Voices of Lefferts Community History Project

04/12/2026

You may already be aware of this neighborhood cleanup sponsored by Community Cleanup PLG, but if not, they're looking for volunteers. Last year, they collected over 2,300 lbs of trash! On Sunday April 19, they're attempting to clean every block of Prospect Lefferts Gardens in a single day. It's the kind of grassroots, volunteer-driven effort this neighborhood has always been built on. Flexible one-hour shifts, all supplies provided. They need your help! Sign up: https://bit.ly/brooklyntrashathon

Let's clear the way for spring!

Deborah

03/26/2026

Stoop Stories is hosting a free community film screening featuring the premiere of Stoop Chat with Aleathea & Ariam and a re-screening of Stoop Chat with Sue & Robert. These two short documentaries celebrate intergenerational connection and neighborhood storytelling in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
Following the screening, attendees are invited to stay for refreshments and a community conversation about neighborhood life and the power of everyday stories.

EVENT DETAILS:
Date: March 29, 2026
Time: 6:00–7:30 PM
Location: Gallery Particulier — 281 Maple St, Brooklyn, NY
Cost: Free (RSVP required)

02/20/2026

The 2026 Voices of Lefferts free community writing workshop is starting next Saturday, February 28, 3-5 pm! We continue to focus on the theme of "Mapping Black History in Brooklyn" and welcome writers and artists to join us.

There are still a few spots left, so if you're interested in learning, writing, and creating artwork about Black history in Brooklyn and contributing to our ongoing documentation of local history, sign up now by emailing us at [email protected].

The workshop meets every other Saturday, 3-5 pm, starting on February 28 and ending May 3 (with two in-person and five virtual meetings). Please see the flyer for details.

02/07/2026

Voices of Lefferts is continuing the resonant theme of "mapping Black history in Brooklyn" in its free community writing workshop in 2026. The response to our call for participants last year to learn and document the borough's Black history was so strong, the volume of writing and artwork produced so great, and the need to resist the erasure of history in this country so profound that we unanimously voted to open the door to more people to participate.

If you are interested in joining the writing workshop (artists also welcome to participate), please sign up soon to guarantee a spot. The workshop is every other Saturday, 3-5 pm, starting on February 28 and ending May 3 (with two in-person and five virtual meetings). Please see the flyer for details and feel free to DM me with any questions.

01/17/2026

I am excited to announce an author reading for issue #15 of Voices of Lefferts: The Flatbush-PLG Community Writing Journal. The theme of this issue and the next two or three is "Mapping Black History in Brooklyn."

Saturday, January 31, 3-5 pm, at Compound CoWork @ 1120 Washington Avenue. Please spread the word and turn out to support the authors, artists, and oral history interviewers and narrators whose stories, essays, poems, and artwork fill the pages of this brilliant issue! See the flyer for details.

01/07/2026

It's been a while but Voices of Lefferts has been busy behind the scenes, about to publish two issues of the journal based on our 2025 project, "Mapping Black History in Brooklyn." The response to our call for participants was so strong last year and the volume of writing and artwork produced so great that we are continuing with the same theme in 2026. If you are interested in joining our free community writing workshop, please sign up soon. The workshop is every other Saturday, 3-5 pm, starting on February 28 and ending May 3. Please see the flyer for details and feel free to DM me with any questions.

05/25/2025

Please join us on Saturday, June 7, 3-5 pm, at Compound Cowork (1120 Washington Avenue) for a Voices of Lefferts author reading for issue #14! So excited to hear these authors read from their work: Winifred Murdaugh, Jacob Kuhn, Cindy Rene, Carol Pittman, and Nadia Ketoure. The issue also features photography by Neil Carpenter and oral history interviews with Richard Green, Jan Clausen, and Jerrell Gray. RSVP at [email protected].

02/15/2025

As the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor, here is my note to Renée Fleming. Sending support also to Ben Folds, Low Cut Connie, Issa Rae, and others choosing to take a stand.

02/15/2025

Last day to register for Voices of Lefferts' 2025 project, "Mapping Black History in Brooklyn." Our free community workshop takes up this theme starting on Saturday, February 22, 3-5 pm, the first of eight sessions.

If you'd like to join us as a writer, artist, historian, researcher, archivist, audio technician, or in any other capacity to support this multifaceted project, SIGN UP TODAY! We are beyond excited to begin this work. To sign up, complete a short registration form that includes details about the writing workshop and the project as a whole, by clicking the link below.
https://forms.gle/nvaLKbQ7C7EMD6H47

Joining forces with Shanna Sabio of GrowHouse and the Flatbush African Burial Ground, Voices of Lefferts aims to mark the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam’s founding and occupation of Lenapehoking in 1625 and extend the Black History + Heritage Corridor that Shanna began last year by increasing already existing signage of Black historic and contemporary sites and producing two issues of the Voices of Lefferts journal, a minimum of 15 oral history interviews, and a podcast with 10-12 episodes.

For the first time, the workshop will involve visits to four sites and a trove of rich historical archives, artifacts, and research: the Flatbush African Burial Ground, the Center for Brooklyn History, Lefferts Historic House, and the Weeksville Heritage Center.
We might lose our funding depending on what happens in the federal government in the weeks to come, but we are more determined than ever to realize the vision of this project.

Join us to mark and preserve Black history, fight for public services, insist on funding for science, medicine, the arts, and culture, and protect the most vulnerable among us. History informs the present and what we do today will determine our collective future. Together with all those fighting for a better, more just, egalitarian world, we can make our own history!

Please contact Voices of Lefferts at [email protected] or leave a message at 718.488.1110.

Sign up by February 15th, 2025. Participants will be selected and notified by February 18th. Marking the 400th anniversary of New Amsterdam’s founding and occupation of Lenapehoking in 1625, The Voices of Lefferts Community History Project, in collaboration with GrowHouse Design + Development Grou...