Bed-Stuy's History of Community Activism to Be Discussed at Book Talk

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — The Brooklyn Historical Society in January is hosting historian and teacher Michael Woodsworth, author of Battle for Bed-Stuy: The Long War on Poverty in New York.

Woodsworth's book details how black middle-class residents of Bed-Stuy in the 1950s and 60s worked with city officials to establish a new way of fighting the crime, blight, and violence that was permeating their neighborhood.

Woodsworth looks back at President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty from the perspective of the people on the ground. He argues that the rich grassroots relationships black Bed-Stuy residents established with city politicians as well as their neighbors eventually inspired federal policy on poverty.

As Harvard University Press describes the book, "Bed-Stuy’s antipoverty initiatives brought hope amid dark days, reinforced the social safety net, and democratized urban politics by fostering citizen participation in government."

But Woodsworth argues that Bed-Stuy residents' newfound black political power benefited middle class Americans more than it did poor Americans, and the Bed-Stuy we have today that is torn apart by gentrification and displacement is a byproduct of that.

When: Tuesday, January 17

Doors: 6:00 pm

Event begins: 6:30 pm

Price: $10 / Free for Brooklyn Historical Society members

Find more information and order tickets here.

Photo credit: The U.S. National Archives/Flickr/Public domain