Creating space and connection at Flatbush African Burial Ground

storytelling

WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk regularly teams up with the nonprofit Street Lab to highlight stories from neighborhoods across New York City. We recently set up shop at GrowHouse Community Design + Development Group's Brooklyn Black Utopia, an event at the Flatbush African Burial Ground designed to reclaim Black spaces and honor ancestors across the Black diaspora.

The transcript of the voices we collected have been lightly edited for clarity.

Shawné Lee: "I'm the daughter of Joy Chatel and William Curtis Lee. I currently live in East Flatbush. I'm here at the Brooklyn Black Utopia, just really enjoying the vibes at the Flatbush African Burial Ground. Right now, I feel at peace, and I feel appreciative of life. What brought me to a place of peace is knowing and understanding that my mom lives within me.

She's an ancestor now, so being on the burial ground, you know, it's that connection. She has a home on 227 Abolitionist Place, and in 2004, she received a notice on her door that she was being evicted due to eminent domain. She fought that notice, and she managed to save her home and six other homes that were all part of the Underground Railroad.

So, I just always want to bring recognition to my mom because these are things that she overcame. I respect her and she's my hero because of how resilient she was and how she just stood strong in her convictions."

Nkeonyelu Ebo: "I reside here in Midwood, Brooklyn. And I've been living there since 1990.

I'm born and raised in Nigeria. I came here at the age of 19. But my daughter is born and raised here. My daughter invited me to the place where she and the people of like mind have organized this gathering today to honor the burial ground of Black ancestors. Her name is the Ifeoma Ebo. When she was in high school, she was dancing and teaching other children African dance.

The school gave her a room called 'Africa Room.' Most of the clothes in my house left and went to the Africa room. Isn't that something? But I don't mind. Hey, let her enjoy herself. As she's enjoying. Like she is doing now."

Ngor Gallow: "I'm here since 2000. I live in Harlem with the African community. I love very well there.

I'm originally from Senegal and Gambia. Mali. I'm an artist. I teach dance, culture, drumming. All people want to know about West Africa. Oh, the art means a lot for me because I grew up with that. I studied African dance. and I become professional and now dream come true. I'm in America. I crossed the ocean from Africa to America, and I'm here teaching people who don't really know about Africa, who like the drumming and the dance.

So that's something we really want to share with everybody. It's so rich and welcome everybody to Africa."

Adrian Luke Sinclair: "I'm 54. I'm originally from East Flatbush, Flatbush area. So, it's really awesome that I'm like a couple blocks from where I grew up. I have a background in martial arts, and I do feel that it's important to have that aspect in your life, the ability to defend yourself.

My sense of fulfillment is being able to teach in my community to people who look like myself. I'm Afro-Caribbean. This is a predominantly Caribbean, Afro-American neighborhood. All of those Latino, Hispanic, African American, Jamaican, Guyanese people, I feel like that kind of don't look to the martial arts and self-defense is something that's for them that I think it's important to introduce them to that.

I started it when my son was born. My son is 27 now, so it's 27 years ago and you know, my goal was to teach him. He wasn't really interested, but I kept on going. You know, I had taught my daughter and people around me. So, it's really cool for me to find people in my community that I can empower with that skill set."