Prithi Kanakamedala discusses "Brooklynites"
Join us for a presentation and Q&A with Prithi Kanakamedala on Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough.
Free refreshments including patties and coco bread will be available.
Before it was a borough, Brooklyn was our nation’s third largest city. Its free Black community attracted people from all walks of life—businesswomen, church leaders, laborers, and writers—who sought to grow their city in a radical anti-slavery vision. The residents of neighborhoods like DUMBO, Fort Greene, and Williamsburg organized and agitated for social justice. They did so even as their own freedom was threatened by systemic and structural racism, risking their safety for the sake of their city. Brooklynites recovers the lives of these remarkable citizens and considers their lasting impact on New York City’s most populous borough.
This cultural and social history is told through four ordinary families from Brooklyn’s nineteenth-century free Black community: the Crogers, the Hodges, the Wilsons, and the Gloucesters. The book illustrates the depth and scope of their activism, cementing Brooklyn’s place in the history of social justice movements. Their lives offer valuable lessons on freedom, democracy, and family—both the ones we’re born with and the ones we choose. Their powerful stories continue to resonate today, as borough residents fill the streets in search of a more just city.
This is a story of land, home, labor, of New Yorkers past, and the legacy they left us. This is the story of Brooklyn.
PARTICIPANT
Prithi Kanakamedala is a Professor of History at Bronx Community College CUNY. She is also a faculty member in the M.A. in Liberal Studies Program, and the inaugural faculty coordinator of the Public Scholarship Practice Space housed at the Center for the Humanities at CUNY Graduate Center. Prithi is the author of Brooklynites: the Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough (NYU Press, 2024). She was also the historian and curator for Brooklyn Abolitionists/ In Pursuit of Freedom, a partnership of Brooklyn Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center, and Irondale Ensemble Project. As a public historian, she continues to work with a range of cultural organizations.
Join us for a presentation and Q&A with Prithi Kanakamedala on Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough.
Free refreshments including patties and coco bread will be available.
Before it was a borough, Brooklyn was our nation’s third largest city. Its free Black community attracted people from all walks of life—businesswomen, church leaders, laborers, and writers—who sought to grow their city in a radical anti-slavery vision. The residents of neighborhoods like DUMBO, Fort Greene, and Williamsburg organized and agitated for social justice. They did so even as their own freedom was threatened by systemic and structural racism, risking their safety for the sake of their city. Brooklynites recovers the lives of these remarkable citizens and considers their lasting impact on New York City’s most populous borough.
This cultural and social history is told through four ordinary families from Brooklyn’s nineteenth-century free Black community: the Crogers, the Hodges, the Wilsons, and the Gloucesters. The book illustrates the depth and scope of their activism, cementing Brooklyn’s place in the history of social justice movements. Their lives offer valuable lessons on freedom, democracy, and family—both the ones we’re born with and the ones we choose. Their powerful stories continue to resonate today, as borough residents fill the streets in search of a more just city.
This is a story of land, home, labor, of New Yorkers past, and the legacy they left us. This is the story of Brooklyn.
PARTICIPANT
Prithi Kanakamedala is a Professor of History at Bronx Community College CUNY. She is also a faculty member in the M.A. in Liberal Studies Program, and the inaugural faculty coordinator of the Public Scholarship Practice Space housed at the Center for the Humanities at CUNY Graduate Center. Prithi is the author of Brooklynites: the Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough (NYU Press, 2024). She was also the historian and curator for Brooklyn Abolitionists/ In Pursuit of Freedom, a partnership of Brooklyn Historical Society, Weeksville Heritage Center, and Irondale Ensemble Project. As a public historian, she continues to work with a range of cultural organizations.