My neighborhood, Crown Heights, Brooklyn was once the scene of four days of riots between Black and Jewish residents in 1991 that resulted in two deaths, hundreds of injuries, and became an international symbol of divided communities along racial and religious lines. The violence that roiled my community became one of the most documented events in New York’s history. But to me, Crown Heights is a vibrant and joyous neighborhood where I would ride my skateboard every day down the main boulevard – coincidentally the dividing line between the Black and Jewish households, and meet my neighbors and friends at the local Starbucks.
The importance of building a peaceful community was instilled in me from a young age. For many years, my family has been part of a coalition that organizes forums, service days and festivals to bring together the Black and Jewish communities, which have had notoriously poor relations since the riots. While much of our work was informal, it aims to ensure my community never goes back to those dark days.
As a kid, my father took me to a Shabbat meal at a neighbor’s home. He also brought me to annual neighborhood peace ceremonies where interfaith and multicultural families gather to commemorate the 1991 riots and have a continuing dialogue on ways to prevent a repeat of them. Because of their work, tensions in Crown Heights that once made front page headlines have been replaced by celebrations designed to advance social and community relationships for everyone in the neighborhood. Several of the events took place at the nearby Jewish Children’s Museum, which has a 24-hour cafe that became one of my favorite places to hang out as a pre-teen. I also occasionally played pickup basketball with Jewish kids from the neighborhood and attended four bar mitzvahs of friends and classmates.
In hindsight, what I considered to just be hanging out was much more significant. Through my work with the coalition, I was invited to apply for and won a competitive fellowship with YouthBridge, an organization founded by the Jewish Community Relations Council that trains high school students from diverse backgrounds to become future leaders tackling innovative solutions to the most challenging social issues in our city. At the same time, my family joined Jack and Jill of America, a national organization of Black families dedicated to community service projects year-round. We held our meetings at Medgar Evers College in the neighborhood, which was named after the slain civil rights leader. As an officer in the Brooklyn chapter, I twice led events to feed hundreds of hungry families, where New York Governor Kathy Hochul helped distribute food in 2021 and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined us in 2023.
It’s hard to imagine that Crown Heights was known for such intense racial strife not that long ago. My community seems far removed from the days when the National Guard patrolled the streets to keep order and peace. Back then, a series of tragic accidents resulted in the death of a seven-year-old black boy named Gavin Cato, and a 29-year-old student named Yankel Rosenbaum. Four days of riots led to the injury of more than 150 cops and at least 38 civilians.
Today, the national climate of intolerance where antisemitism and racial conflicts are rising does not have a foothold in my neighborhood because we are committed to fostering diversity and appreciating our shared values. Among the local leaders I have met are Rabbi Eli Cohen, the executive director of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council; Richard Green, co-founder of the Crown Heights Youth Collective; and Devorah Halberstam, whose 16-year-old son Ari was murdered on the Brooklyn Bridge by a terrorist while riding in a school bus.
I look forward to exploring other diverse, troubled communities where past tragedies exist alongside great hope for the future.
Comments