Video: Does Art Matter to a Community Under Threat?

East New York has long faced problems like poverty, disinvestment and crime—threats that many residents, who knew the area’s deeper value, worked to confront. Now its worries concern gentrification and displacement.

In a neighborhood facing so many different risks, what role can community artists play in helping residents speak not just to the outside world, but among themselves?

Melissa Cooper took her camera to find out.