#Weeksville Heritage center

[thenoticeblog]

Willow: House of Griots | Pilot Script Table Reading

We’re back at it again with the Principal Cast of “Willow: House of Griots,” working through a table reading for the Pilot Episode. We discussed upcoming events, reviewed production scheduling and details, watched our short film “Willow: State of Emergency,” and sunk our teeth into this special 90-minute pilot episode of “House of Griots.” Much love to Elliot Guilbe for the Photography, Glenn Quentin for the Production Support, and Sultan Ali for the Marketing Support.

Principal Cast Ashley Noel Jones as Willow Kerubo Brown Suzanne Darrell as Iyoba the Foundress Cameisha Cotton as Diane X Kirrin Tubo as Taina Lilian Oben as Vanessa Charles Masiko Ensemble Reader Tommy Coleman Stage Directions Reader Heru Khuti

Showrunner & Writer Paul A. Notice II

Heads Up: Our Short Film “Willow: House of Griots” will be available on Amazon Prime later this year. Keep an eye out for our announcement. In the meantime, save the date for our upcoming Short Film Screening at Weeksville Heritage Center coming OCTOBER, 21st, 2023! Details coming soon!

You can Support “Willow: House of Griots” here.

Special Thanks to all of our supporters: Josmar Trujillo Nana Dakin Will Duggan James Reilly Kirrin Tubo Paul Notice Sr. Marco Rodriguez Nyle Emerson Doreen Notice Jade Notice Nichole Villafane Sita Sarkar Justin Prince Kiera Williams Paul VanDeCarr Jeannette Colyvas Daniel Notice Laura Edmondson Tommy Schaperkotter Glinetta Collins Larry Powell Erica Saucedo Megan & Liv Jeannette Colyvas Ian Harkins Jim Costanzo Melissa Noelle The Ellen & Andrew G. Celli Foundation, Inc. Holly Heckart Sarah Fleming Edward Rice Ataefiok Etukeren Joann Selvidge James Gantt Jade Notice Marie Casimir Rama Orleans-Lindsay Shiloh Hodges Benedict Nguyen Lizette Vernon Lily Bo-Shapiro Saleem Kashif Kendra Foster Anika Chowdhury Lia Bonfilio Katrina Reid Zell Davis Robin Holmes Gabby Sherba

[citylifeorg]

Art is Alive Presented by Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation

On behalf of Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation, you are invited to join us on Saturday, September 16, 2023 between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. for the Art Is Alive Festival at Weeksville Heritage Center (158 Buffalo Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11213).  Back for its first year since covid hit in 2020, the multi-disciplined arts conference was established to present a multitude of art forms from an African…

[jaygeeohphoto]

Happy Kwanza by Julia O Via Flickr: I went to a Kwanza celebration at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn The celebration is early--Kwanza begins Dec. 26th--but I had a fantastic time

[brooklynmuseum]

This month Weeksville Heritage Center announced that if it didn’t raise 200K it would be forced to close its doors. This news hit me hard as I have loved going to concerts and events at Weeksville, and it would be devastating to lose this monumentally important historic institution that highlights the history of one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America and foregrounds Black people in Brooklyn today. They have incredible collections in their Archives and do phenomenal exhibitions and programs. Weeksville understands the importance of history and proactively saving histories that might otherwise be lost. Thankfully they reached their first fundraising goal and are working towards their second which would enable them to begin building an emergency cash reserve.

Brooklyn Museum and Weeksville go way back, as evidenced by these letters. In 1976 Executive Director and founder Dr. Joan Maynard coordinated with Assistant Director Julia Hotton to host events here at the Museum. From their letters to each other, it appears that they may have hosted the launch of Alex Haley’s famous book, Roots!  In 1977 we collaborated on a few events that included an exhibit of photographs, lectures, and a film screening.

