Like Harlem to Manhattan, Brownsville (and honorable mention: Bedford Stuyvesant) to Brooklyn is the Black Mecca. For most of my life, my mother (disclosure: ASNEAA board president) has worked in the neighborhood. This environment has shaped me both personally and professionally – as the community has always been a part of my research ventures from undergraduate to currently as a human rights activist via ASNEAA.
Since the start of ASNEAA in 2021, I’ve had the privilege to return to Brownsville and connect the BIPOC heritage lens through Community Legacy Project (CLP) programming. And with the new “multi-dimensional” praxis (online + in-person), ASNEAA hosted a pop-up activation at BMS Summerfest 2026. Then the reality check (and rain) came. I am not that far removed from having no cell phone (only a landline!); highlighting the technology access and education gap – especially for community elders. ASNEAA being a social justice enterprise – it informed the “edtech” potential in BIPOC communities. Not to be confused with developing AI systems that disregard the wholistic human experience (in-person).
With a solution-based framing (and the looming clouds- literally and figuratuvely), ASNEAA invited CLP x Summerfest 2026 participants to share their BIPOC heritage and explore the geotags on the website. It was quickly affirmed that ASNEAA CLP programming can be tailored for PEOPLE of ALL AGES and BACKGROUNDS. Most importantly, CLP x Summerfest 2026 participants were introduced to a family friendly website resource to continue their BIPOC heritage exploration (especially on rainy days):
Though we didn’t get to the traditional arts as advocacy creative expression project due to the weather, the art of this special CLP activation was in the community connection and conversations. Just as important as physical health is mental + cultural health! s/o to the CLP x Summerfest 2026 participants for the reminder: the brain is a muscle and the root of thoughts that inform behavior. cultural responsiveness and sustainability is REAL! here’s to being BIPOC and proud (in the rain and all) because social justice advocacy centering human rights is community care! Anything else is just community coddling (for white supremacy).
PS: my current read is “Unleashing Black Power: Grassroots Organizing in Harlem and the Advent of the Long, Hot Summers” by Dr. Peter Blackmer
Thank you to the CLP x Summerfest 2026 host and participants:
