#stuying history

[adharagranley-writer]

Don't let anyone tell you that you can only be one thing.

Leonardo da vinci was a painter, anatomist, architect, paleontologist, botanist, writer, sculptor, philosopher, engineer, inventor, musician, poet and urban planner and he is one of the most important geniuses in history.

Don't limit yourself.

[cartermagazine]

Today We Honor Roxie Roker

Roxie Albertha Roker was an amazing actress, and human being, famously known for playing Helen Willis on the hit sitcom “The Jeffersons.” You may also know Roxie Roker is the mother of the amazingly talented Lenny Kravitz.

Born in Miami, Florida; however, raised in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Roxie Roker studied drama at Howard University along side Toni Morrison, actress Zaida Coles, stage director and playwright Shauneille Perry, and actor Graham Brown; all of whom were members of the university's theatre troupe, the Howard Players.

Her professional career with the Negro Ensemble Company was a huge success. She won an Obie Award in 1974 and was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Mattie Williams in The River Niger.

Roxie Roker was a reporter on WNEW-TV in New York in the 1970s and hosted a public affairs show for the station known as “Inside Bed-Stuy,” dealing with events in the Brooklyn neighborhood.

After having her breakout role as Helen Willis on hit sitcom “The Jeffersons,” she appeared in guest starring roles on many other hit shows from the 1970s through the 1990s, including "Stone in the River”, “Punky Brewster”, “Hangin' with Mr. Cooper”, “A Different World”, “Murder, She Wrote”, “The Love Boat”, “227”, “Fantasy Island”, and ABC Afterschool Specials.

Roxie Roker pushed boundaries and was known for being a children’s advocate, as a member of the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect. She was cited by the city of Los Angeles for her community work.

CARTER™️ Magazine carter-mag.con #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #historyandhiphop365 #cartermagazine #carter #roxieroker #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth #history #actress #staywoke #lennykravitz

[power-chords]

Some Miami Vice Thots*:

Big Screen, I Notice More Stuff: That club is called MANSION. Linkin Park (from Agoura Hills, or what seems to me to be the Westchester, NY of the San Fernando Valley — Californians please correct me if I'm wrong), mashed up with Jay-Z (a Black billionaire from the mean streets of Bed-Stuy, the New New Gatsby/Big Joe Turner). Relevant to bullet point immediately below.

According to Michael Mann Miami in the mid-aughts is Age of Discovery (Digital Edition) meets Crime Family Feudalism in recursive recurrence, multiple timelines and identities inhabiting the same geographic vectors (everyone is always forever in motion). The very first interaction Sonny has with someone who is not a team member is a bartender who says she is from Lisboa, to which Sonny replies, "But you got your tan in Miami." This is what I read: She's the "reformed" Portuguese equivalent of the character in this Butch Walker song. She came from money, she lost it perhaps, but she's been since... repossessed? There's a more sinister interpretation under the surface, since she is under the roof of a powerful (and possibly related) employer whose business operations require unwavering loyalty + utmost discretion in exchange for protection (which in this case is also exploitation). Tan, in other words, as a form of Midas touch. Sacrifice to a sun(/SON!!!) god (or is Sonny more of a defecting Samson figure, speaking to an inert "Neon" Delilah who will only feign at seduction/betrayal, moving through the moves?). So already these two characters are speaking in code to each other, which is an amazing storytelling device on Mann's behalf, and you can shake so much out of that.

Derived from the above: "My Mommy and Daddy know me," hilarious line btw, becomes double-doublespeak, quadruple-speak! Not only is he pretending to tell the truth under a fabricated fundamental, the statement itself is yet another subtextual lie. His parents don't really know him, they just thought they did, which is why he's run off to become what he's become. Rico is the partner who acts out of duty first, love secondarily; Sonny is the Byronic inverse. Diaspora southern gothic. I like to think this is the mythic re-interpretation/inspiration Mann wishes a certain American population would draw from, in lieu of... current political/pop cultural figureheads.

Gina tenderly comforting the injured Zito... this shot is seconds long and yet captures my heart every time! Where is the backstory fic for these two!

