As I’ve shared at many Community Legacy Project (CLP) events, it was touring with Jennifer Tosch that read me for my WHOLE humanity. There would be no ASNEAA without Black Heritage Tours! During my young adulthood, doing young adult things- I was in search of cultural heritage that spoke to my life experience as a Black woman. In Europe (of all places), the tour experience connected my Caribbean heritage to my American citizenship (New York- born and raised!) and African ancestry. Of course, I don’t exist in a vacuum- so my inner social justice advocate was there for Jennifer to pour into. When I returned home, it was [manifest] destiny that I started working with Dutch heritage houses on incorporating a WHOLISTIC narrative that included Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities. This includes Wyckoff House Museum, Dyckman Discovered, and Reimagine Lefferts:
Let me rewind a bit, I was actually in process of getting a Masters in Social Work (MSW) with a concentration in Leadership and Macro Practice during the Spring Break trip to Europe. Upon my returm home, I immediately stopped identifying as “West Indian” due to the transatlantic slave trade connection. I also focused my MSW final year thesis on the lack of reparations for the transatlantic slave trade to the African Diaspora. In this time, I was introduced to another pillar person in my ASNEAA work- Walla Elsheikh from Birthright AFRICA. I also chose to be a parent and once I pushed a human out my privates, you couldn’t tell me nothing. Legacy was now the motivation- professionally and personally.
Upon advice from Jennifer, social justice activism from the novice ASNEAA lens was like “trying to boil the ocean”. I was constantly told by trusted advisors the “idea” was too ambitious. And in hindsight, the only thing wrong with ASNEAA is that it speaks OUT LOUD to the secrecy of white supremacy. Remember: the praxis is multidimensional (online + in-person). That is in fact DANEGROUS WORK, given the trillions of dollars invested in artificial intelligence and centuries of suppression + violence to maintain status quo. The escalating threats behind the CLP event planning / post event reflections are just one example of microaggressions in social justice activism. My current read only affirmed what I am experiencing: white state power in the Jim Crow north.
With the return to celebrating the America 250th Anniversary (after a much-needed PAUSE), Prospect Park / Reimagine Lefferts was a safe space for ASNEAA to unpack the WHOLISTIC narrative centering BIPOC communities. Prospect Park Alliance hosted a myriad of events including a multicultural “Battle of Brooklyn” reenactment and the current Lefferts Historic House exhibit on the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre. On the same day as CLP x America 250th @ PPA / Reimagine Lefferts; Living History Co. reenactors were on site speaking to BIPOC narratives of the nation’s revolutionary war:
CLP x America 250th Anniversary @ PPA / Reimagine Lefferts is the fifth ASNEAA event acknowledging the nation’s semiquincentennial. Other pop-up activations to date include Fort Greene Park (FGP), Commodore Barry Park (CBP), Brooklyn Museum First Saturdays, and Brooklyn Bridge Park (BBP). CLP x America 250th Anniversary @ PPA / Reimagine Lefferts participants were invited to share their BIPOC heritage and explore the ASNEAA website to learn more about the global mapping and programming:
s/o to the CLP x America 250th Anniversary @ PPA / Reimagine Lefferts participants for the BIPOC heritage geotags (Bangladesh on the map)! There was also arts as advocacy creative expression project- legacy bracelets:
The revolutionary BIPOC joy was so strong, ASNEAA stuck around until the house closed for the day! s/o to the Reimagine Lefferts team for always including ASNEAA as a programming partner. The business of social justice does not operate in silos and without institutional organizations subcontracting with community based organizations. Prospect Park is Brooklyn’s backyard and ASNEAA’s ally! here’s to the shared “more perfect union” development goals in service for the people of ALL AGES and BACKGROUNDS.
Thank you to the CLP x America 250th Anniversary @ PPA / Reimagine Lefferts host and participants:
