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The Atrium at Sumner: A Place to Call Home

Editor, Our Time Press
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The Atrium at Sumner: A Place to Call Home

By Bernice Elizabeth Green
Vickie and Freedom, a couple in their early 60’s, just celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary on May 4th.
And the best gift they could have received came a few weeks ago when their application was accepted for a new apartment in the Atrium at Sumner, back in their old neighborhood, and as far away from the Bronx shelter as they could get.


The Atrium at Sumner designed by Studio Libeskind is 100% affordable senior housing built on an island of vacant land on the NYCHA Sumner Houses grounds. The ten-story building provides 190 units of affordable space. It’s located just a half-block south and across the street from Woodhull Hospital.


When they heard about the new building, they took their time filling out the application. Freedom revealed he worked his side like a narrative – an interesting read about his adventures in Brooklyn. All true. “You don’t want to know what I been through,” he said. “It was a good story. All true.” And it may have helped his bid stand out from the rest of the applicants. Vickiee’s story is a good one, too. They both grew up in the neighborhood just four blocks away.

Bed-Stuy born and bred Lawrence Harrison, a resident at the Atrium at Sumner, relaxes with friends on Dekalb Ave. (photo by Bruce Paul Green)


People are starting to move into the 11-story building constructed on what the press release called “underutilized land at NYCHA’s Sumner Houses.” According to the press release issued at last week’s press conference, there are 190 new apartments for seniors, with 57 units set aside for those seniors who have formerly experienced homelessness.


On Tuesday, Our Time Press met three former homeless Atrium tenants. It was just a simple matter of walking into the courtyard and asking the couple what they felt about the building, then walking a few blocks down Marcus Garvey Blvd (formerly Sumner Avenue) and being introduced to a former vet. The couple, Vickie and Freedom, and Lawrence, who recently returned to his neighborhood after 30 years in Indiana, said they enjoyed being back home, in the neighborhood where they group up, and having a place where they could “be.”
The Atrium at Sumner may look like the Guggenheim Museum’s Brooklyn cousin, but it is serving a purpose to seniors who did not have a space at all. And yes, it is diverse: African Americans, Caribbeans, Asians, and Hispanics live there. And according to Our Time Press, there are still empty apartments. The numbers are not available, but numbers do matter in times like these.


According to the Furman Center report, Bed-Stuy has “the 32nd largest proportion of the nonwhite population, the 33rd highest median income, and the 15th most expensive rents of the city’s 59 neighborhoods. From 2010 to 2020, the neighborhood added 5,912 new housing units, 4,902 units of which were market rate and 1,006 units of which were income restricted.”
So, for Vickie the joy is seen through a watchful eye. Time passes, and things get old, she told us. That’s most especially true with everything related to housing falling in the shadow of the lack of affordable housing. City pols are scrambling for affordable solutions and she’s watching out. But, for now, it is like heaven.


“Just hope the buildings don’t succumb to looking like it was before,” she said. “The devil’s a busy person. You’ve got be aware every second of the day.”


Lawrence Harrison, a Brownsville native and former veteran, moved back to Bed-Stuy from Indiana, where he had moved for a couple of decades. But before he left Brooklyn, he managed to rack up many years as a driver – starting at age 15 – for Restivo Brothers Bakery on Evergreen. “I got up early in the morning and dropped bread off at over 100 bakeries along my route.”


“I was born on Lafayette Avenue between Sumner and Throop, across the street from P.S. 25, my old elementary school. I went to Boys High on Marcy Avenue. Graduated from service at Ft. Benning, Ga, in 1992—nearly three decades in the Midwest. And now, I’m home.
He learned of the building from a friend, filled out his application, got a voucher, and, pointing to his noggin, “threw all worries and concerns out the window,” he told Our Time Press.
“I am blessed that the good lord gave me this place.” A far cry from the vet shelter called the Hilton Hotel in Queens, NY. “It even has a garden of Eden. I mean, real, LIVE plants. Never seen anything like it. Brand new refrigerator, sink, stove.”


“They bought me pots, pans, dishes, towels,” Lawrence told Our Time Press.
As the outside world attempts to resolve myriad complex entanglements attributed to projects like the Atrium at Sumner, the couple and Laurence told Our Time Press on Tuesday that they are grateful to those who are thinking about people like them—with efforts to equalize equity for the most vulnerable and the unsheltered while finding fair solutions to troubles centering around affordable housing.
However, for now, such things as air rights and private development on vacant land at NYCHA complexes are not a concern. Not now. Vickie and, Freedom, and Laurence are enjoying simple pleasures: a table, a chair, a couch, a dresser, books.


