More Resources

Each One, Teach One

The title of this section comes from an African American saying, whose origins are lost to history, but whose sprit relates to the long history of empowerment and uplift through education within Black communities. Enslaved Africans worked undercover to teach each other survival skills and even literacy. Under Jim Crow, Black Americans taught each other tactics to survive the realities of racial segregation. During the Civil Rights Movement, activists organized Freedom Schools and taught civics education to prepare people to register to vote. In the Black Power Movement, African Americans gave each other cultural education, history lessons about Africa and the African Diaspora, and teachings on social and criminal justice. With the Black Lives Matter movement, individuals and collectives teach one another methods for staying safe, channeling political power, and celebrating life and legacies of resistance against racism.  

Each one, teach one stresses that all of us have a responsibility to teach what we know, learn what we can, and add to the larger body of knowledge about struggles for democracy, human rights, and justice.  

This supplement suggests where you can turn if you want to learn more about some of the topics and histories Brooklyn Resists presents. No single history captures a subject’s entirety. Inevitably, topics, events, people, places – even important ones – do not appear. Brooklyn Resists contains these omissions, or silences. To fill in those gaps, the curators of Brooklyn Resists developed this section where its historians, archivists, and librarians add book and article titles, archival collections, and names of contemporary organizations, institutions and events that relate directly to the history in this exhibit.  

Do you know of an important source you can share that relates to the history of Black people in Brooklyn and resistance against racism? Do you know about an ongoing event or organization whose histories ties to the ideas Brooklyn Resists presents? If so, please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org and share your suggestions.  

Exhibition Introduction 

Books
Archival Collections
Related Organizations and Other Resources
  • In Pursuit of Freedom

    In Pursuit of Freedom is a multifaceted public history initiative that explores the everyday heroes of Brooklyn’s anti-slavery movement. This public history project is a partnership of Brooklyn Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center and Irondale Ensemble Project. 

Covenant with Color 

Books  
  • Craig Wilder, A Covenant with Color: Race and Social Power in Brooklyn 
  • Clarence Taylor, The Black Churches of Brooklyn 
  • Brian Purnell, Fighting Jim Crow in the County of Kings 
  • Wendell Pritchett, Brownsville, Brooklyn: Blacks, Jews, and the changing face of the ghetto 
  • Jeanne Theoharis and Komozi Woodard, Groundwork: local black freedom movements in America
  • Manisha Sinha,The Woman Question
  • Dr. Joy DeGruy, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome
  • Angela Davis, Women, Race and Class
Teaching Resources
Archival Collections
Related Organizations and Other Resources
  • African Burial Ground National Monument 
    This organization's focus stretches beyond Brooklyn, and is an important institution on the long history of racism and resistance in New York City.
  • Black Veterans for Social Justice
    Established in 1979, Black Veterans for Social Justice is a non-profit, community-based organization servicing veterans, their families, and members of the community.

Bodies on the Line 

Books
Archival Collections
Related Organizations and Other Resources
  • Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
    Restoration relentlessly pursues strategies to close gaps in family and community wealth to ensure all families in Central Brooklyn are prosperous and healthy.
  • Center for Law and Social Justice, Medgar Evers College

    The mission of CLSJ is to address racial justice issues by providing quality legal advocacy, conducting community education campaigns, facilitating research and building organizing capacity on behalf of New Yorkers of African descent and the disenfranchised. CLSJ seeks to accomplish its mission by initiating advocacy projects and litigation, conducting research, and providing community education and trainings on behalf of and in collaboration with community organizations and groups in order to promote human, national, and international understanding. CLSJ sponsors advocacy projects and litigation in areas as diverse as housing and employment discrimination, education equity, police reform and racial violence, voting rights, census, redistricting and United States human rights violations. Because of its unique combination of research, public policy advocacy and litigation from a community-based perspective, CLSJ is a focal point for progressive activity. CLSJ’s vision is to be a resource for the liberation of people of African descent in order to achieve a world that will equally distribute society’s and nature’s wealth to everyone, such that they are able to realize their highest creative potential and enjoy their cultural, economic, political, and social rights.

Education as Activism

Books
Children's Books
Archival Collections
Related Organizations and Other Resources
  • Medgar Evers College
    Born out of the civil rights movement and social justice struggles of the late ’60s, the College was named for the slain civil rights leader and icon Medgar Wiley Evers, who stood for excellence and the fight to preserve human rights and equality. The College’s philosophy that education has the power to positively transform the lives of individuals is still at the core of its mission.
  • Weeksville Heritage Center 
    Weeksville Heritage Center is an historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn that uses education, arts and a social justice lens to preserve, document and inspire engagement with the history of Weeksville, one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, and the Historic Hunterfly Road Houses.
  • Black Veterans for Social Justice
    On April 18th, 1979, a group of veterans from all branches of the military representing enlistees from WWII through Vietnam, came together to provide assistance to veterans with problems. Some immediate problems faced were racism and racist policies, little or poor medical  and rehabilitative services, unemployment, no re-entry preparation into society. Many soldiers leaving the military had a lack of knowledge of their rights or the agencies willing to help them. Some veterans experienced hostile social attitudes and a high percentage suffered from exposure to the lethal toxin "Agent Orange", and continual readjustment obstacles. B.V.S.J., Inc. has evolved since its humble beginnings into a community fixture. BVSJ employees understand that veterans and their families are also a community fixture. While a new generation of veterans has served this country, many have the same complications specifically getting quality medical care and treatment, high unemployment and inadequate services for soldiers re-entering into the civilian culture.  BVSJ Veteran services are always served with "tender loving care and a listening ear.

