The Sound of Urban Poverty Mon, 11/03/2013 - 12:00am Over the years I have visited many Baltimore inner city homes to interview the residents about their life and work, their hopes and dreams. They are members of the urban poor: the un- and underemployed, as well as those who despite the fact that they work full time and then some - do not make a living wage and struggle to make ends meet. It doesn't matter what time of the month or year I visit, whether it's the East side or West side, public or private housing, upon entering each residence, I am always greeted by the same persistent sound: the plaintive chirp of a smoke detector whose batteries need replacing. It accompanies us as we settle down for our interview and whimpers throughout, often acting as punctuation to a particularly illuminating point the interviewee has made. It is not something my hosts apologize for or even feel the need to explain. It's just part of the soundtrack of their lives. And a barely perceptible one at that. They are much more likely to notice the sounds just outside their door: gunfire at all hours, wailing police sirens, bottles breaking in the back alley, junkies hanging out on the front stoop. It's not that my hosts are not concerned about their family's safety. They are. It's just that they do not perceive a house fire as their biggest threat. When I mention the dysfunctional smoke detector, it's as if they themselves are hearing its appeal for the first time. "Oh that? Yeah. It always does that."

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smoke detector fire alarm low battery chirping beeping signal poverty

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"I heard that smoke detector beep, Jackson. I'm tired of pretending we are peers."

Jamaal Bowman I Know Why the Ceiling Bird Sings

IMG_9681.jpg 214 KB JPG "No, I can't tell you WHY the hallway chirps. But I can measure it. I can predict the next and following chirp. I have a very good understanding of it and that's good enough for me. I'm not distracted by the philosophical side of WHY the hallway chirps"

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Im glad the "black people fire alarm" discourse has started because I remember being at a black kids house when I was like 12 and i kept thinking there were sneakers squeaking somewhere just behind me and slowly being driven insane by it

HowlingMutant @Howlingmutant Im glad the "black people fire alarm" discourse has started because I remember being at a black kids house when I was like 12 and i kept thinking there were sneakers squeaking somewhere just behind me and slowly being driven insane by it 6:41 AM Jun 6, 2023 112.4K Views

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beep >dat beep annoyin

—— ■— —— Anonymous ID: Du7kuJdB Tue 06 Jun 2023 09:42:00 No.429616803 Quoted By: >>429624325 *beep* >dat beep annoyin >oh, it gone now *beep* >dat beep annoyin >oh, it gone now *beep* >dat beep annoyin ... >oh, it gone now

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I had no idea this dead smoke detector battery thing has been a known phenomenon for probably decades. 2013 blog:

Fausto Rindón @Metarapist I had no idea this dead smoke detector battery thing has been a known phenomenon for probably decades. 2013 blog: The Sound of Urban Poverty. Posted on March 11, 2013 by caroline center : Over the years I have visited many Baltimore inner city homes to interview the residents about their life and work, their hopes and dreams. They are members of the urban poor: the un- and underemployed, as well as those who - despite the fact that they work full time and then some - do not make a living wage and struggle to make ends meet. It doesn't matter what time of the month or year I visit, whether it's the East side or West side, public or private housing, upon entering each residence, I am always greeted by the same persister sound: the plaintive chirp of a smoke detector whose batteries need replacing. It accompanies us as we settle 3:52 AM Jun 6, 2023 19.7K Views

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Jordan Peele's "Beep:

A NEW TERROR FROM THE MIND OF ACADEMY AWARD WINNER JORDAN PEELE ВЕЕР

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When DC public schools moved to 'online learning? teachers heard so many smoke alarms chirping in students' homes that the DC Fire Department launched a public outreach initiative to residents showing them how to change the batteries

ReStation @St1Station Can't believe I missed this, from 2020. When DC public schools moved to 'online learning, teachers heard so many smoke alarms chirping in students' homes that the DC Fire Department launched a public outreach initiative to residents showing them how to change the batteries. And while the teachers heard it, the parents and students at the homes seemed so accustomed to the incessant noise that they didn't notice it. America's Most Vaunted @AmericaVaunted 3h Smoke detectors in our nation's capital ground education to a halt during the pandemic. washingtonpost.com/local/educatio... Show this thread 8:50 PM - Jun 5, 2023 222.3K Views ***

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Do black folks know about the smoke alarm meme?

D--- Supremacy @DagoSupremacy Do black folks know about the smoke alarm meme? Feels like an APB would go out to change the batteries. 11:54 PM . May 30, 2023 12.8K Views

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Joy Reid is worth $21MM yet what’s that noise at 8 seconds?! LMFAOOO😂🤣😭💀

David Santa Carla @TheOnlyDSC Joy Reid is worth $21MM yet what's that noise at 8 seconds?! LMFAOOO 6:56 PM. May 30, 2023 88.5K Views : J Tik Tok @fredchristianiafpiciet P

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"The sound, it... soothes them.."