Once again, the Rico/Trudy sex scene is a definite contender for the most affectionate, respectful, and sensual one in Hollywood history

Oh, Isabella. My girl Isabella. I overheard someone in the lobby call this film "such a guy movie." I don't know what drugs these people are on. Especially when counterpart to the hypermasculine satirical camp is the sensitivity and sympathy with which Mann portrays the situation of women, how we are exploited either way/anyway, deprived of romantic trust/human partnership by being put at risk by men and also by them denied the agency of taking risks for ourselves. There's both heartbreak and hypocrisy in how she attacks Sonny at the end, screaming "Who are you!" (The audience's heartbreak is: We have an instinctive uneasy sense of the systems that force her, and the rest of us, to live as hypocrites. Who are any of us, anymore, really!)

I was like MICHAEL DO THE GARMENTO CRIME DRAMA W/ ME and he was like "I made Miami Vice already, dummy! Pay attention!" Me: "OK!!!" [Pays a visit to Auerbach's Keller in Grand Central Terminal and then stays up until 5 AM playtesting West Village: Walpurgisnacht/watching the Chicago & Miami Postmodern Pseudepigrapha about Non-Recourse Factoring]

The "color coding" in this film is bonkers. More on that eventually, I'm still chewing on it.

The duality of Man(n)ager: the tragic pathos imbued to Alonzo vs. the vaudevillian coercion of Nicholas. "Why is this happening to me?!" cracks me the fuck up. This most powerful, literally biblical quandary of them all, the whole of Mann's filmography boiled down to its most singular and direct (I.E., truthful) expression, in the form of a persecuted exclamation, and it's played for laughs. Because what can you do except laugh! It's Job(/lowercase job) as circus performance, as a cabaret act. Job's poetry parodied into factional slogans and Shandyan-American dick jokes. I can't believe people think this is a stupid movie, it's pretending to be stupid!!!

*The appropriate spelling for this film in particular

[drgrlfriend]

Chapter Nine!

Chapter Nine of my Winterhawk Selkie!Bucky Barnes Marvel Trumps Hate 2022 fic is posted!

Excerpt:

Clint is down some internet rabbit hole, reading about the history of herb spirals and wondering if Simone will let him make one in her vegetable garden on the rooftop of his Bed-Stuy apartment building, when James laughs out loud at something he’s reading.

Clint glances over and is arrested at the sight of him.  He looks fully at ease, slumped back into the corner of the couch, holding the battered paperback in the fingers of his metal hand.  No matter how much time he spends in the sun and sea his skin has remained alabaster-white but he’s developed lighter streaks of bronze in the hair that falls in loose waves over his forehead.  A smile is still quirking the corner of his lips, and as Clint watches he raises his other hand to his mouth, pink tongue flicking absentmindedly against the pad of his thumb before turning the page. 

Clint feels something kick in his chest like his heart skipped a beat and then restarted at double-speed.  He feels an intense urge to lean forward and taste that smile on James’ lips, to wind his fingers into that fall of hair, to pull James towards him and —

“Fuck,” Clint breathes, and he doesn’t realize he said it out loud until James’ eyes dart up from the page, startled.

[wardogsong]

[ HEADSHOT!     HEADSHOT! ]

Frank Castle does not believe in vampires. In fact, given a chance, he will steadfastly and stubbornly scoff at and refute the existence of something so ridiculous to him.

This is a man of the belief that those mythical creatures of the night are confined to fiction in all it's many forms-- the silver screen, the written word, the drawn pages of comic books and graphic novels. They're the kind of thing you save for an evening of Netflix and chilling; all the better for wrapping an arm around your significant other and nibbling on their neck a little to get the evening going spicy.

The long and short of it is that he simply has no cause to believe in them as real beings that walk among us, in spite of the fact that he inhabits a very strange world that only seems to get stranger by the day. Mind you, this is a man who has helped to bring two children into the world. That had to include all the usual appointments-- admittedly, because of his service, only some of which he was there for. Still, those check-ups and ultrasounds and blood-test filled days were bound to feature questions around his and his wife's medical history. Neither of them are carriers of the much discussed X-GENE-- something that is endlessly more real to him and easier to parse and accept. That's SCIENCE. It's in the vein of passing down hair and eye colors, bum tickers, and all kinds of other physical family baggage.

As far as he knows, you can't just pass down a case of the sparkles.

Hell-- he'd more seriously consider a case of demonic possession before he ever took seriously a flash of fangs and a confession of being beautifully undying. He's Catholic like that, even when it's been an eon since setting foot inside a church. Both cases would honestly make him suggest psychiatric help first, but the former. . . the former is close to home. He BELIEVES in the former. He KNOWS a thing or two about dark attachments of the soul.

