Black American Urban Landscapes: In many American cities, “the bottom” is a term used to describe black communities within or surrounding larger—visibly segregated—urban areas where Black people were confined to live. In Washington, D.C. there is Foggy Bottom. In Detroit, Michigan, Black Bottom, and in Richmond, Virginia, Shockoe Bottom, among others. While in some instances these names have remained, the Black communities that once lived there have not. Some of these landscapes have been destroyed in the name of ‘urban renewal’ to make way for the construction of more affluent communities.
Yet, these Black landscapes matter because they can tell a lot about the struggles and the victories of blacks in North America. The book, ‘Black Landscapes Matters’ discusses how race, memory, and meaning intersect with urbanisation in America. It acknowledges the widespread erasure of black geographies and cultural landscapes and that the way Black people have built and shaped the American landscapes may never be fully known.