BROOKLYN, NY— Two Brooklyn organizations will use new city grants to bring New Yorkers together through storytelling and community programs.
The New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes and the New York City Commission on Human Rights awarded 13 community project grants to organizations working to prevent hate and strengthen relationships among communities.
Brooklyn Festival of Arts and Music will use its $10,000 grant to support its sixth annual flagship festival, which will take place Nov. 1 at the Prospect Park Boathouse.
The free, family-friendly event will center Indigenous voices, and feature artists and traditions from across Brooklyn and New York.
Jenn Chen founded Brooklyn FAM in 2021, turning her creative writing career into an arts organization amid nationwide racial justice movements.
She said people often turn inward during periods of fear or uncertainty, focusing on protecting their own families and communities
While that instinct can provide a sense of security, she said it can also create distance from other communities, allowing fear and misunderstanding to grow.
Brooklyn FAM's programs seek to counter that distance by creating opportunities for people to meet, share experiences and build relationships across those boundaries.
"The arts have unparalleled power to transform and heal, and to foster empathy," Chen said.
Rather than simply watching performances, visitors of the festival will have opportunities to make art, learn from artists and talk with other participants.
Shinnecock artist Jeremy Dennis will create a six- to seven-foot-long black-and-white map of Long Island, marking tribal territories across the island, including Brooklyn.
Visitors will add their own memories and reflections to the map, creating a shared record of the places that have shaped their lives while learning about the Indigenous communities connected to the land.
"The more often we can come into these spaces and connect face to face, the more resilient we will be," Chen said.
Chen described the philosophy behind the work through an idea found in the Southern African concept of Ubuntu: "I am because we are, you are because we are."
Martha St. Jean, founder of the St. Jean Studio, will use the city grant to bring about 40 participants together for two workshops focused on migration, memory and identity.
Her studio develops leadership and communication skills through facilitated workshops that help participants understand their histories and identities.
"When you know whose child you are, you're working from a place of acceptance," she said. "There's no performance required, and you can rest in that."
St. Jean, a native New Yorker and Haitian American, said the project reflects her own experience.
Both of her parents immigrated to the United States, and she grew up understanding identity through family history and migration.
While studying education, St. Jean became interested in how people develop empathy and move beyond seeing one another as strangers.
"Your story is your strategy," St. Jean said. "When you remove stories, what you also are doing is removing empathy."
Participants in her workshop will share migration stories and memories, work in small groups, take part in guided discussions and create a community story quilt.
"Sometimes that's how memory works," St. Jean said. "It feels like a patchwork quilt."
St. Jean has not yet finalized the workshop location and date.
Both organizations plan to use the city funding as a starting point for longer-term programs.
St. Jean hopes the workshops can grow into a sustainable community storytelling project, while Brooklyn FAM plans to continue its boroughwide programming through its Shared Roots series.
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Brooklyn Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.