"Weeksville reminds us that Black New Yorkers built this city - not just its neighborhoods, but its spirit. This piece honors the generations who fought to preserve that history. And it challenges us to do our part today: to build a future where the people who made this city what it is can afford to call it home."
"Founded in 1838, a full 11 years after the abolition of slavery in New York State, Weeksville is a blueprint of Black self-determination. Free Black men and women purchased land, sold it to one another, and built an entire community from the ground up, complete with churches, schools, its own newspaper, and even its own baseball team."
"The Fugitive Slave Act is put into place in 1850. It allowed private citizens to become deputized to round up people that had escaped slavery and return them. So, it wasn't uncommon for people to be abducted and returned to either a place they knew or a place they didn't know. That's a terrifying reality for many Black people that are living at the time."
Weeksville, founded in 1838 in Brooklyn, New York, represents a significant achievement in Black self-determination and community building. Established by free Black men and women who purchased and developed land, Weeksville grew to over 500 residents by the 1850s. The community established churches, schools, a newspaper, and a baseball team, creating a complete social and economic infrastructure. Weeksville served as both a beacon of Black possibility and a sanctuary during the dangerous era of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which allowed private citizens to capture and return escaped enslaved people. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani's office has produced a documentary film highlighting the restoration of the Hunterfly Road Houses at the Weeksville Heritage Center, ensuring this important legacy remains preserved and recognized in New York City's history.
Read at TheGrio
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]