Posted by J. E. Molly Seegers

[heroinesandallies]

Pyer Moss Spring 2019 held at Weeksville Heritage Center 

[dispactke]

[anniekoh]

Spotlight: Black Archives

As a finale to Black History Month, Data & Society staff pulled together inspiring archival projects that collect and preserve the narratives, voices, and artifacts of Black lives. This list is by no means definitive or exhaustive and mostly limited to the United States; we encourage you to explore, share additional favorites with us via @datasociety, and consider making a donation to one or more of these important historical resources. We will be doing the same.

An American Dilemma: "The Carnegie-Myrdal Study of the Negro in America Research Memoranda Collection, contains the exhaustive output of a stellar team of social scientists who worked with Myrdal to study 'the Negro problem' on behalf of Carnegie Corporation of New York; most of whom did so with little to no public recognition." This digital platform pulls from Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, another resource to check out.

Black Archives:  A multimedia archive that preserves the "nuances of Black life."

Black Joy Archive: "The archive is intended to serve black people as a therapeutic practice in self-preservation and self-esteem."

COVID Black: A collection of Black health data and "mixed media stories about the lived Black health experience."

Gee's Bend Quiltmakers: A collection of the quilt masterpieces made by the women of Gee's Bend, a small, remote, Black community in Alabama.

Mobile Homecoming: "An intergenerational experiential archive project to amplify generations of Black LGBTQ brilliance."

Moorland Spingarn Researcher Center at Howard University: A research center that "preserve[s] the legacy of people of African descent for this and future generations."

Not the Only One: Data & Society 2019-20 Fellow Stephanie Dinkins' "experiment in making a multigenerational memoir of a black American family told from the perspective of a custom deep learning artificial intelligence."

See in Black: "A collective of Black photographers who invest in, uplift and build community around Black visibility."

Stuart Hall Library: A specialist collection of over 10,000 volumes of work of "artists of African and Asian descent born or based in the UK."

W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, 1803-1999: Over 100,000 items of Du Bois' written work on "the problem of the color line in the twentieth century."

Weeksville Heritage Center's 5th of July Resource Center for Self-Determination & Freedom: "...dedicated to the production and dissemination of knowledge concerning histories of post-emancipation, freedom, and its promise."

[apexart-journal]

Ann Quintano in NYC, Day 12

eJust ended today’s events but before I write on that wanted to share some pictures from yesterday at Governor’s Island. (Sorry for always the one day delay for photos but I have some ongoing camera to computer problems and thank heavens Abbie at apexart enables me to have my photos up at all! And thanks to my sister, Francesca and my brother in law Ron who gave me my phone and tablet or where would I be in this day and age!

This is just a small area of Earth Matters where we did intros and information but,as I mentioned, stashed bag with phone/camera there so don’t have other pics of their wonderful urban farm and compost center.

All over Governors island one can easily spot these colorful chairs (or the red hammocks) and in this one I did the soul searching for my reflection on my experience of being a fellow with apexart.

So that brightens the day! It overlooks the water. Next is an old rundown building on the island which, if you look hard, you can see was a library.

Onto the ferry and while waiting for it to leave enjoyed a sea gull relaxing and then the view from the ferry.

Onto today...I had a two hour Improv Comedy Class with Jessica Zambrotta. That was a lot of fun and revealing. Just five of us so that was a comfortable size. We did a number of ‘games’ that helped with being really present, not judging, connecting with each other, listening skills, being able to get out of our head and into connection and emotion. It was interesting how we could each build on each other’s stories in the game and how using certain responses helped or hindered the flow. The classes are for everyone, not just actors or comedians and develop skills that are useable  in everyday life.

I then went to the next two stops in continuation of Fighting the Dark which began in Manhattan and end here in Brooklyn. Grand Army Plaza where the sculpture includes a Black man. Grand Army Plaza was erected to celebrate the Union victory of the civil War and the tour speaks about the all Black 20th Regiment. It continues with the effect on the drafting of Black soldiers who were originally not allowed to serve, and the terrible resistance to that by many whites.  Many Blacks sought refuge in Weeksville named for Black landowner  and established as a free Black community in what is now Crown Heights.

