Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn is one of the most iconic historically Black neighborhoods in the United States. But Bed-Stuy is changing. Fifty years ago, schools in Bed-Stuy’s District 16 were so overcrowded that students went to school in shifts. Today, they’re half-empty. Why? In trying to answer that question, we discovered that the biggest, oldest questions we […]
Cannabis or Marijuana use in a Black area like Central Brooklyn has always been a complex issue. While many people call marijuana use a “gateway” to heavier drug addiction, the reality is, getting picked up by the police for distributing or using weed has been a gateway to the criminal justice system. In this episode […]
In a special post Academy Award edition of Third Rail, we indulge our twin loves, BK and movies, by paying homage — and occasional shade — to Black Brooklyn through the lens of cinema. Specifically, we pose the question, what are the best Black Brooklyn movies ever made? Joining Third Rail host Mark Winston Griffith […]
School Colors is a documentary podcast series about race, class, and power in American cities – told through the story of one public school district in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Produced and hosted by Mark Winston Griffith and Max Freedman. School Colors is a co-production of Brooklyn Deep and the NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and […]
Food, one of the most potent cultural forces in American life, represents our ability to come together across tribal lines, especially during the holidays. At the same time, in Central Brooklyn and other gentrifying cities, where restaurants and groceries stores are not just markers of distinct tastes and cuisines, but of race and class privilege, […]
We are proud to announce our first-ever crowdfunding campaign, now live on Kickstarter. Here’s the thing: this is an ALL OR NOTHING campaign – if we don’t hit our goal of $15,000, we don’t get a dime. That $15k will help us keep Third Rail going, hire additional journalists, and help us lay […]
Brooklyn Deep, in association with WNYC radio, has been honored with a Gracie Award, a competition sponsored by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation. Seven Schools Later: One Student’s View of Segregation, reported by Brooklyn Deep and Radio Rookie reporter, Alexia Richbourg, was recognized in the “local non-commercial documentary” category for “exemplary programming created by women, for women and […]
A new study by the Airbnb activist project, Inside Airbnb was released today, and is being made exclusively available, on the Brooklyn Deep web-site. The study claims that it has data which shows that Airbnb acts as a racial gentrification tool in New York City’s predominantly Black neighborhoods. “Across all 72 predominantly Black New York City neighborhoods, Airbnb hosts are […]
Shaila Dewan, a reporter for the New York Times who covers the criminal justice system, moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant with her husband in 2012, when she was “very pregnant” with their first child. “I didn’t really know that much about the schools,” she said, “except that nobody I knew went to any of them. I asked […]
Brooklyn Deep: Who is a part of your household? Marly Pierre-Louis: I live with my husband, Qa’id, who works full time. And we have a 3-year-old son, Sekani, who is in daycare full time. BKD: Where did you live in Central Brooklyn? Marly: The last place we lived was on Madison Street between Stuyvesant Ave […]