Shades of Afrika wages war against gentrification

PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

Some people love Long Beach’s downtown revitalization efforts. Shades of Afrika owner Renee Quarles isn’t one of them. The 47-year-old is one of many who are feeling the effects of a little thing called eminent domain. After thoughts of losing her business to redevelopment loomed over her head for nearly three years, Quarles says she received a letter dated Sept. 6, 2007, from Overland, Pacific & Cutler, Inc. (a company working with the city that deals in right-of-way and land acquisition) notifying her of a pre-90-day warning to vacate the building she rents near the intersection of Third Street and Elm Avenue. But Quarles is not going down quietly. “We’ll be here until the crane comes,” she says.
Quarles and her sister opened Shades of Afrika in 1994 with money from an unemployment check. Without lights and a telephone, Quarles—a Long Beach native—sold $1 incense and $5 picture frames to survive. Nearly 14 years later, Shades of Afrika is home to African- and African-American-centric books, art, sculptures, music and home décor. The shop also hosts such weekly community events as Sunday morning meditation/yoga classes, open mics every Saturday and a Thursday night study group, along with an upcoming Kwanzaa celebration.

In 2001, Shades of Afrika made slightly more than $16,000. This year stands to break last year’s record of $163,000, yet Quarles says the $4,000 she pays in retail tax alone isn’t enough for the powers that be to recognize her importance to the city. “The Pac-Man of eminent domain pushes business into the redevelopers’ laps,” Quarles says, “but they’ve squashed small businesses out to a mall-like venue. To me, that’s servitude. I didn’t get into this to find I now play servant to whomever owns.”

Still, Victoria Ballesteros, a Long Beach Redevelopment Agency communications officer, says residents need to look at the big picture when dealing with Long Beach’s changing scenery. Things such as new sidewalks and parks and tearing down blighted property to make way for affordable housing, Ballesteros says, are a few positive examples of redevelopment. City of Long Beach Downtown Redevelopment Officer Carl S. Morgan, who first worked for the city from 1991 to 1997 and returned to work here in June 2007, echoes this sentiment. He believes the city is moving in the proper direction and says “things are improving in downtown and that’s all part of the [Long Beach] Redevelopment Agency.”

Quarles disagrees: “They’ve fenced off all this property they’ve taken and [then] choose who they sell it to. It’s corporations that are not even here; they’re not part of this community at all,” she says. “I’m one of them with my hand up saying, ‘Is there any patch of dirt that I can buy?’” (Morgan acknowledges that Portland, Oregon-based Williams & Dame Development is involved in downtown redevelopment.)

In early November, Quarles protested her situation by hoisting a large sign above her store that read “Gentrification Sale.” Printed beneath these words was “Big Mama Always Said Don’t Bite the Hand That Feeds You” and “The Pac Man of Eminent Domain/Redevelopment Is Eating Up Every Opportunity.” Approximately two weeks later Quarles received a citation from the city telling her she was in violation of the Long Beach Municipal Code.

The sign, the statement read, needed to be taken down by Dec. 12 or Shades of Afrika would face a $100 fine. “That sign is offensive because it’s letting people know. As traffic passes me by, I want to scream, ‘Don’t just keep driving by’ because we tend to forget,” says Quarles. “You can’t even have balloons without paying for a permit. I’m not paying $100 to have a free expression banner. I’m going to fight to stay in business for as long as I have my youth and my health.”

SHADES OF AFRIKA 352 E THIRD ST | LONG BEACH 90802 | 562.436.2210 | SHADESOFAFRIKA.COM

Tags: Commerce, gentrification, Long Beach, redevelopment, shades of afrika