The creator of this Audio Tour puts things for us New Yorkers in a frightening reality:...”many of these lynching took place in the south but the blueprint for multiple day mass lynchings of free Black people was formed in the streets of New York in 1863″. The Weeksville Heritage Center is closed to tours because of Covid but you can visit the grounds and the itinerary suggested sitting on the lawn and reading a book. But to me it felt like sacred ground and not a place to be relaxing and so after I read the transcript of the audio tour (I had 8 pages of transcript with me today), I moved on. I took the C train to West 4th just to explore the West Village a little. No many how many times I’m down there I always get turned around by the zig zagging streets. I cut through Washington Square part to walk home (apex home) and it was absolutely mobbed. I think it was NYU graduation.

Once again during the day I had to deal with my reoccurring fear of getting lost without a map (what a metaphor too I guess!) I lived through the era of the Crown Heights riots so on the bus to Crown Heights...and the driver telling me its the next to last stop...and we’re going and going...I was remembering my first day at Pratt in the 70′s when the city was high crime and that was way before Pratt area was gentrified. I asked a police officer the direction and he said to me “I can tell you how to get there but you’ll never get there alive!” He and his partner found it somewhat amusing, of course I was scared to death. I need to know where I’m going and have a visual: a map, even if its hand drawn by me. So for me apex gets it right on about moving one out of their comfort zone and anything familiar.  I must say a woman caught up to me when I got off the bus and said she heard me asking for directions to the train back and she proceeded to tell me exactly how to get to the C train. A young woman at the Brooklyn Navy Yards practically walked me to the ferry when I was leaving...’I have a Mama and a Grandma and I would want them to be safe too ‘ she said. Having to rely on (and hope for) the kindness of strangers is always a good learning and a happy occasion. As challenging (and fun) as this experience is...I hate for it to end. I want to keep the unfamiliar alive!

Bye for now...

[harlemcondolife]

How Weeksville, a Center of Black History, Fought to Survive

How Weeksville, a Center of Black History, Fought to Survive

A slice of Brooklyn that was home to one of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America sought the promise of steady financial help from the city. Two years ago, Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn, which is dedicated to preserving the remnants of a thriving village established by Black

[wellesleyunderground]

African American/Black History Museums & Cultural Centers to Support

In the last few weeks, there have been a number of lists of black owned businesses put together for people to support. If you’re a history lover, you may be interested in donating to a museum or historical society focused on African American/black people in the United States. Here’s a list of some options (though there are many more out there!).

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (Washington, DC)

National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, TN)

National Voting Rights Museum and Institute (Selma, AL)

A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum (Chicago, IL)

African American Museum Bowling Green (Bowling Green, KY)

African American Museum of Dallas (Dallas, TX)

The African American Museum in Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)

Alexandria Black History Museum (Alexandria, VA)

America’s Black Holocaust Museum (Milwaukee, WI)

Anacostia Community Museum (Washington, DC)

The August Wilson African American Cultural Center (Pittsburgh, PA)

Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (Houston, TX)

California African American Museum (Los Angeles, CA)

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (Detroit, MI)

Clemson Area African American Museum (Clemson, SC)

Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum (St. Petersburg, FL)

The DuSable Museum of African American History (Chicago, IL)

Great Plains African American History Museum (Omaha, NE)

The Harrison Museum of African American Culture (Roanoke, VA)

Houston Museum of African American Culture (Houston, TX)

The Legacy Museum (Montgomery, AL)

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (Jackson, MS)

National Museum of African American Music (Nashville, TN)

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (Kansas City, MO)

New Orleans African American Museum (New Orleans, LA)

Northwest African American Museum (Seattle, WA)

Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum (Savannah, GA)

Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture (Baltimore, MD)

The Rosa Parks Museum (Montgomery, AL)

The Weeksville Heritage Center (Brooklyn, NY)

_______________

For the Association of African American Museums’ global directory of museums and affiliates: https://blackmuseums.org/directory/ 

[lxdylxne]

