on a more positive note--5 local businesses I both love and fully support

As I've thought about the content of this blog--the story I want to tell about Crown Heights--I decided  early on to diligently situate each detail I portray within the narrative of gentrification, a narrative that people often don't like to talk about. The conversation is kind of depressing--when I think about what my presence means for people, I can't help but mourn with them the loss of the familiar.

I grew up in a neighborhood in Birmingham that's situated around a small man-made lake. My mom grew up on the same lake, and my grandparents lived in the house a mile down the road from me until they passed away. My parents still live there, about half a mile from the barn that my mom and I both kept horses in as teenagers--she, in the 70's and I, only a few years ago. Since I moved to New York, half of the horse pastures have been sold for housing developments and another third has been turned into a parking lot. I turn into my neighborhood when I visit and drive through two huge construction sites instead of two green pastures. The housing development will be a neighborhood of townhouses, with hundreds of new people. The barn is now run by a man who's method of horse training is a few very small steps away from animal abuse--enough to cringe at and cry over, but not enough to report to authorities.

When I go home I ache for my familiar home--the one that I grew up with that stayed the same until about three years ago. I mourn the loss of what I knew, and I don't even have to see it everyday. So when I see a new bar pop up across the street from me or a coffee shop open under my first Crown Heights apartment building, I am simultaneously excited, for my own experience, and saddened, for the experience of hundreds of my neighbors.

There are three different kinds of Crown Heights businesses--the ungentrified, the gentrified and the ones that sit somewhere in between. The ones that sit somewhere in between are most interesting and my favorite. They are on neither side because they are open to patrons from both sides. They maintain their culture--be it Black American, West African, Brooklynite or Jamaican--but they invite the newcomers to take part in their community.

For this post, I want to highlight some of the businesses and institutions that are powerful community builders here--the places that are doing something great, but are also fostering multi-cultural relationships and community, in a way that's vital to maintaining healthy community in a changing neighborhood.

1. UrbanAsanas
A yoga studio on Nostrand Avenue owned by long-time Crown Heights resident, Jyll Hubbard. Jyll is open about her views on gentrification and her mixed disdain for the changes in the neighborhood--she hashtags things like "Support Black Business" on Instagram and is not afraid to celebrate peoples'  to Crown Heights--yet she welcomes all of her students with love and openness. An us-versus-them mentality does not trickle down to an interpersonal level, despite the blatant us-versus-them situation.

2. Meme's Healthy Nibbles
A cafe with open doors, Meme's stands as a mainstay meeting space for all types of people living in the neighborhood. Not only do they offer some of the freshest ingredients and food, Meme's is owned by Mery Gueye, a woman who formerly owned a frame shop in Flatbush before expanding into the food business. Regularly I see people here spending time in conversation with one another, rather than sitting silently on their laptops. The open space has become a place of community building and comfort, rather than another cafe-style workspace.

3. Martine's Dream
Officially a clothing store, Martines Dream is also a space of cultural celebration and exchange. Debbie, a Jamaica native, started the shop with the intent of following her passion for exploring the world and bringing the beautiful things she finds--jewelry, fabric and clothing from all of the world--back to her home in Brooklyn. In addition to her beautiful designs and textiles, Debbie hosts events open to the neighborhood. But even when not selling or hosting, her warmth and kindness extends to every person who stumbles into the store.

4. Georgia's Place
Georgia's Place is a home for formerly homeless people with mental disabilities on Prospect Place. I first found out about them through a resident and friend who brought tomatoes to me from their rooftop garden. Georgia's Place runs a CSA from their rooftop produce, as well as feeding the residents themselves. They have a building library open to residents and host classes throughout the week for skills like sewing and gardening. In addition to providing a CSA option for Crown Heights residents, they have volunteer opportunities for the garden and their other operations.

5. Trinity Grace Church, Crown Heights
One parish of John Tyson's Trinity Grace Church, TGC Crown Heights was spearheaded and is still run by Crown Heights residents familiar with and dedicated to the neighborhood. The people, members and leaders alike, openly pursuing a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural church body, seeing it as necessary for having a church successful in serving the community. Through hosting weekly groups in members' homes and film series to purposefully raise questions about race and class tension, they have fostered a church-wide dialogue about what it means to be a Christian in a community rife with disparity and discrimination.