Making Rent in Bed-Stuy: A Memoir of Trying to Make It in New York City

A young African American millennial filmmaker’s funny, sometimes painful, true-life coming-of-age story of trying to make it in New York City—a chronicle of poverty and wealth, creativity and commerce, struggle and insecurity, and the economic and cultural forces intertwined with "the serious, life-threatening process" of gentrification.

Making Rent in Bed-Stuy explores the history and sociocultural importance of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn’s largest historically black community, through the lens of a coming-of-age young American negro artist living at the dawn of an era in which urban class warfare is politely referred to as gentrification. Bookended by accounts of two different breakups, from a roommate and a lover, both who come from the white American elite, the book oscillates between chapters of urban bildungsroman and a historical examination of some of Bed-Stuy’s most salient aesthetic and political legacies.

Filled with personal stories and a vibrant cast of iconoclastic characters— friends and acquaintances such as Spike Lee; Lena Dunham; and Paul MacCleod, who made a living charging $5 for a tour of his extensive Elvis collection—Making Rent in Bed-Stuy poignantly captures what happens when youthful idealism clashes head-on with adult reality.

Melding in-depth reportage and personal narrative that investigates the disappointments and ironies of the Obama era, the book describes Brandon Harris’s radicalization, and the things he lost, and gained, along the way.

What does it cost to make art—and a home—when the ground is shifting beneath your feet?

• A Portrait of Gentrification: Go beyond the headlines to see the "serious, life-threatening process" of gentrification through the eyes of a young artist trying to find his place in a rapidly changing Bed-Stuy.
• The Black Experience: An unflinching look at the complexities of being a young, creative African American man navigating the worlds of art, poverty, and elite white spaces during the Obama era.
• Friendship and Class: A poignant and painful account of a formative friendship with a wealthy white roommate, and the breakup that reveals the unbridgeable gaps of privilege and perspective.
• Brooklyn Social History: Weaves together a deeply personal story with a rich historical examination of Bedford-Stuyvesant, featuring figures from Spike Lee to Jay-Z.

Brandon Harris, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, has worked in the world of American independent film as a critic and programmer, producer and director, screenwriter and educator. His writings about cinema, politics, culture, and the intersections between them have appeared in The New Yorker, The New Republic, Guardian, VICE, Daily Beast, Variety, n+1, New Inquiry, Brooklyn Rail, In These Times, Hammer to Nail, and Filmmaker magazine, where he is a contributing editor.