But the Lord Ruthven shit? C'MOOON-- Polidori just had a bitter axe to grind against Byron. None of those dead guys are still prancing among us. Vampires make him think of Halloween, Hot Topic, eyeliner and My Chemical Romance band shirts with striped arm warmers. Scene kids and vampires are the same thing, right??

Now, from where does this bullheaded rejection spring? It's from the smallness of Frank's world. Truth be told, he's never been one for GRAND dreams. His were always local things-- even when they were as absurd as a child's glossy and romanticized desire to be a wiseguy in the style of Michael Corleone. Frank's world used to be Bayside, Queens to Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. He never really made plans to leave it-- not by further than getting out of his parents' house and someday into his own. Such small sights were never set on the rest of the world beyond or what lived in it. His was a world of old school by-the-slice shops, creeping bodegas, car-fixing garages where he might someday work for the legit side of things.

Enlistment and eventual deployment only narrowed his world even further, despite being responsible for sending him into the cradle of civilzation. In that place all that mattered was putting one foot in front of the next, checking his corners, doing the job and surviving the day and the incompetence of the United States Marine Corps.

There were no vampires for him to meet in Iran, Pakistan, or Afghanistan.

And afterwards? Afterwards there should only have been the smallness of HOME again. Of Maria tucked into his side, of Lisa held in his arms, of Junior at his knee.

Ain't that just the kicker though? After all that-- after all that happened to him, he could BE one of them. Maybe not beautiful, but definitely undying. Except he doesn't know that.

And still doesn't feel like he has any cause to BELIEVE.

                                                                                                               [ Tell ‘em closed case. ]

[hoodoverhollywood]

Today in Hip Hop History: Notorious B.I.G.’s Debut LP ‘Ready To Die’ Turns 30 Years Old! -

On September 13, 1994, Notorious B.I.G., alongside producers Easy Mo Bee, DJ Premier, Poke of the Trackmasters, and none other than “Puffy” (as Diddy was called then) as the executive producer, released the Hip Hop masterpiece known as Ready To Die. As Big’s debut album, this highly anticipated release shows the lyrical prowess of the Bed-Stuy big man, and besides Method Man’s assistance on the…

[etsyee]

Bill Nunn Bed-stuy Do Or Die T-Shirt

Style made simple with Bill Nunn Bed-stuy Do Or Die T-Shirt, bill Nunn, a beloved actor known for his iconic role as Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," was not only a talented performer but also a proud resident of the historic Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, also known as "Bed-Stuy." As a tribute to his community and his impactful role in the film, Nunn's legacy continues to live on through the popular Bill Nunn Bed-stuy Do or Die T-Shirt. Bedford-Stuyvesant, a predominantly African-American neighborhood, has a rich cultural history that has been celebrated and explored in various forms of art and media.

Buy now: Bill Nunn Bed-stuy Do Or Die T-Shirt

More Post:

Bill Nunn Bed-stuy Do Or Die T-Shirt

Ronald Acua Jr. Superstar Pose T-Shirt

Visit Store: https://etsyee.com/

[tamarabeck]

A tale of 2 Peters

Peter Cooper Village is the northern expanse. At 23rd Street and 1st Avenue is the Peter Cooper part of what is now marketed as Peter Cooper-Stuy Town. The area below 20th Street is the (Peter) Stuyvesant section. 11,000+ apartments on some 80 acres include plenty of green spaces in this sprawling town within our town. The ‘Village’ and the ‘Town’ have a long history that seems to have…

[williamkergroach55]

John Wilcock: An Unsung Hero of the Underground Press and His Enduring Legacy

Hey there, Tumblr community!

Today, I want to pay tribute to a remarkable individual who had a profound impact on my journey as a writer and adventurer. John Wilcock, a British journalist who left an indelible mark on the underground press, was a true trailblazer in his own right.

Born on August 4, 1927, John Wilcock's influence extended far beyond his home country of the United Kingdom. He made his mark as the first news editor of the New York Village Voice, where he shook up the staid publishing scene in the USA. With his mild-mannered demeanor, Wilcock pushed the boundaries of image and speech, leaving an unforgettable impression on readers across several continents, including Australia and the UK.

While Wilcock may not have received the recognition he deserved, from my perpective, he remains an unsung hero of the sixties - a time of great cultural and social upheaval. His contributions to the world of journalism were immense, and his legacy continues to inspire writers and readers alike.

