Check out this new exhibit the next time you are checking out books. Birmingham Central Public Library is home to a national traveling exhibit: “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” now until Thursday, December 30, 2021.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Author Matthew Desmond created this exhibit for his 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning book of the same name. With help from National Building Museum, Eviction Lab and designers from MATTER Architecture Practice, the exhibit shows the problems of low income evictions. From DC to The Magic City to eight other cities, this exhibit will tour around the nation. The goal is to educate and raise awareness on how widespread the issue is. Also, the exhibit makes eviction more personal by sharing real stories and pictures on how evictions have hurt families.

Where: Central Library Grand Reading Room, 2100 Park Place, Birmingham, AL 35203
When: Thursday, October 21-Thursday, December 30 | Monday-Saturday 10AM-6PM
Tickets: Free to the public

Also, the Alabama Center for Architecture created an exhibit to go with this one. It looks at eviction, housing and poverty in Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery and Mobile.

A problem close to home

Due to COVID-19, there are more evictions and higher demand for federal rent assistance. “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” shows eviction is more than poverty. It also reveals the differences between white and black tenants. According to the Eviction Lab:

1 in 5 black women are evicted
1 in 15 white women are evicted
19.9% of all adult renters are black, but 32.7% of them file for eviction
51.5% of all adult renters are white, but 42.7% of them file for eviction

“Our cities have become unaffordable to our poorest families, and this problem is leaving a deep and jagged scar on the next generation.”
– Matthew Desmond, Author of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

While the exhibit brings to light the harsh reality of eviction, it also calls us to make a difference in our city.

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