Celebration as Political Expression 

Books  
Archival Collections
  • Black News, in the Civil Rights in Brooklyn collection, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library.
Teaching Resources
Related Organizations and Other Resources
  • International African Arts Festival
    The International African Arts Festival (IAAFestival) began in 1971 and has been a part of Brooklyn cultural landscape for almost five decades. Each year, a committed team of board members, consultants, part-time seasonal staff and volunteers, work together to transform a city park into an outdoor African cultural oasis that celebrates traditional and contemporary expressions of various African cultures.
  • New York Carnival
    The West Indian American Day Carnival Association is a historic community organization dedicated to promoting, developing and celebrating Caribbean culture, arts, food, history, traditions and people. Founded in 1967 and headquartered in New York City, the West Indian American Day Carnival Association collaborates with the community on programming & throughout the year which culminates with a week-long display of festivities and a grand finale Carnival Parade.
  • Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium
    Since 1999 musicians, educators, and organizers have worked together to bring the culture and history of jazz to people in Brooklyn, especially in the central and norther sections of the borough. Bedford-Stuyvesant and its surrounding areas has a long history of cultivating and producing legendary jazz acts and musicians. During the mid-to-late 1960s and 1970s, the organization called The East was a hub for world-renowned performances that attracted key figures in African Diasporic music. Music became key to preserving communities and cultures that thrived in Brooklyn’s black communities. The CBJC continues this important work and shares it with the entire borough.  

Alliances and Allyship 

Books  
Related Organizations and Other Resources
  • Plymouth Church
    Plymouth Church was a hotbed of anti-slavery activity in Brooklyn. Henry Ward Beecher served as its founding minister because of his bold and controversial call for the moral need to end slavery in America. Brooklyn Resists highlights a small piece of Sally Maria Diggs story and the history of this important Brooklyn institution. Plymouth Church’s current historical committee places Sally at the center of the abolitionist community that existed in and around the church during the 19th century. The current membership also shows how Plymouth was an essential stop on the Underground Railroad, that network of safehouses and allies that moved people who escaped slavery along the road to their freedom. Sally recognized this work later in life when she visited Plymouth in May 1927 and said, “I am glad of this opportunity to publicly acknowledge that I have always had a feeling of deep love and gratitude toward this church whose congregation did so much for me." Learn more about the Plymouth community’s 175-year history of resisting racism. This work continues to this day.” 
     

  • The 67th Precinct Clergy Council
    The 67th Precinct Clergy Council, Inc. “The GodSquad” is a faith-based organization comprised of clergy focused on lessening neighborhood tensions and acting as a liaison between their communities and law enforcement. Recently, The GodSquad established Clergy For Safe Cities (CSC), a national coalition to support clergy-based gun violence prevention initiatives and implement a collective, comprehensive, community initiative to decrease the involvement of young people in crime and gun violence in their city. To date CSC has trained 500 faith leaders on successful clergy-based models and best practices. 

  • Bridge Street A.M.E. Church
    Bridge Street prides itself on being “The Church in the Heart of the Community with the Community at Heart” and looks for ways to show love to the residents of Bedford-Stuyvesant.  Not only has Bridge Street organized street festivals such as “Family Unity Day” which drew over 1,000 people together for food, fun and fellowship, but Bridge Street hosts an annual Family and Friends Day in July to provide food, jazz, face painting and healthy conversations for the residents of Bed-Stuy.  

Too Many Names 

Books
Archival Collections  
Related Organizations and Other Resources
  • Black Lives Matter
    #BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.
  • M4BL: The Movement for Black Lives
    The Movement for Black Lives is an ecosystem of individuals and organizations creating a shared vision and policy agenda to win rights, recognition, and resources for Black people. In doing so, the movement makes it possible for us, and therefore everyone, to live healthy and fruitful lives.

 

Brooklyn Resists is made possible through generous support from
Jennifer and Steven Eisenstadt
Blake and Andrew Foote
Audra and Robin Ottaway
Nicholle and Timothy Simons
Donors to the Fund for CBH

The Double-R Foundation
White Cedar Fund

NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

® I LOVE NEW YORK is a registered trademark and service mark of the New York State Department of Economic Development; used with permission.

 

Exhibition Team

Historian and Curator
Dr. Brian Purnell

Exhibition Design, Fabrication & Installation
Little Mega

Center for Brooklyn History Staff
Heather Malin, Director
Natiba Guy-Clement, Assistant Director, Collections and Public Service
Anna Schwartz, Art Collections and Exhibitions Manager
Cecily Dyer, Special Collections and Outreach Librarian
Bailey Bretz, Administrative and Special Projects Assistant
Julia Pelaez, Educator
Marcia Ely, Director of Programs
Michelle Montalbano, Reference Librarian
Deborah Tint, Special Collections Cataloger