“The Hidden Gems of Austin”

Aug 14

Aug 14 “The Hidden Gems of Austin”

AUSTIN — As the city of Austin grows, the population is not the only thing being altered.

“Where are the black people?” is often asked from ‘new’ black Austin residents moving to the city.

Tatyana Tripp recently moved to Austin about four weeks ago from Georgia. Tripp mentioned how she is having a hard time finding more black people to hang with or even just to wave to in the grocery store.

“It’s definitely been an awkward adjustment because I’m not used to it really,” said Tripp. “I went to a predominately white institution but there was still a good amount of black individuals to kind of balance things out.”

Tripp’s experience is not a one-of-a-kind experience. Many black residents go through that phase until they find a social group that fulfills them socially.

Acknowledging Austin’s segregationist past, the question of “where are the black people?” has not always been a trend among the black community. Before the new wave of residents moved to Austin, it was not difficult to spot people of the same race.

“We are here,” said Andranae Fowler, an Austin native who was born and raised in Austin. “This is where we are. You just don’t see us.”

One of the reasons black people seem invisible in Austin is because of gentrification. Gentrification has altered the racial makeup of the city, Fowler said, due to gentrification.

Once the new black residents of Austin learn about the new environment, some of them try to be proactive and create solutions for the invisibility.

Some solutions include creating Facebook and GroupMe chat groups to help black residents form and create their sense of community.

“I think it helped more than anything,” said Blake McMillian, a New York native who moved to Austin in 2000. “It helped bring people together.”

McMillian said two of his close friends added him into one of the group chats. McMillian mentioned how the ability to create groups and events in those groups helps to get everyone involved.

“[It] definitely helps to connect us all as one. [It] Helped us to find each other a lot more easier,” McMillian said.

Fowler advises for new black residents and nonblack residents to explore the city beyond the tourist spots of the city to get the full experience of Austin’s residents who are left in the shadows.

Local churches, museums, and even coffee shops are certain spots where residents can meet more black people and even form relationships with them.

McMillian says to not buy into the stigma of no black people being in Austin because they are here.

“Just have to find each other,” McMillian said.

Audio Story posted in Audio Stories section, https://www.taylormms.com/audio-stories