Channeling Creativity: Majora Carter on Reclaiming Community, Starting Initiatives, and Moments of Learning
Portrait by Elvin Quinones.
By Julia Gamolina
Majora Carter is a real estate developer quoted on the walls of the National Museum of African American History and Culture: "Nobody should have to move out of their neighborhood to live in a better one.” This is also the subtitle of her best-selling book, “Reclaiming Your Community”. She’s a MacArthur Fellow and a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster who applies talent-retention strategies to disrupt economic stagnation in low-status communities, like The Boogie Down Grind cafe-bar (named Best in NYC by TimeOutNY). In her interview with Julia Gamolina, Majora talks about getting stronger from challenges and honoring communities, advising those just starting their careers to not get too attached to plans.
JG: Tell me about your foundational years — where did you grow up and what did you like to do as a kid?
MC: I'm the youngest of ten kids, so one could often find me as a kid in the hall closet reading a book to get away from the commotion. I grew up in the South Bronx while it was literally burning all around me in the 1970's and 80's. My older brother went away to serve two combat tours in Vietnam but was murdered here at home when I was seven. Crack and AIDS and teen pregnancy were all rampant during these years, but somehow my memories of home and community are all very loving, safe, and nurturing. I went to the Bronx High School of Science, and worked after school and on the weekends as soon as I was old enough.
Wow. I’m so sorry to hear Majora. That is such a mix of things. From there, you went on to study film and creative writing. Tell me about this, and what you were looking to do after college.
I thought that I was going to write books and make movies. Turned out, my creativity would be channeled into shaping the landscape and build environment! All of these things though start with creating something that isn't there, and organizing your vision in a way that others can engage with it. So, the study of film and writing was good training for what I ended up spending most of my time doing.
“I thought that I was going to write books and make movies. Turned out, my creativity would be channeled into shaping the landscape and build environment! All of these things though start with creating something that isn’t there, and organizing your vision in a way that others can engage with it.”
How did the Majora Carter Group come about? What are you focused on these days?
I had founded and led a non-profit called Sustainable South Bronx. As my success and notoriety grew, foundation funding dropped. I was lucky to have been one of the first six TED Talks that they used to launch ted.com. That led to a lot of requests for speaking. Before long I was bringing in one-third of our budget from speaking fees, which put me on the road a lot (exhausting) and not in the office to run my organization (less effective). So, in 2008 I took my cash flow with me to start my own company, and let the non-profit go on to raise more money without me — which it did. We consult and develop our own real estate projects, and I still do a lot of speaking as well.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?
The biggest challenges for me have been access to capital and information sharing. I don't know if people see my successes and assume I know everything I need to know and have all the cash I need, but neither are true. I can get a small business loan easily, but not enough to acquire property and build, or field a real team to secure more deals.
Another challenge that I write about in my book is the "Non-Profit Industrial Complex" that treats poverty as a cultural attribute among people of color and acts to maintain their status quo. My cafe-bar has been protested, and before that a number of local activists colluded with a New York Times reporter to put a gossip piece about me on the front page of the New York Times, above the fold and all of page 3. These were emotionally draining, but in the end helped both businesses excel.
What have you also learned in the last six months?
That I have enough Delta sky-mile points to fly anywhere in the world for free!
“I want everyone to know that “better” doesn’t have to mean somewhere else, and it doesn’t have to be created by someone else.”
[Laughs] That’s especially nice for summer. What are you most excited about right now?
Bronxlandia. This is a former rail station designed by Cass Gilbert that I purchased from Amtrak before Covid, and have since positioned as an event space working with the architects Studio V. We are still putting all the financing together, which will include crowd-funded equity for smaller local investors and hopefully some larger ones too. The plans are beautiful, and the space can operate now in rough form. We have hosted pro-wrestling, a break dance competition, concerts, markets, and more.
Who are you admiring now and why?
Ted Lasso, because he never gives up.
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?
I want everyone to know that "better" doesn't have to mean somewhere else, and it doesn't have to be created by someone else.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
Nothing ever goes according to plan, so be prepared to have your expectations dashed for better or worse, and regard those differences as moments to learn about how to shape your next steps and possibly change your goals.
That’s great advice. Thank you Majora.