Brandon Harris

Brandon Harris

Brandon Harris was born in Cincinnati, OH, USA. Harris attended The State University of New York at Purchase where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film.

Brandon Harris is an American author best known for his 2017 memoir Making Rent in Bed-Stuy. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, he has worked in the American independent film industry as a critic, programmer, director and producer, screenwriter and educator. His writings on culture, politics, and cinema have been featured in The New Republic, The New Yorker, VICE, and much more.

Brandon’s memoir Making Rent in Bed-Stuy presented in a connected film and cultural writing is the story of the frustrations and ambitions a young filmmaker finds himself immersed in decades after his college graduation.

A Cincinnati native, Harris experiences the renewal of the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn and tries to come to terms with his own mixed feeling relationship with those responsible for this change.

As Harris tries to find a voice in a community on the verge of losing its historical character, Making Rent in a Bed-Stuy explores the role racial difference plays in the production of social and cultural hierarchy. The book investigates threads connected to the millennial experience and puts an emphasis on the examination of how gentrification or the influence of the global corporate economy on urban settlements pans out in the lived experience. But the paradox is that big corporations in America make cities look the same, but the key differences remain.

But such differences matter as they can make people miss strong cultural identities or give hope that different cultures can still co-exist together.

Harris relocates from Cincinnati to New York in a time of rapid development and settlement. And as a young man, he is honest about his mixed feelings towards this change. His ambitions are to create art that connects to many people, but he also wants to remain connected to Black history and culture. But all this is made almost impossible by one thing: paying rent.

The book is structured around the different apartments Harris lives in. He describes his friendships and relationships in a funny and likable way and reveals to the reader how much life is driven by fear and love.

Harris strongly believes in his artist role but even after professional success he struggles financially. He has a job as a film director, but is still on food assistance and help from his family.

One of the strongest parts of the memoir is when Harris returns to his hometown of Cincinnati. He reveals to the readers how gentrification is different in his hometown, as poor communities have fewer organizations and less power to protect them. Even though wealthy black residents can influence city leaders, the working-class residents are neglected, taken over and repacked with a different name.

Harris comes out as a sharp cultural critic. He’s careful in whatever he does and connects his work to a long history of Black creativity and resistance.

In the end, Harris makes it clear that gentrification isn’t about economics. It’s also tied to racism. Past housing policies, discriminatory lending ultimately resulted in Black communities being pushed into certain neighborhoods. Modern gentrification is a mirror of the white flight, and hence Making Rent in a Bed-Stuy is the story of an idea, a culture, and a community that deserves to survive.

Related Authors

Fans of Brandon Harris also enjoy these authors:

1. Stephen King, author of The Dark Tower Series.
2. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter Series.
3. Harlan Coben, author of the Myron Bolitar Series.
4. Linwood Barclay, author of the Promise Falls Series.
5. Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch Series.

Brandon Harris: F.A.Q