Photo credit: Growhouse NYC
The Bedford-Church African Burial Ground Coalition is looking for individuals willing to volunteer 3 – 4 hours a week in the following sectors:
– Finance + Development
– History + Scholarship (Anthropology/archaeology, local historians, living experts)
– Legal
– Architecture/Design/Urban Planning
– Civic + Community Engagement (spiritual practitioners, activists, artists, politically engaged folx)
– Storytellers (graphics, photographers, web, social, journalists)
– Overall Coordination
The group came together after “the City announced a high-rise housing development at the long-neglected lot at the corner of Bedford and Church Avenues in Flatbush, in October 2020, without consulting the community.”
The coalition’s goal is to preserve the Flatbush African Burial Ground and protect it from development by the City.
“Brooklyn was the third-largest city in the nation by 1860, and up until the end of that century, Brooklyn was the second-largest provider of produce in the country second to Queens,” shared the group via email. “Our African burial ground reflects a crucial piece of that local and national history.”
“Instead of affordable housing, what if we treated the African Burial Ground with the respect it’s due as the last remaining piece of history of its kind in Flatbush?”
“What if Flatbush became the global destination it once was, but this time not on the backs and bones of Black and Indigenous people but co-created by and for us?”
To apply fill out this form.
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