'Sonic Escape Routes: Shall We Fly? or Shall We Resist?' || a collaboration between Rena Anakwe @djladylane / @aspaceforsound & Akeema-Zane @kissingtherain for Weeksville Heritage Center’s The Legacy Project: Sensing History.  October 25th, 4pm-4:45pm ET ||  RSVP to link in @weeksvilleheritagecenter 's bio for this FREE Virtual event Sonic Escape Routes seeks to explore the following: what is the spiritual core and where is the liminal space for a people whose freedom to thrive remains in question? and what are the varying routes that anchor us toward flight or resistance? Through a collaborative sound and visual performance, the artists aim to assert and embed their own personal narratives and histories to traverse the archives of Weeksville in order to answer these questions.” Shot & Edited by Nathan Bajar & Noah Weisfogel Photography by Anjelica Jardiel Thank you Weeksville & The Legacy Project for the opportunity to explore these timely and important archives. (at Weeksville Heritage Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/CGtFLifDpCy/?igshid=1bktmh0ickpqr

[rjeldridge]

Fred Moten at Weeksville Heritage Center (2019)

Photo by RJ Eldridge

[supportblackart]

I AM SHE by Imani Shanklin Roberts @imaniniasr ✨ challenges viewers to embrace the full spectrum of the divine feminine by connecting to archetypal expressions of the Black Woman in the 21st century. The archetypes being explored both visually and experientially include the Rebel Woman, Carefree Black Girl, Bruja, Wombman, Visionary, Lover, and High Powered Woman of the World. Please join us for the opening celebration of I AM SHE on Saturday, March 2nd from 5pm - 9pm. Located in the galleries of the historic Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn. #supportblackart #imanishanklinroberts #iamshe2019 #blackart #blackgirlmagic #weeksvilleheritagecenter #brooklynart #nycart #nycartscene #blackgirlswhopaint (at Weeksville Heritage Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuHfYN_BvNo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cwydz8lxz9wl

[afutureancient]

The M(N)STRY: The Legacy of Black Arkives

Etymology of Legacy: late 14c., legacie, “body of persons sent on a mission,” from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus“ambassador, envoy, deputy,” noun use of past participle of legare “send with a commission, appoint as deputy, appoint by a last will” (see legate). Can the archive be our arsenal and the archivist our warrior in this current war on memory and information? As ambassadors of…

[heroinesandallies]

I have so much respect for Pyer Moss’ Kerby Jean-Raymond. While the designer is known for incorporating social commentary of the black experience into his collections, he is also utilizing his platform to highlight a historical gem of the black community. Last night, Kirby Jean-Raymond unveiled his Spring 2019 collection in one of America’s first free black communities, Weeksville. Not only is this major because of how much further Kirby Jean-Raymond is bringing the world of fashion into OUR experience, but the real significance lies in the visibility and the acknowledgment of a community that was founded by a black man named James Week, who had a vision of a community for us by us. A pretty full-circle moment considering that Jean-Raymond collaborated this season with ‘90s streetwear and black-owned label FUBU for a capsule collection. As I watched the runway show via online, with models who strutted down the runway at Weeksville Heritage Center, I saw portraits of us...at the cookout, receiving love from our fathers, and messages that read “See Us Now?,” it was a reminder that our visions matter, that our stories matter, that WE matter. It’s obvious that for Kirby Jean-Raymond that Weeksville Heritage Center (which is just located 10 minutes away from where I live by car and where I also witnessed two of my dearest friends get married) also matters, as he shared with The Hollywood Reporter “I grew up about five minutes away from here... and it was always my dream to bring it back, but I never felt like I was big enough and had the pull.”

My hope now is that Kirby Jean-Raymond’s affection for Weeksville Heritage Center will catch on and motivate others to visit and support a community founded by one of our own. 

[dispactke]

Multitasking virtual Juneteenth celebration and seminar (while Father’s Day upstate) from Weeksville Heritage Center with Obden Mondésir of Weeksville and Raina Kennedy of Brooklyn Packers worker-owned food distribution cooperative. Black Power to the People.

https://www.instagram.com/brooklynpackers/

https://www.brooklynsupportedagriculture.com/

http://cbfood.org/