It was real tears at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal for this Community Legacy Project (CLP) x Staten Island Black Family Heritage Day @ Tappen Park! Before the event it was internal tears for the delayed 4 train that caused me to miss the 11 am ferry departure. Because to expect a perfect MTA commute after my apartment was on fire the night before (literally), the universe is laughing.
But there was nothing in the world that was going to stop me from meeting the ASNEAA business goal of CLP programming in ALL FIVE NYC BOROUGHS: BROOKLYN (check), MANHATTAN (check), BRONX (check), QUEENS (check) and now STATEN ISLAND aka SHAOLIN (check)!
More specifically, CLP x Staten Island Black Heritage Family Day @ Tappen Park was in STAPLETON! It’s a soul thing (still in my #legendhasit pocket). It feels like I completed a marathon, so I’m writing with the adrenaline rush of a runner’s high. Keeping the analogy going, Staten Island / Shaolin / Stapleton was the perfect finish line for the journey of this initial programming goal. You can even say it was like Metaphysics, I’ll stop with the Ghostface references now.
CLP x Staten Island Black Heritage Family Day @ Tappen Park was a quindecennial (15 years) celebration for community and culture! And while Staten Island may be the forgotten borough, black heritage is at the forefront (literally). Stapleton is not too far from the St. George station (third stop on the Staten Island Railroad). When I arrived onsite, my commute (and eventful night) became forethoughts. The energy was that buzzing! s/o to the DJ (@deejay_shame):
After I checked in as an official community vendor, I set up for CLP x Staten Island Black Heritage Family Day with Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) heritage introductions / ASNEAA website exploration, arts as advocacy creative expression project: legacy bracelets, and BOOK GIVEAWAYS (courtesy of Brooklyn Book Bodega)- it’s still back to school season:
And Staten Island / Stapleton made this Brooklynite feel like I was Shaolin’s own! It was that REAL LOVE, not the fake stuff with the [L]UV (OK, last Ghostface bar, I promise). On a serious note, I will forget not anymore just how beautiful of a city I get to call home- with Staten Island being like the Hawaii to our NYC mainland. Because one thing Staten Island don’t play about is their Black and Indigenous roots- s/o to Sandy Ground (a geotag on the ASNEAA global mapping). A time was had at CLP x Staten Island Black Heritage Family Day @ Tappen Park with ASNEAA BIPOC heritage exploration, arts as advocacy, and LITERACY:
That’s when the real tears came at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal! Overwhelmed with respect and gratitude for this ASNEAA milestone, there is just no way to know exactly how a plan is going to actualize when manifesting goals. It’s the type of feeling that evokes spirituality, affirming faith and hope. The past five years of CLP events was not something I could’ve imagined when I made the initial goal of 10 events; ideally with one in each borough:
s/o to all the CLP programming partners that have been on this journey (that’s still going)! And big salute to the PEOPLE OF ALL AGES AND BACKGROUNDS that have participated at CLP pop-up activations OFFICIALLY CITYWIDE! Though ASNEAA has only made it to the edge of new boroughs this year, now there’s proof of concept for both the multi-dimensional praxis (online + in-person) and business of social justice. Because Imma tell you like someone told me, “cash rules everything around me” AKA C.R.E.A.M. here’s to community + culture too- thanks Staten Island for the perspective!
Thank you to the CLP x Staten Island Black Heritage Family Day host, participants, donors and sponsors:
