Sample_ss_lesson

The past and present of a community

Introduction
We wanted the students to better understand the community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and consider why and how they are serving the neighborhood. By using significant historical events of the community, a walking tour and interviews with the community members, we wanted them to understand their role in working on the Herkirmer community garden.

Essential Question – How does the history of a community affect its present day needs?

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:

• Learn about the 1964 Bedford-Stuyvesant riots
• To examine and challenge the perceptions, stereotypes and notions about the community
• To identify a community’s needs

New York State Standards for the Social Studies
Students will:

• Use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, themes, developments, and turning points in a a part of NY history (NYS ss 1)

Materials needed

• Copies of NY Times article (Brooklyn Riots Continue; Police Shoot 2 as Looters; BROOKLYN RIOTING GOES ON 3rd NIGHT. July 23, 1964)
• Copies of the photo “Bed-Stuy, DO or DIE” by Alice Tiara (July 31, 2006, Bed Stuy Stuck In a Moment On Set, Brooklyn Record)
• Copies of “New P.R. Campaign: "Bed-Stuy and Proud of it" by Melissa Grace (March 10, 2005, Daily News)
• Cameras
• Audio recorders (for interviews)

The Lesson
I. Prompt – in your notebooks, describe the community of Bedford-Stuyvesant based on what you’ve seen in the past 3 days. Share writing.

II. Pass out the NY Times article (Brooklyn Riots Continue; Police Shoot 2 as Looters; BROOKLYN RIOTING GOES ON 3D NIGHT. July 23, 1964) on the 1964 Bedford-Stuyvesant riots to read. Have the students underline any phrases that show a bias or lacks an objective view of the community. Discuss what they underlined and how the media is portraying the situation and the community.

III. Pass out photo of “Bed-Stuy, DO or DIE” and ask the students to interpret the meaning of the graffitti.

Then, explain that the photo is a Hollywood set for a movie that takes place in Bed-Stuy. What does this tell us about people’s perceptions of the neighborhood?

Briefly explain that there have been recent attempts to change the image of Bed-Stuy. Read out loud the article, “New P.R. Campaign: "Bed-Stuy and Proud of it"

“New P.R. Campaign: "Bed-Stuy and Proud of it"
by Melissa Grace
March 10, 2005 Daily News

Brooklyn's most famous inner-city neighborhood is trying to put its "Bed-Stuy Do or Die" days behind it with a marketing makeover and a less-street-tough slogan.
"Bed-Stuy and Proud of It" will be the motto of a public relations campaign that kicks off today.
It's aimed at shedding Bedford-Stuyvesant's image as a crime-ridden neighborhood and remaking it as a proud, historic and desirable place to live, shop and do business.

"People see Bedford-Stuyvesant as a dangerous place to be," said Pam Green, head of the Society for the Preservation of Weeksville and Bedford-Stuyvesant History, who is involved in the "rebranding" drive. "We need a facelift."

Joel Dabu, an organizer with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., has already incorporated the new slogan.

"We want to say, 'We're Bed-Stuy and we're proud of it," he said yesterday.

"Brooklyn Icons," a series of enormous outdoor "wallscapes" honoring its most-famous residents, will kick off the privately funded $150,000 campaign today. The promotional portraits, which are 24 feet tall and 12 feet wide and will loom over Fulton St., will include such famous Bed Stuy-ers as rapper and actor Mos Def, comedian Chris Rock, community activist Hattie Carthan and poet June Jordan.

The neighborhood also was home to Lil' Kim and Lena Horne.

Chrystal Bobb-Semple, owner of Brownstone Books on Lewis Ave., said, "We need to attract people from outside of the community. That is a high priority. It's a revenue driver."

What are other ways one can “improve” the image of a community? Of Bedford-Stuyvesant? (Make a list)

IV. Activity – have the students walk around the neighborhood and take photos with the goal of writing a news article that is part of the "Bed-Stuy and Proud of It" campaign. Their mission is to create a “real” portrait of the community. The students must include:

1. A description of the neighborhood
2. An interview with at least 1 community member
3. At least 1 photo to go with the article

Examples of student writing

“She asked me about my neighborhood, this neighborhood, a neighborhood I see with faces painted just like mine and heart filled just like mine and hands that have withered just like the ones before…Deeper, take a deeper look and these people have stories, this soil has a story as we shovel and construe, some of us force the generations that have step foot here…building, cutting, drilling, chopping, the smell of wood shredding…Here I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t have to defend, I can openly learn and understand. That’s a good feeling.”
- Ari Napier

“This is a different Brooklyn. Two worlds collided today…We’ve come to build, we’ll dig, we’ll sweat and conquer…I can say that I helped build Brooklyn. I’ve helped make it what it is and will be.”
- Gabriela Stultz