NYC Gazette

Brooklyn has been the centerpiece of popular novels such as Betty Smith’s "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and Herbert Selby Jr.’s "Last Exit to Brooklyn," as well as films like Spike Lee’s "Crooklyn" and John Badham’s "Saturday Night Fever." It is also famously the birthplace of numerous celebrities and characters, including Bugs Bunny, alongside the long-departed Brooklyn Dodgers.

Before becoming a celebrated borough, Brooklyn joined with the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island to form the City of Greater New York in 1898. Prior to this merger, it was the nation’s third-largest city and was known for its radical stance on several issues.

Brooklyn's free Black communities created an “intellectual, political, and activist framework” aimed at ending slavery and promoting “equality for all,” historian Prithi Kanakamedala writes in her new NYU Press book, "Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough."

“Nineteenth-century Brooklynites and 19th-century New Yorkers in general, especially Black New Yorkers, were asking what does justice look like and what does equality look like in areas that also affect us today: housing, voting, schools, jobs,” says Kanakamedala, a professor of history at Bronx Community College.

In her book, Kanakamedala traces the stories of four families—the Crogers, Hodges, Wilsons, and Gloucesters—who organized for racial justice during slavery. She connects their activism to subsequent efforts in the 20th century and finds lessons for future advocates.

“The period I’ve researched was about ordinary people acting in what was then considered radical ways—an echo into the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s,” she observes. “I’m always clear to tell students that big legislation... doesn’t come from above. These laws always result from decades...of ordinary people pushing forward an agenda to create a fairer world for all.”

NYU News interviewed Kanakamedala about Brooklyn’s past and present—and how we might honor its overlooked heroes.

Kanakamedala notes three major differences between 19th-century Brooklyn and today: visual landscape changes due to high-rise buildings; economic shifts from agriculture to industrialization; and population growth. However, she highlights enduring similarities such as diversity and entrepreneurial spirit among residents.

Discussing MetroTech Center's transformation over 200 years since the AME Church was built there: “It just had a different context...it had all of the same ingredients that you see today in downtown Brooklyn.”

Comparing urban life globally at that time: “By the 19th century...most cities both in the United States and in the Atlantic world look similar.” What sets Brooklyn apart is its unique economic focus distinct from Manhattan’s Wall Street-centered capitalism.

Kanakamedala points out that many streets still bear names of slaveholding families. She suggests renaming some streets after individuals who contributed significantly but acknowledges that maintaining these names can facilitate conversations about historical complexities.

“I would love to see some of these streets renamed...How moving would that be...But we can...be having honest conversations about who gets commemorated.” She emphasizes understanding commemoration politics as vital for places like Brooklyn.