My personal connection with John Wilcock began when I found myself introduced to Dan, who had worked with him at the Manhattan-based underground newspaper, The East Village Other. Alongside visionaries like Walter Bowart and Allan Katzman, Wilcock's collaborations led to a vibrant and revolutionary era in journalism.

Dan played a pivotal role in my own writing journey, giving me the opportunity to have my underground stories published in fanzines and underground magazines throughout the United States. It was through these channels that my adventures as an explorer and writer came to life, thanks to the encouragement and support of the underground press community.

As I reflect on the influence of John Wilcock and the support of my fellow writers and readers, I am filled with immense gratitude. It was from the inspiration of this unsung hero that the idea for my book, "Stuy," was born - a heartfelt homage to so many new yorkers alma mater, Stuyvesant High School. The story may be found here : https://www.amazon.com/Stuy-William-Kergroach-ebook/dp/B07FLZHBYZ?ref_=ast_author_dp

So, as we commemorate the memory of John Wilcock, let's also celebrate the enduring legacy of underground journalism and the power of storytelling to connect hearts and minds. May we continue to push boundaries and honor those who paved the way for us.

To John Wilcock, an unsung hero and a guiding light in the world of journalism, I extend my heartfelt thanks. Your influence on me and countless others will forever be etched in the annals of literary history.

With warmest regards,

William Kergroach

#JohnWilcock #UnsungHero #UndergroundPress #LegacyofInfluence #LiteraryInspiration #WritingJourney

[biglisbonnews]

