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Nelson George

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Change in Brooklyn

Written by Sady on May 13th, 2009

Nelson George and Rosie Perez were on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC last week talking about Change in Brooklyn neighborhoods – it’s a great segment, good callers, and it’s not just about gentrification, have a listen:

AND THEN join us TONIGHT at BHS @ 6:30 – 9:00 pm when Nelson George, esteemed cultural critic, author of Hip Hop America, screenwriter and lifelong Brooklyn resident will launch his memoir City Kid: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success.Nelson George will read from his memoir and discuss growing up in Brownsville and living in Fort Greene.  He’ll be joined by his sister Andrea Williams, BET’s Samson Styles, and Mike Thompson of Brooklyn Moon Cafe.

Nelson George: City Kid from Nelson George on Vimeo.

Posted in Brooklyn Past & Present, Public Programs | No Responses »
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Memoirs

Written by Sady on April 22nd, 2009

I just finished reading Nelson George’s new memoir City Kid: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success.  George’s personal reflections on Brownsville, East New York, and Fort Greene; his open discussions of race and class; plus his impassioned knowledge of the complex relationships between the media, music & film industries, and popular culture, make for an inspiring read.  I’m looking forward to the City Kid launch party and reading here at BHS on May 13th.

Students in the BHS oral history seminar I’m teaching are choosing books of oral histories (or memoirs) to read and discuss with the class.  I’m excited to hear what they find.  Here’s what’s on my memoir/oral histories/historical biographies To-Read list, if you’re looking for ideas:

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5 1/2 Things About Ft. Greene

Written by Sady on April 9th, 2009

A tour of 5 1/2 black culture spots in Fort Greene by Nelson George:


5 1/2 Things About Ft. Greene By Nelson George from Nelson George on Vimeo.

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Nelson George’s Fort Greene

Written by Sady on April 8th, 2009

Great essay on in the New York Times on Fort Greene by Nelson George.  He’ll be here at BHS on May 13th to launch his book City Kid: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success.

I had always viewed the area as a crucial black artistic enclave. It had nurtured some of the most important African-American talents of the past two decades, from Wynton Marsalis and Chris Rock to Erykah Badu.  And the neighborhood became the centerpiece of this black alternative vision precisely because it was a place where many whites were afraid to go. While Harlem carried the weight and burden of its celebrated past, Fort Greene was where young black artists were freer to concoct a new synthesis of the old and the new, in film, music and literature.

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