Students met with Caribbean residents in Brooklyn over spring break to record their life stories as part of an engaged learning course in oral history and urban ethnography.
The four-day field trip was designed for students 鈥渢o observe and conduct ethnographic research and talk to as many people as possible 鈥 so the Caribbean immigrants that remain there can see themselves reflected in representations of their community,鈥 said associate professor of Africana studies in the 麻豆视频 and 麻豆视频.
Students were able to 鈥渟ee how Brooklyn is changing through gentrification 鈥 and how gentrification is affecting the Caribbean community there,鈥 she said, particularly in Flatbush and Crown Heights. 鈥淪ome once-vital immigrant businesses have shuttered because they can鈥檛 afford the increasing rent. Brooklyn is now one of the most expensive places in the U.S. to live.鈥
There also is an accompanying cultural displacement, she said: 鈥淢aybe you can afford to stay in the neighborhood, but you can no longer afford to go to restaurants or take part in cultural events. Our community partner is trying to address that.鈥
Working with the nonprofit arts and culture center CaribBEING House, the class took a walking tour of Caribbean Brooklyn with its director, Shelley Worrell.
鈥淪he pointed out storefronts that were once vital bakeries or restaurants, that were closed or had signs on their doors saying they would be closing 鈥 [and] the juxtaposition of a Caribbean eatery right next to a hip caf茅,鈥 LaBennett said. 鈥淪tudents are witnessing gentrification as it is taking place, in real time.鈥
In class, the 12 students had mapped sites in Caribbean Brooklyn, hosted Worrell and other guest speakers, learned oral history methodologies and read ethnographic studies of Brooklyn including LaBennett鈥檚 book, 鈥溾 (2011).
鈥淐rown Heights was just starting to experience gentrification鈥 during her research there in the early 2000s, she said. 鈥淸The students] saw the after, and what Flatbush and Crowns Heights are like now. They鈥檙e forming a more complex picture of the community.鈥
Worrell said the students 鈥渨ere very engaged, very knowledgeable. They had done pretty in-depth research on different cultural assets and even social movements that have been happening in Flatbush and surrounding neighborhoods.鈥
Teaching assistant Elena Guzman, a doctoral student in anthropology who lived in Flatbush from 2006 to 2008, noticed some differences there now, such as the presence of 鈥渁 lot of real estate agencies. For [the residents], this signals the shift.鈥
The class conducted 12 hourlong oral history interviews at CaribBEING House, and students ventured on their own to meet and talk with shop owners and others.
鈥淲e endeavored to pair students with someone who shared similar interests,鈥 LaBennett said. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 a point of connection between the student and the interviewee, then there鈥檚 a basis for how their story will resonate. It was a complicated process, but each student came away from the interview just glowing from the experience.鈥
The interview subjects included community organizers and members of the arts and cultural community, a schoolteacher with Haitian immigrant parents, a Garifuna woman from Honduras, a Jamaican Cornell alumna and a Guyanese LGBTQ advocate.
鈥淎 core value of the class was how important oral history is in illuminating stories that are often not heard,鈥 Guzman said. 鈥淚t offers people a space to testify about their own place in history, like the record shop owner who鈥檚 been working with his wife for 20 years.鈥
Worrell, a half Indo-Caribbean Flatbush native born to immigrant parents, founded in 1999. In early 2015, CaribBEING House opened next to the Flatbush Caton Market, an area now facing redevelopment. She said in some ways Flatbush 鈥渋s no longer reflective of what has been the culture of the community for decades. We want to preserve and protect the cultural integrity of the neighborhood, which is largely Caribbean 鈥 one of the largest immigrant groups in the city鈥 and perhaps 20 percent of the population, she said.
Identifying the Flatbush area as the Little Caribbean promotes it as 鈥渁 cultural asset or a cultural destination,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e spent decades building a place in greater New York City 鈥 politically, culturally, economically.鈥
Seeing oneself as Caribbean embraces multiple national identities, Guzman said, even among those with 鈥渁 strong national pride鈥 in being Trinidadian, Jamaican, Haitian or of other origins: 鈥淭here is an ever-expanding definition of the region and also in being Caribbean as well.鈥
The oral history project and field trip were supported by an to LaBennett.
鈥淭hese stories are often overlooked or not told, or if they are told, they are not told from an authentic place,鈥 Worrell said. 鈥淚 feel that working with Oneka鈥檚 class really gave this community an opportunity to present their stories in a way I haven鈥檛 seen done before.鈥
LaBennett said the students 鈥済ained valuable skills from the experience, and the partnership with CaribBEING and with the local community represented a unique learning opportunity for them.鈥
The students will give a of their work May 9 at 10:10 a.m. at the Africana Studies and Research Center.
This story also appeared in the .
More News from A&S
Government