Meet the Women Behind the Heritage Food Revival THIS ARTICLE IS ADAPTED FROM THE MARCH 18, 2023, EDITION OF GASTRO OBSCURA’S FAVORITE THINGS NEWSLETTER. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE. This Women’s History Month, Gastro Obscura is celebrating some of the women chefs, restaurateurs, and entrepreneurs drawing on generations of culinary knowledge and tradition in innovative ways. From the duo who launched their pop-up during the height of the pandemic to a grad student who started a plantain empire while finishing her doctorate, the following visionaries use food as a powerful vehicle for storytelling. While all of these businesses were born and based in the United States, their roots encompass influences from East Africa to Eastern Europe and beyond.Each of these interviews has been edited for length and clarity. Jessica and Trina Quinn, co-founders of Dacha 46 Restaurant industry veterans Jessica and Trina Quinn first started selling pelmeni and other Eastern European–inspired dishes out of their Bed-Stuy apartment during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dacha 46, named after the Russian word for a welcoming second home and 1946, the year Jessica’s mother was born, has grown through a series of highly successful pop-ups. Menus from Dacha 46 draw on both Jessica and Trina’s Eastern European and Irish heritage, with a few creative twists rooted in their years in professional kitchens. The pair are currently on the hunt for a brick-and-mortar home for the operation.How did Dacha 46 come to be?Jessica: COVID changed the landscape of restaurants overnight. Both Trina and myself had been working in this industry for many years and we were both at a crossroads with what to do. So we found ourselves at home, cooking comfort food, which for us, leans more towards my background, which is Eastern-European Jewish. We were just drinking wine, hanging out with our cats, and making dumplings all day long. Could you walk me through the origins of some of your signature dishes?Jessica: My dad is from Ukraine and my mom is from Riga, Latvia. They both immigrated here in the early ’80s. Some of my siblings were born there; I was born here. I grew up heavily entrenched within the culture. Both my parents are Jewish. The practice of tradition and obviously food within both the Eastern European and Jewish background is the focal point of everything in my family. I think that what we do [at Dacha 46] is a strong interpretation of these traditional dishes. There's definitely a couple of dishes where I didn’t want to mess with them because they're perfect as they are. With our pumpkin spice honey cake, I was cracking up when we put that on the menu because I was like, my family would be dying right now. This is bastardization in its finest form. But at the same time, it's fun and it's playful and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Neither do we. What do you hope people take away from Dacha 46’s food?Jessica: A lot of these dishes started with me recounting a memory. I grew up eating medovik. I grew up eating pelmeni quite often, like most Eastern Europeans do. The two of us are a same-sex married couple and we're not exactly the most traditional sort of family unit. So we take these concepts and try to figure out how to evolve them. They’re a reflection of who we are as a business, as a couple, and as a family because that's very heavily steeped in what we do. Trina: What makes Dacha 46 so special is these dishes are made by our hands. They're made from our perspective, through our lens and our experience. Jess was very distant with her culture for a long time because she didn't feel like she had a place in it. When we first started dating, I didn't even know she was Eastern European for almost a full year. The biggest experience for Dacha is that we are creating a space for people that also feel excluded from spaces within their own cultures. By creating this business, it's also paving a way for people to feel included and a part of that conversation, to celebrate themselves and the food and the culture they have every right to be part of. Rachel Laryea, founder of Kelewele After leaving a career in finance to pursue a dual Ph.D. in African-American Studies and Socio-cultural Anthropology at Yale University, Rachel Laryea found herself wanting to create a business of her own. Inspired by the culinary traditions of Ghana, she launched Kelewele, a New York–based pop-up selling ice cream, chocolate cookies, and other vegan desserts that all revolve around plantains. Since closing her brick-and-mortar Brooklyn location, Laryea has been preparing for the publication of her first book, Black Capitalists, and working to transform Kelewele into a national brand available in supermarkets. Until Kelewele cookies start popping up at your local store, they can be ordered wholesale online. Why plantains?I have a plantain love story of my own. My family is from Ghana in West Africa, and plantains are a staple. Kelewele, long before was the name of my business, was and is the name of a popular plantain street food in Ghana. It's basically diced plantains, marinated with spices and ginger, fried and often served with groundnuts. My mom would make me kelewele from time to time as a treat. As I got older, plantains had different levels of significance for me. As an undergrad at NYU, I was always looking for affordable meal options. And so plantains became, yet again, something that I relied on because you can get them for around four for a dollar. In Harlem, I would often go to the Schomburg Center for lectures, and I could get them on the corner from the market sellers. Wherever there were communities of color, I could find plantains. When did that love story morph into a business? I had this lightbulb moment of thinking about plantains as a medium for culture. I can be West African. The next person can be from Latin America or the Caribbean, and we all have a shared familiarity with plantains, and we prepare it differently in our own kind of cultural customs. I realized when I would talk to people about plantains, very quickly, the conversation would get to memories about a mom or a grandmother making somebody plantains or a particular plantain dish. It would evoke these feelings of belonging and memory and community. What is your relationship like to Ghana these days?Both of my parents were born and raised there. Soon after I was born, I actually lived in Ghana [for some time]. Ever since, I've been back and forth and definitely call Ghana home.Over the last few years, I've been really intentional about doing things within the community in Ghana to also grow the business and share the message there. I've just been trying to build out this transatlantic connection. All of our operations are here, but I have plans to definitely do more on the continent as well. How does your experience as a small business owner influence your forthcoming book, Black Capitalists?Oftentimes, just given the history of American capitalism, there's this prevailing thought that only certain people can benefit from capitalism because we've seen that show out in the racial wealth gap that exists today. But the argument that I'm making is to consider that if we take just the tools of capitalism, we can apply that within marginalized communities to rethink the role that we can have within it. Ashleigh Shanti, chef/founder of Good Hot Fish After leaving her post as chef de cuisine at Benne on Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2020, this James Beard semi-finalist set out on her own. Since then, Ashleigh Shanti has been hosting highly successful pop-ups, which draw on her childhood in coastal Virginia, her family heritage in Appalachia, her travels in East and West Africa, and beyond. Currently, Shanti is working on her first cookbook and preparing for the opening of her restaurant Good Hot Fish in Asheville later this year. Where did your interest in food stem from and how did that lead you to fine dining?Like a lot of girls who grew up in the South, I found myself at the knees of my mom and my aunts and my grandmother when she was around. The kitchen was a very integral part of my upbringing. It was the gathering place. My mom can cook the best pot of greens I've ever tasted. My parents are very much intellectuals and big on education. It was a big surprise to my family when I decided to go into the food space. I think mostly because a lot of us often equate service and hospitality with servitude. Throughout my career, I can certainly see where their concerns were valid. I think a lot of Black women will say that we do have to work a little harder to gain any sort of recognition. My professional experience early on did not necessarily reflect the warmth of my grandmother's kitchen, but by learning these amazing techniques, going to culinary school, and being on the line, I was able to put the food of my upbringing on a platform. I still pride myself on the food that I put out [at Benne on Eagle]. It was just this confirmation that while this food can be seen as so humble and not necessarily deserving of a platform, that isn't necessarily true. There is a place for all cuisines, I think, in the culinary world. What culinary traditions have influenced your work?My maternal side is from southwestern Virginia, and the food that they cook is very much Southern Appalachian. Being in [Asheville] brought up those nostalgic feelings of my great-grandmother's food, of her making hominy and her stringing britches and doing all of those things that are so specific to Appalachia. This is an entire food region that is so unique from any other region in the South. We have a bounty of wild foods that grow here. The agriculture is rich and diverse. It's a place where the food kind of speaks for itself. It's just so easy to elevate something as simple as a sweet potato that grows in this amazing mineral soil and has all of these flavors of chestnuts and molasses. I'm originally from Virginia Beach, so there are a lot of coastal Southern influences in my cooking. Four generations back, I have family in Sierra Leone, in West Africa, and ensuring that everything that I do in my cooking honors that and speaks to that is also really important. I spent a gap year in Nairobi, Kenya. I was incredibly inspired by the cuisine there and discovered things like sukuma wiki, which reminded me so much of my mother's stewed greens. Finding those parallels are so cool to me. What inspired your upcoming restaurant?Good Hot Fish is not only a nod to my coastal Virginia upbringing, but also to the fish camps of this region. There's still fish camps around [Appalachia], but they're kind of a dying breed, sadly. There was a time when [people] in this region would gather more or less weekly. You’d put fish in a refrigerated truck or in coolers and have a friend or a family member set up a camp where the fish was gutted and fried. Fried fish brings me joy. It makes people happy. This would also happen with lake trout just fresh out of the river here in the mountains, where the first business that women in my family had was just selling bags of fried fish in paper brown bags. My dad often tells the story of my aunts, my great aunts, and my grandmother just going through their communities and yelling, “Good, hot fish! Come get your good, hot fish!” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/women-heritage-food-revival-dacha-46-kelewele

