film for every local activist, nonprofit practitioner, urban scholar, and city planner who is looking for new ways to create stable communities in turbulent economic times.
Gaining Ground is an inside view of community organizing at its best. It tells the story of how residents of Roxbury Massachusetts not only revitalized a neighborhood at risk, but nurtured a generation of young leaders and built an organization that continues to sustain a dynamic, fragile community. This inspiring story offers important lessons for urban planners, policy makers, and activists across the country.