Brooklyn Deep Third Rail

In advance of the New York primary election on June 23rd, BMC hosted a virtual Town Hall with the candidates for Central Brooklyn's 25th State Senate district: Tremaine Wright, Jason Salmon, and Jabari Brisport. For more information, visit http://www.brooklynmovementcenter.org/elections2020.

In advance of the New York primary election on June 23rd, BMC hosted a virtual Town Hall with the candidates for Central Brooklyn's 56th State Assembly district: Stefani Zinerman and Justin Cohen. For more information, visit http://www.brooklynmovementcenter.org/elections2020.

In advance of the New York primary election on June 23rd, BMC Deputy Director Anthonine Pierre interviews the candidates for Central Brooklyn's 57th State Assembly district: Walter Mosley and Phara Souffrant Forrest. For more information, visit http://www.brooklynmovementcenter.org/elections2020.

This is the second episode of a special series focused on New York's June 23rd primary elections. How is the Black electorate shifting in Central Brooklyn, generationally and politically? Anthonine Pierre talks to local political analysts Theo Moore and Sandy Nurse. For more information, visit http://www.brooklynmovementcenter.org/elections2020.

This is the first episode of a special series focused on New York's June 23rd primary elections. Why is it important, particularly now, to hold elected officials accountable in Central Brooklyn? Mark Winston Griffith talks to three activist leaders: Esmeralda Simmons (Center for Law and Social Justice), Jawanza Williams (VOCAL-NY), and L. Joy Williams (Brooklyn NAACP). For more information, visit http://www.brooklynmovementcenter.org/elections2020.

Guest Host: Anthonine Pierre Studio Guests: Max Freedman and Mark Winston Griffith Show Description On this special edition of Third Rail, Anthonine Pierre steps into the host chair and interviews Mark Winston Griffith and Max Freedman, the co-hosts and co-producers of the documentary podcast, School Colors. Representing Brooklyn Deep’s most ambitious project today, School Colors is a stirring and epic look at race, class, and power in American cities and schools through the lens of Central Brooklyn. In the first segment, Anthonine goes behind the scenes with Mark and Max to give us a deep appreciation for the four-year process that resulted in the complex and personal stories of School Colors. And then, of course, we finish the episode with “Tell ‘em why you’re mad.”

In this episode of Third Rail we focus on those in Central Brooklyn who are on the front line of gentrification: tenants and renters.  This past June, Governor Cuomo signed into law a sweeping new collection of rent regulations which re-set the bar for tenant protections and curtailed the power of landlords to dictate rates on rent stabilized units.  This will no doubt have a profound impact on the ways in which landlords are able to set the pace of housing displacement.  Today, we’re joined by two members/allies of the Brooklyn Movement Center family who in their own ways have been enforcing the rights of tenants and fighting against harassment from landlords.   Rae Gomes is a pioneering member-leader of the Brooklyn Movement Center and the emerging Central Brooklyn Food Coop. She most recently co-founded a tenants association in her building and has since become a crusader for renter rights in Black Brooklyn.    Accompanying her is Addrana Montgomery, a staff attorney at TakeRoot Justice, formerly known

Cannabis or Marijuana use in a Black area like Central Brooklyn has always been a complex issue. While many people call marijuana use a “gateway” to heavier drug addiction, the reality is, getting picked up by the police for distributing or using weed has been a gateway to the criminal justice system.   In this episode we’re joined by two organizers in the struggle to not only legalize cannabis but to reframe the conversation about what a de-criminalized future could look like. We will be talking to them about where the decrim movement is today and what is the potential social and economic impact of legalization on an area like Central Brooklyn. And then of course, we’re going to close with that on-going call to anger: Tell em why you’re mad.   Engineered by Siad "Gypsy" Reid   Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire.                   Episode Music: "Fallout",  Yung Kartz

In a special post Academy Award edition of Third Rail, we indulge our twin loves, BK and movies, by paying homage  -- and occasional shade -- to Black Brooklyn through the lens of cinema. Specifically, we pose the question, what are the best Black Brooklyn movies ever made? Joining Third Rail host Mark Winston Griffith and engineer Siad “Gypsy” Reid, is Curtis Ceasar John, Director of the Luminal Theater. Segment One: We walk through Curtis’ top five list and other honorable mentions. Segment Two: We consider the dominating influence of Spike Lee on Black Brooklyn commercial cinema. Segment Three: "Tell 'Em Why You Mad" Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire.                   Episode Music: "Fallout",  Yung Kartz