[professorevamarieking]

@DaRockawayTwinz - DJ Twin Boogie & DJ Big Cubby audio podcast by Professor Eva Marie King 10/21/22 https://open.spotify.com/episode/3O4PSHE1AWE5qQY1IpGx1y?si=SQjYQ5uMS8i9vBVvldCh6g&utm_source=copy-link On this episode I discuss Da Rockaway Twinz who are DJ Twin Boogie & DJ Big Cubby from SouthSide Jamaica, Queens, NYC by-way-of Marcy Houses (Marcy Projects) in Bed-Stuy (Bedford-Stuyvesant), Brooklyn, NYC. Da Rockaway Twinz gained notoriety by DJing at houses parties in SouthSide Jamaica in the 1980s as teenagers.  In the 1990s they became House DJs at Club Encore in Downtown Jamaica, Queens where they worked with many influential Hip Hop artists such as: Queen Pen, 50 Cent, DMX, Big Pun, Ja-Rule, The Lost Boyz, DJ Jam Master Jay and the Ruff Ryder Family.  Known for their versatility, Da Rockaway Twinz have DJed at parties and events for all ages and ethnicities.  Search my Queens Hip Hop History audio podcast for more interesting information on the early days of Park Jam, Disco DJing and Hip Hop DJing. Access the Da Rockaway Twinz social media: Da Rockaway Twinz of the SouthSide AllStars https://www.facebook.com/CaldwellBrothers on Facebook, @DaRockawayTwinz on Twitter http://www.Twitter.com/DaRockawayTwinz and @DaRockaway on Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/DaRockaway.  Connect with me Professor Eva Marie King on Instagram: @ProfessorEvaMarieKing http://www.Instagram.com/ProfessorEvaMarieKing. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj_1xdRrlHd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cartermagazine]

Weeksville, Brooklyn.

Brooklyn is home to many monumental neighborhoods, but few come close to the history and culturally rich Weeksville. Originating in the mid-1800s sat a small African American village named Weeksville, formed during the post-abolition era. At that time, Weeksville and the surrounding Brooklyn area had one of the country’s densest rates of enslaved people. Brooklyn continued to develop, resulting in Weeksville’s absorption of the Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights neighborhoods. Despite the merger, echoes of Weeksville’s past still exist.

Weeksville earned its name from a freed African American dock worker named James Weeks, who purchased a plot of land in the community following abolition in the state.

