Bed Stuy’s Renaissance
In the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant, on the corner of Tompkins and Jefferson Avenue, a crowd gathers as Dj Reborn mixes a set of old vinyls. A couple of blocks up, Nicole Noel, sits on a stoop and sketches away, drawing caricatures of passerby, while across the street, a group of kids sow away under the directions of Muddalandant. Music, dancing, performances - wherever you turn, the electricity and vibrant artistic energy of the neighborhood is palpable, unescapable almost.
“There are so many different artists here in Bed-Stuy. You throw a pebble somewhere and you're going to land on an artist somewhere. Everybody’s doing different things, it's really like a creative revolution that's happening,” says Jessie Davis, a local DJ.
From The Notorious B.I.G., to Jay Z, and Chris Rock, Bedford-Stuyvesant has been home to many artists that have left a clear indelible trace of their passage and their influence on the neighborhood and beyond. But this new wave of local artists emanating as Bed-Stuy recovers from the pandemic seems to be leading to an unprecedented phenomenon: the expressive creativity coming out Bed-Stuy is serving as a vessel to conserve and raise the unity of the neighborhood.
Bed-Stuy’s cultural transformation is reminiscent of the Harlem Renaissance.
During the Great Migration, as thousands of African Americans fled to the North to escape the economic exploitations and racial tensions of the South, Harlem saw a cultural awakening. For over a decade, throughout the 1920s, the “cultural Mecca”, as it came to be known, became the breeding ground for legendary musicians, performers, poets, writers, intellectuals, etc. A plethora of creatives introduced a new energy of pride and unity among the African American community. Their art was not simply leisure or past time, but a powerful outlet that helped them to reclaim their identity, to regroup and support one another in the face of hardship, racism, and discrimination.
Fast-forward to 2021, across the river, a couple of miles down, in the center a Brooklyn, a new “cultural Mecca” is seeing the light of day. “I feel like I'm just continuing that legacy of centering the Arts and centering community in order to continue on,” says Kendra J. Ross, a professional dancer and choreographer.
For artists like Ross, Davis, and many others, the Arts in all its shapes and forms have become a central tool in protecting the unique fabric that constitutes Bed-Stuy.
The community has faced many challenges with the gentrification forces threatening the cohesion of the neighborhood and Covid-19 putting gatherings to a stop for months. But with projects like a communal murals, dance festivals, to name a few, a blossoming sense of identity and pride has grown.
The web of artists that has emerged is working tightly to create collaborative art that engages with the community and brings together neighbors. “This neighborhood has transformed itself continuously like a Phoenix despite the lack of funding, despite the crime levels, despite x, y, and z. Bed-Stuy is still thriving and I think it's because of Arts. It's because of culture,” says Ross.
Despite an apparent lack of infrastructure and investment in the Arts from the city, several local organizations have formed over the years and materialized what community partnership through the arts could look like.
In April 2019, after years away from Bed-Stuy, its place of inception, the POC-centered art organization, the Laundromat Project, made its way back to the neighborhood with the mission to support the artistic emergence of Bed-Stuy and help finance projects like Davis’.
“The importance of our work is that we get to support the imaginaries of marginalized communities, folks that wouldn't necessarily maybe have as many resources to do this kind of work. There’s a power in supporting these imaginaries and creating space for people to envision what Community Building looks like,” says Cievel Xicohtencatl, the community engagement manager at The Laundromat Project.
The organization created the “Create and Connect” fund in September that granted $1000 to 12 different local projects. The initiative grew out of the necessity to think creatively about how to show up and support the work that has already been happening on the ground.
“Through my art I people to feel like they've contributed to something, like they are a part of something that can leave an indelible mark on our community. I envision my work as being part of this larger ecosystem of of changemakers within the neighborhood,” says Davis.