Since the Great Migration, Black people have built a vibrant and thriving mecca in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, making it an icon of community, culture, and resistance.

But the neighborhood is changing.

Gentrification, racist housing policies, and systemic oppression have forced longtime Bed-Stuy residents and business owners out of the neighborhood, as a younger, predominately white, population moves in. Black residents must reconcile these changes with their sense of belonging on the blocks they built.

“We Are Here (Brooklyn)” is a celebration of Bedford-Stuyvesant’s rich cultural legacy—a testament to its past and present. The project, originally curated as part of Bailey’s Cafe’s As Quiet As It’s Kept, centers images and stories of long-time Bed-Stuy residents, cementing their place as neighborhood icons in the name of resilience and permanence.

Bailey’s Cafe with 651 ARTS presents “We Are Here (Brooklyn),” featuring photographs by Robyn Twomey with interviews by Monica L. Williams, artistic director of As Quiet As It’s Kept, and culturally produced by Pia Monique Murray.

Launching August 1, 2021 with a walking tour and live performances by featured participants, the 11-week public installation spans multiple sites in a five block radius of Bedford-Stuyvesant and is accompanied by a virtual gallery of participants’ recorded interviews accessible by QR code.

Learn more at AsQuietAsItsKept.space/we-are-here.

We Are Here (Brooklyn)

Kareem Jenkins

Gloria Baker

Doris Ware

Damian Hamblin

Herbert Sweat

Crooklyn Soundshots: The Natasha Johnson Suite is the second of a projected trilogy of song cycles that will each seek to convey some of the feelings, experiences and ideas of an amazing citizen of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Their humor, passion, struggles and humanity will be spotlighted in succinct musical snapshots in the way that can only be done by music.

07 Spirit And Soul

The Natasha Johnson Suite

05 Bed Stuy Love Affair

06 Blue Shoes Blues (Just Have to Laugh)

04 Farming In Bed Stuy

03 Little Did They Know

02 What's In A Name

01 Any Day

A Whole Man
Written, composed and performed by Michael Hill
An early composition for As Quiet As It’s Kept inspired by stories from Herbert Sweat and other Black veterans.

A Whole Man

No Way Home
Written, composed and performed by Michael Hill
An unfinished composition for Mo Beasley, inspired by true stories from his father's experiences returning home from the Vietnam war.

No Way Home

"It's Never Quiet"
by Kevin and Michael Hill
Music composed for the mini-documentary "We Thrive: Stories & Portraits from the Heart of Bed-Stuy"

It's Never Quiet

"We Thrive"
by Kevin and Michael Hill
Music composed for the mini-documentary "We Thrive: Stories & Portraits from the Heart of Bed-Stuy"

We Thrive

Bailey’s Cafe presents As Quiet As It's Kept (AQAIK), a multi-discipline performance installation based on the stories of veterans of color and their role in a changing community under the artistic direction of Monica L. Williams in collaboration with artists from various genres.

As Quiet As It's Kept

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