As word spread that African Americans like Weeks were making a living in New York, more would head to the area for the same opportunity as long-standing families continued to sell off their land in the Brooklyn area. In the 1850s, the population boomed to over 500 residents, nearly half of the residents were originally born in the South. All with different stories and backgrounds, the occupations of these settlers included educators, health care professionals, and entrepreneurs. As time went on, the Weeks village would go on to operate a “colored” school, cemetery, senior home, and multiple churches. Not to mention, the village was amongst the highest rates for ownership of property and business among an African American settlement.

Weeksville quickly became a safe haven for African Americans throughout New York.

The community has changed over the years, but the history of Weeksville remains one of the most influential neighborhoods in New York State, particularly for African Americans.

CARTER™️ Magazine

[mainskr]

Matco jump starters

She’s not a volcanic belter like Whitney or Mariah or Aretha, but her falsetto can float off into the stratosphere, into deep space, and her lower register, those low notes can drill down into the core of the earth without disturbing the ground beneath her feet. If you eliminate all context, if you know absolutely nothing about her, and her collaborators, and her situation-if she’s just a random girl on the cover with a random blurry guy in the background on the cover-then this is a wonderful, mid-’90s R&B debut that establishes Aaliyah as a teenaged superstar with a smoky and sinuous voice and a truly staggering charisma-to-force ratio. I don’t know if there’s a single album in pop-music history more fundamentally cursed than Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number. I haven’t the slightest idea what to do with this record. What do we do with this record? I’m asking. It’s called Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number. Kelly’s chapter in Aaliyah’s life would be denying Aaliyah another title she so greatly deserved: ‘survivor.’”Īaliyah’s first album, largely written and produced by R. Kelly with any credit for her career, despite him being one of the main reasons we learned about Aaliyah in the first place.” But the conclusion Kathy ultimately comes to is “disregarding R. Kathy writes, “I also didn’t want to dignify R. She didn’t want to disrespect Aaliyah’s legacy. Kathy’s book starts with a brief chapter in which she says that when she started writing her book she intended to more or less write R. That is according to a new biography called Baby Girl: Better Known As Aaliyah, written by Kathy Iandoli. As Aaliyah would explain to Vibe a few years later, “I sang for him, and he liked my sound.” Kelly’s working on his first album, Barry brings his fame-hungry, superstar-in-the-making 12-year-old niece, Aaliyah, to the studio to meet R. Kelly’s on his way to becoming a superstar. So Barry’s in Chicago producing a play, and he stumbles across a young, fame-hungry, high-school-dropout busker named Robert Sylvester Kelly. He’s an artist manager, he produces theater, he married-and divorced, quite acrimoniously-Motown icon Gladys Knight. So yeah, after Star Search, Aaliyah’s uncle, her maternal uncle Barry Hankerson, at this point is a somewhat enigmatic show-business big shot. Every major celebrity’s got their own “Michael Jordan got cut from his high school varsity team” moment. Also note that Aaliyah still remembers getting three and three-quarters stars on Star Search. It’s worth noting that Craig Kilborn, historically, is not often the voice of reason, or restraint. I just wanted you to hear her voice, unadorned. She acts embarrassed, she says, Yeah, I was on Star Search when I was 10, I sang “My Funny Valentine.” And Craig plays a little clip of Chet Baker’s version of “My Funny Valentine,” and then he asks Aaliyah a really excellent question.Īny question that gets her to sing is an excellent question. She tells Craig that her name means “The highest, most exalted one-the best.” Craig brings up Star Search. She’s on Craig Kilborn’s show in 2000 to promote Romeo Must Die. Here is Aaliyah, recounting her Star Search experience, to Late Night Host You Forgot About Craig Kilborn. Did Pitbull lose to Nas on Star Search? Or when you won did Ed McMahon lead you backstage and push you into an abyss? Billy Porter won, I guess. Alanis Morissette, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Usher, Pitbull. Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child, Girls Tyme quite infamously lost on Star Search. Has anyone of consequence ever won Star Search? Aaliyah lost on Star Search. At 10 years old she went on Star Search and lost. At 6 years old she had one line in a school production of Annie-the line was “You’re gonna get the paddle.” She starred in 42nd Street, she starred in Hello, Dolly!, she sang at weddings and parties, she sang a lot of Whitney Houston songs, et cetera. Her family moved to Detroit when she was 5. Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in Brooklyn, in Bed-Stuy, in 1979.

[todayinhiphophistory]

Today in Hip Hop History:

The Notorious B.I.G. released his debut album Ready To Die September 13, 1994