HowlingMutant @Howlingmutant Getting cornered by a group of aggressive black teens on the train and almost getting my ass kicked but holding my phone high above my head and playing a recording of a low battery smoke alarm chirp and explaining to the passenger next to me that "The sound, it... soothes them.." 1:38 PM - May 18, 2023 123.7K Views .

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I Promise You That I Won't

Please don't change the smoke alarm batteries... DON'T WORRY. I PROMISE YOU THAT I WON'T. OKAY. ass Shops

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No Big Deal

13 "YESTERDAY THE FIRE ALARM STARTED CHIRPING. I JUST CHANGED THE BATTERY NO BIG DEAL." HE DOPE SPOT 445²-3030 X-deh 2d,-ch2d (x) 75°45x6 (X) +x" X(ab)+(an) 2x² 20b+2x-x) 2272x² (4) Xa=X²-35*(x²) 35 2)+2X

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"Yesterday the fire alarm started chirping. I just changed the battery. No big deal."

Dissident Dalmatian @Spottedcanine "Yesterday the fire alarm started chirping. I just changed the battery. No big deal." 1:04 PM . May 7, 2023 86.1K Views . 13 WHAM

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NEW DOGWHISTLE DROPPED

cam harleybaghdad Apr 12 One of the most disturbing revelations of TikTok and instagram reels for me is that millions of people live their lives with a smoke detecter in their home that beeps every 30 seconds due to low battery. And these people think this is normal, it doesn't bother them whatsoever View Same View Reply Original Report Quoted By: >>423495986 >>423496170 >>423496380 >>423497896 >>423499716 >>423501876 >>423502412 >>423505192 >>423505240 >>423505296 >>423506511 >>423506726 >>423506737 >>423508297 >>423508487 >>423508597 >>423508957 >>423510385 >>423513010 >>423514417 >>423514907 >>423516509 >>423517739 >>423517882 >>423518345 >>423519006 >>423519030 >>423519154 >>423520879 >>423520973 >>423521107 >>423521141 >>423521768 >>423522341 >>423523075 >>423523280 >>423525015 >>423525436 >>423525634 >>423525945 >>423526087 >>423526394 >>423526674 >>423526777 SEASONING POLICE WILL NOW BE KNOWN AS BEEPING AMERICANS 12 6,247 68.tic *** 284KiB, 1170x585, 134D78FA-ADD9-40EC-A680- FE24324BB6F1.jpg SauceNAO Google iqdb Trace ↓ [332 / 67/200] NEW DOGWHISTLE DROPPED Anonymous ID: kEalpX4J Fri 14 Apr 2023 08:59:09 No.423495884 (Because it's literally only black people who do pic related) Anonymous ID: shvFSwwk Fri 14 Apr 2023 09:00:22 No.423495986 Report Quoted By: >>423496083 >>423496091 >>423507512 >>423507835 >>423514907 >>423521856 >>423525633 >>423526054 >>423527864 >>423528188 >>423495884 Seriously, if you find yourself on the black side of TikTok or Reels, you will find many black families are just fine with keeping their smoke detectors just going off every few seconds.

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Smoke Detector Beeping - The Sound of Urban Poverty - 2013 Blog

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The Sound of Urban Poverty Mon, 11/03/2013 - 12:00am Over the years I have visited many Baltimore inner city homes to interview the residents about their life and work, their hopes and dreams. They are members of the urban poor: the un- and underemployed, as well as those who despite the fact that they work full time and then some - do not make a living wage and struggle to make ends meet. It doesn't matter what time of the month or year I visit, whether it's the East side or West side, public or private housing, upon entering each residence, I am always greeted by the same persistent sound: the plaintive chirp of a smoke detector whose batteries need replacing. It accompanies us as we settle down for our interview and whimpers throughout, often acting as punctuation to a particularly illuminating point the interviewee has made. It is not something my hosts apologize for or even feel the need to explain. It's just part of the soundtrack of their lives. And a barely perceptible one at that. They are much more likely to notice the sounds just outside their door: gunfire at all hours, wailing police sirens, bottles breaking in the back alley, junkies hanging out on the front stoop. It's not that my hosts are not concerned about their family's safety. They are. It's just that they do not perceive a house fire as their biggest threat. When I mention the dysfunctional smoke detector, it's as if they themselves are hearing its appeal for the first time. "Oh that? Yeah. It always does that."

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