Story of American Resilience – Day 5

May 5th –

Stonewall Inn

LGBTQ history scavenger hunt in the West Village

The Center with Michael and Enrike

Weeksville Heritage Center 158 Buffalo Ave., Brooklyn

Dinner at the Fulton Street Food Court

While we were at [the Stonewall Monument] park [in the West Village] we had a scavenger hunt that was so enthralling it made me feel like an adult. – Talia

[Our two guides at The Center] really opened my eyes to all the problems the LGBTQ+ community has faced, and is still facing. One of them said, “there are many ways you are you, and The Center can help you with that journey’. They were’t just talking about gender, sex, and sexuality, they were talking about so much more. – Skyler

Exploring the houses at Weeksville was actually amazing, and I literally felt like I was time traveling. Ok, not actually, but pretty close. I loved our guide, Erica, she was so sweet. When she was like, “You guys reminded me why I do this job’, I was so moved. – Oona

I really enjoyed going to Weeksville, and learning about a forgotten part of history that I knew little about. – Clay

At the Weeksville Heritage center we had the privilege of seeing a historic landmark of not just African-American history, but American history as well. We must not see the history of the oppressed as other, but as a part of, not just or own, but of our nation, and the world’s history. I feel that the Heritage Center manifests this very thing. – Lucas

After meeting with Erica [at Weeksville] we had food at Fulton Food Court [in Bed-Stuy]. The food was absolutely amazing, along with the people. I really enjoyed my time with them. Overall, today was a 10/10. I still have a smile molded onto my face. – Matai

Where we were in Brooklyn today, I felt a little bit out of place wherever we went. The majority of people were Black. I don’t mean that as a discriminatory thing, but rather, an observation. I looked left, people of color. I looked right, same thing…I felt like sharing this because guess I want to bring awareness more to myself and my thinking. – Ayla

A Poem

The train glides

rushing on gleaming rails

brakes squawk

squawk 

like the rats that rush under the rails

the rats 

that eat the food that falls through the grate

the grate 

that the pigeons rush to only moments before

and now bemoan the loss of the chunk of bread

the bread,

the same bread that I and others tossed

tossed 

like the trash down by the rails

disturbed only by the rats

 – Finn B.