  Food, one of the most potent cultural forces in American life, represents our ability to come together across tribal lines, especially during the holidays. At the same time, in Central Brooklyn and other gentrifying cities, where restaurants and groceries stores are not just markers of distinct tastes and cuisines, but of race and class privilege, food can also be an agent of redlining and division.   On this episode of Third Rail, holiday edition, we sit down with two figures, Karen Cherfils and Craig Samuel - two Central Brooklynite at the intersection of neighborhood and meal-makeing - to discuss the politics of community food.    Segment One: We celebrate the power of food and hear stories of community building through culinary magic. Segment Two: We take a critical look at the role that food plays - whether intentionally or unwittingly - as a marker of privilege.  Segment Three: "Tell 'Em Why You Mad" Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire.             

As the cultural and economic displacement of low-income people of color intensifies in New York and throughout urban America, the parallel strivings of Asian- and African-Americans force activists to deeply consider their alliances and how to navigate battle lines.  This week on Third Rail we examine the state of Black-Asian relations in gentrifying New York through a rich conversation with Cathy Dang. Ms. Dang just completed her tenure as Executive Director of CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, which is building grassroots community power across diverse poor and working class Asian immigrant and refugee communities in New York City. The child of ethnic Chinese Vietnamese immigrants, Dang spent her childhood in her parents' nail salon in pre-gentrified Downtown Brooklyn.   First Segment: Dang shares her personal stories growing up as a social justice-minded witness to the complicated relationship between asian store front entrepreneurs and their mostly Black and Brown customer base.  Second Segment: we exami

As historically “Black” districts in Central Brooklyn evolve, encompass various neighborhoods, and/or gentrify, Black candidates for elected office use tactics, voter targeting and coded messaging to appeal to different sub constituencies that cut across race, class and a variety of identity lines.    This week in Third Rail we examine electoral politics in a gentrifiying Central Brooklyn with guests, Anthonine Pierre of The Brooklyn Movement Center and Theo Moore.   Segment One: Together we review the Central Brooklyn races to watch in this political season.  Segment Two: We use the recent near-upset of new comer Adem Bunkeddeko over veteran Congress person Yvette Clarke as a jump-off point to explore how Black candidates increasingly use divisions within gentrification, white progressivism and Black identity to build their base of voters. Segment Three: "Tell 'Em Why You Mad" Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire.                   Episode Music: "Wide Eye

The shooting of Saheed Vassell by the NYPD on April 4th in Crown Heights re-ignited a chronic community safety debate: What kind of discretion should we use in calling the police when we know that it can result in a death sentence for an unsuspecting Black person?   Today, we investigate what runs through people’s mind when neighbors call cops on neighbors. Third Rail’s Mark Winston Griffith and guest co-host Shantae J. Edwards sit down with Malika Aaron-Bishop, the Membership Chair for GetOrganized BK and co-facilitator for one of its working groups, Racial Justice BK; and Tom Weinreich, who helps organize the deep canvassing team within the NYC chapter of Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) . We also include excerpts from a telephone interview Mark conducted with Soraya Palmer, a member of Equality for Flatbush. Together, these three organizers offer an alternative framework for how to assess the necessity of calling the police and, in doing so, point towards a new community safety protocol in the midst

The recent youth-led demonstrations that were prompted in response to the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida have jump-started a conversation around the role that youth play in combating American-style gun violence. The site of the Parkland massacre was Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a majority white school in Broward County, Florida. However, Black and Brown students in New York and throughout the country have long been in the forefront of a struggle to address gun brutality through both advocacy and neighborhood-based violence interruption. In Third Rail’s first all-youth roundtable discussion, homegrown Central Brooklyn youth leaders, Nana Samake of Kings Against Violence Iniative (K.A.V.I) and Eugena Pierre Paul of Youth Organising to Save Our Streets (YO S.O.S) will discuss their work and their views on what proactive safety and non-violence looks like in our homes, schools and on the streets of our communities. Segment One: Mark and TK take the temperature on the national scene and how local

Raking in over $400 million in its opening weekend, Black Panther has broken almost all box office records. But what does that mean for Black Brooklynites, the media they make and the legacy we leave?  We discuss Marvel’s Black Panther with film and television producer, Okema T. Moore and Curtis Caesar John, Director of The Luminal Theater, a micro cinema specializing the curation of Black Film.  Our engineer, Keisha “TK” Dutes, joins us as interim co-host alongside Mark Winston Griffith. Segment One: Mark and TK talk to Okema and Curtis about the themes, feelings, and critiques that Black Panther brought up within the community. Also, find out the difference between the Black movie theater experience and the White movie theater experience. Segment Two: Curtis John breaks down what makes a film a Black film; and we wonder how does this Black Panther’s success influences the future of Black film. Okema T. Moore schools us on some Black films and web series you should be in the know about. Segment Three:

