Join us to hear our panelists discuss a people's history of Mama Joy and the women of the Brooklyn abolitionist movement.
The street known as Abolitionist Place, which lies amid highrise buildings and commercial towers in Downtown Brooklyn, was once a hotbed of abolitionist and women's suffrage activity. We'll connect the dots between the 1860s Abolitionist movement and the 1890s Women's Suffrage movement while telling the story of the woman who in 2003, began to mobilize a community to fight for the preservation of 227 Duffield Street. Landmarking the home that once belonged to Thomas & Harriet Lee Truesdale in 2021 was another starting point for developing the historic home into the Abolitionist Heritage Center that Mama Joy dreamed of. Will NYC completely erase Black history from Downtown Brooklyn?
Panelists:
Shawné Lee is the daughter of "Mama" Joy Chatel, who lived in and fought to protect the home belonging to Thomas and Harriet Lee Truesdell. Shawnè continues her mother’s legacy through her work as The Co-founder of Team Seales Performing Arts. An organization geared to instilling the importance of self discipline and respect for cultural diversity through means of learning the history of performing arts in the African diaspora. Their main discipline of choice is traditional African Drum and Dance, and incorporating cultural enrichment through the tools of music and geography. She is also co-chair for the non-profit organization, Friends of Abolitionist Place.
Raul Rothblatt is a Historian who has been the informal liaison between Abolitionist Place advocates and the academic community. A close friend of Mama Joy and her family, Raul has been an activist for Downtown Brooklyn Abolitionist history since 2004 and is a fervent advocate for reframing Brooklyn's Abolitionist/Black history as central to the American Civil Rights movement on par with the Harlem Renaissance. Raul is currently the Director Of Constituent Affairs for District 43 Assemblyman Brian Cunningham.
Aleah Bacquie Vaughn is a founding board member and co-chairperson of Friends of Abolitionist Place. Aleah serves as Executive Director of the Circle of Justice Innovations Fund, and was previously Deputy Director at the American Committee on Africa and The Africa Fund, where she championed the release of political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu, and divestment from companies doing business with South Africa’s apartheid government. Aleah is the granddaughter of Irene Morgan, of the Morgan v. Virginia Supreme Court decision against segregation in interstate travel.
Justin Cohen serves as a founding board member and treasurer of Friends of Abolitionist Place. Justin is a writer, activist, community organizer, public policy expert, and nonprofit executive. In 2016 he co-founded, and served as chief operating officer of, Wayfinder Foundation, which provides micro-grants to community activists working in historically marginalized communities. In October 2022, Justin released his first book, "Change Agents: Transforming Schools from the Ground Up".
Tricia Olayinka Ben-Davies has been an advocate for Abolitionist Place since learning about the movement to save the home in 2019. She is the co-founder of Flatbush Mixtape, a grassroots mutual aid organization that supports neighbors through food access, resource distribution and relationship building. Tricia is the host of Rose child healing, a podcast for adult survivors of childhood sexual assault. As a first-generation daughter of the African Diaspora, Tricia's work aims to take a holistic approach to the effects of gentrification through storytelling, media, art, and community-led activism.
Black Historic Sites in Conversation is a series of virtual talks in collaboration with different Black heritage sites & cultural centers in the greater NYC area, about the ongoing work of preserving, interpreting, and celebrating Black history and historical figures.
This program is supported by the Mellon Foundation.
Audience:
Adults
About Friends of Abolitionist Place:
Friends of Abolitionist Place was founded in 2020 with the mission to uplift, celebrate, and preserve Black liberation, abolition, U.S. history, and resistance to injustice through the curation of visitor experiences, permanent collections, and rotating exhibitions that honor these traditions in the past and present through the establishment of the Abolitionist Heritage Center.