Monday, August 27, 2018
A Black American walks through Black Amsterdam The Bijlmer
A Black American walks through Black Amsterdam The Bijlmer
Black American travel writer and filmmaker Diana O�Gilvie ignored the travel advice and went down into the Black neighborhood in Amsterdam. �Don�t go to the Bjilmer,� was the general consensus among folks I asked about this predominantly Black neighborhood in Amsterdam.
�Make sure you hold your purse� cautioned my taxi driver on our way from the airport to my hotel. While I appreciated her advice, I grew up in Kingston and lived in Brooklyn for sixteen years, so visiting Amsterdam�s proverbial ghetto wasn�t a stretch for me. I took the #54 train from Centraal Station in the heart of the historic district.
In twenty-five minutes I was in Bjilmer, home to 100,000 people of 150 different nationalities, mostly from Africa, the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname. I exited at Bjilmer Arena A and walked into the sunshine. The day was unseasonably warm and I took off my jacket and scarf. I had no plan, no direction. I just walked.
Read her entire posting at Traveler Writer Filmmaker
