For many the American Dream represents the opportunity of upward mobility thru the attainment of wealth. Throughout the 20th century this dream became very possible for many immigrants and resulted in America being dubbed as “the land of opportunity”. This opportunity was rooted in the constitutional ideas that “all men are created equal” and are entitled to “the pursuit of happiness”. Unfortunately, over the latter part of the 20th century these characteristics were challenged by racial and class injustices seen throughout the 1960s and the 1970s. The Wall Street boom of the 1980s and Reaganomics continued the growing gap between rich and poor.

Today, Americans are recovering from a Recession (defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research as occurring between December 2007 to June 2009) that highlighted many of the inconsistencies and injustices of our economic system. The housing bubble, which is viewed as the catalyst for the recession, is the symbolic crumbling of the American Dream. No longer is the dream of owning a home and having a comfortable job real for many Americans, instead the struggle to get by and survive has turned the dream into a nightmare. According to the Census Bureau, at the end of 2012 46.5 million people were in poverty in the United States. That figure does not account for the diminishing  middle class, the working class, or the many undocumented communities across the country.

The injustice is not in the lack of resources but in the lack of choices. Democracy thrives on its citizens being able to choose and when those choices are afforded to some and not to others then democracy has been compromised and the ability to dream also diminishes. The X Collective sets out to show the many faces of economic injustice and proudly present: The American’t Dream .

March 21, 2014- Opening Reception 

7pm-11pm

221 E. 173rd St. Side Entrance 

Bronx, NY 10457