It’s with both sadness and excitement that we announce the departure of long-time Third Rail co-host Veralyn Williams. This will be her last show as co-host. Sadness, because Veralyn’s been a central member of the BMC/Brooklyn Deep family for almost 5 years and excitement because we know that Veralyn is going to be tearing it up in the journalism and podcast world.  Segment One: In this special episode, Mark interviews Veralyn about life before, during, and after Third Rail. Segment Two: In our second segment we will give Veralyn a chance to look back at past Third Rail episodes and explore the themes of some of her favorite guests, topics and interactions. Segment Three: "Tell 'Em Why You Mad" Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire. Show music: "Scorch" by Nctrnm

In the second part of Brooklyn Deep’s exploration of historic Weeksville, Mark Winston Griffith sits down one-on-one with Rob Fields, the new President and Executive Director of the Weeksville Heritage Center. As a caretaker of Central Brooklyn’s past and a cultivator of its cultural present and future, Rob discusses the role of Weeksville Heritage Center in keeping Black Brooklyn resilient in the face of relentless gentrification. Followed by a "Tell 'Em Why You Mad" moment from our very own, Veralyn Williams. LINKS: http://weeksvillesociety.org/ Music heard in this episode was found via The Lost Jazz Shrines of Weeksville project and include clips from:  Horace Silver Quintet: "Cookin at The Continental" Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire.

Gentrification has many of us thinking, just how long does one of America’s largest Black Community have before it is disappeared? We discuss Weeksville, Brooklyn's first free Black Community with guests, Vivian Warfield whose family has a long Brooklyn lineage- and historian, Aimee VonBokel. Segment One: Mark and Veralyn talk to Vivian about her commitment and descendancy to Weeksville, while Aimee provides historical context and geographical orientaion.   Segment Two: The Brooklyn Deep team wonders: Did Weeksville leave us any clues on how to contend with the displacement of the very Black community it helped bring into existence? Segment Three: "Tell 'Em Why You Mad" LINKS:  Aimee VonBokel provides us with a walk thru another family's economic timeline in Weeksville via the Carter-Mayo Properties.  Music heard in this episode was found via The Lost Jazz Shrines of Weeksville project and include clips from:  Horace Silver Quintet: "Cookin at The Continental" Jim Europe's 369th Infantry "Hellfighters

On the eve of the NYC elections, the Brooklyn Deep team examines all the local gentrification drama that helped define the political landscape this summer. Joining us is Michael Higgins, the lead organizer for Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE). Also, Brooklyn Deep’s engineer and co-producer, TK, hooks on a mic and joins the action. Segment One: Michael Higgins reviews this summer in Central Brooklyn gentrification and  discusses what prompted the recent Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network’s (BAN) “March Against Police Violence, Racism and Gentrification.” Segment Two: The Brooklyn Deep team provides updates on the Summerhill controversy heating up on Nostrand Avenue in north Crown Heights. Segment Three: "Tell 'Em Why You Mad"   Links: Jay Smooth: How To Tell Someone They Sound Racist FUREE: Upcoming Events NYC Primary Election Results   Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire.  Episode Music: "Fog Lights” by VYVCH.

If there is any question about what Black culture remains in Brooklyn, all you have to do is check out the summer scene on the streets of Brownsville, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Fort Greene and even Dumbo where festivals and block parties celebrate Brooklyn negritude. Mark, Veralyn and our guests, Zawadi Morris, Editor of BK Reader, and Tai Allen, poet and event curator dedicate this episode to look at Brooklyn Summers. Join us as we take a critical guided tour through the histories and happenings of the events that help define Black cultural life in the BK.  Segment One: We take a walk through neighborhoods of Brooklyn to document the summer line up of events. Who is doing what and when. Segment Two: We provide commentary on these events and how summers in Black Brooklyn have changed over the years, whether for better or for worse. Segment Three: "Tell 'Em Why You Mad" Intro and Outro theme Music: “City Survival” by MC K-Swift featuring TreZure Empire. Episode Music: "Earth, Wind, Fire”, “Purpose”,