Vickie, Freedom, and Laurence are surprised at the median home values in Bedford Stuyvesant, nesting for now at $1,220,006, according to the Furman Center report, which places the figure higher than the national median of some $290,000. “And the rents are off the chart,” said one of them.


There is also the reality check that they hope they will never need to cash: “Down the road, things could change.” One senior told Our Time Press, “I’ve been around here for so many years, I know how brand-new things can over time wear down, and desperation sets in. Things change. For now, I’m enjoying this, but I’m awake.”


Our Time Press noticed that wide pathways form a crucifix shape outside the rear of the Atrium at Sumner. One elder told Our Time Press that if there is nothing else, we can vote. True. These old schoolers know what happens to the neighborhood when neighbors don’t stay, work together, or don’t go to the polls.


To Our Time Press’s question of Vickie if there were any other improvements she would like to see, her quick response was “It would be nice if they could have a workshop on the premises for seniors who want to learn technology.”
To apply for affordable housing opportunities, see housingconnect.nyc.gov or hcr.ny.gov/find-affordable-housing

Summer Youth focus – Change Lives, Save Lives

Nayaba Arinde
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Summer Youth focus – Change Lives, Save Lives

By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large
You know summer is here when the roar of dirt bikes tear up and down the block; with Biggie, Pop Smoke, Burna Boy, Frankie Beverly etc; with thumping bass blaring out of open car windows. Then there are police sirens, yelling, and the loud laughter. With the relief of warmer months comes the imagery of conspicuously under-employment and resulting poverty.
“I am Shannon Briggs. I’m a grown man, a two-time heavyweight champion of the world. I was born and raised in Brownsville. I’m a 52-year-old man, but I cried like a baby when I came back last week.”


As he prepares to set up the Brownsville Boxing Academy on Pitkin Avenue, boxer Briggs told Our Time Press, “It is worse than I thought. I woke up this morning, and I literally had tears running down my face. The kids have lost their innocence. There is no respect because it’s kids having kids. It’s what they see on television, on their phones, and in the music. I’m tough as nails, and this broke my heart.


On my last visit here, it was winter. It was cold, but it is hotter now. It is horrific to see so many people outside with nothing to do, walking up and down the street, day and night. I have never seen anything like this.”


Wanting to be proactive before the summer hits in full, anti-violence organizations such as Stop The Killing (STK), and individual community activists are determined to lessen the gun and knife statistics.


Weekly, members of the Stop The Killing campaign march through Bed Stuy chanting “Who’s going to stop the killing?” “We are!”
STK second chair Majid Gadson told Our Time Press, “The December 12th Movement felt duty bound to address our youth killing each other… We are approaching our third year of agitating, educating, and organizing in Bedford Stuyvesant. Our communities are plagued with poor conditions, and that leads to poor decisions. Political education is needed to help us identify contradictions that are not in our interest.”


The youth, Gadson said, are subjected to a steady diet of harmful policies and ideologies. “This culture of violence is the problem. We must replace it with a culture of Black power and Black love. We must understand that only we can save ourselves. That means we have to be willing to do the work and be consistent. As summer approaches we need our people in the streets. They can’t sit on the sidelines, they have to get active, and get involved. No more Black blood in our streets.”


The Brooklyn-raised Rev. Herbert Daughtry told Our Time Press, “I think Mayor Eric Adams is doing the best he can in the light of other issues he has to deal with, primarily the asylum-seekers. The young people need long-term sustainable projects to get them employment.
“The city, corporate America, and all of us have our part to play. There’s no way there’s going to be peace in the city with them making billions; when thousands of young people are unemployed. It is a situation primed for trouble.

“The Mayor needs to convene city leaders, top officials, and corporate America to lay out a plan including summer programs, summer teaching, and trips with significant points of interest to give them exposure. We need the top officials called by the mayor himself to have educators and top leaders identify where the resources are. There is enough energy and creative genius to address the needs of our young people.”
Mayor Eric Adams did not respond to the Our Time Press request for a statement by press time.


World champ Briggs told Our Time Press that some of the youth who came into the gym were in such obvious need that he took them to buy clothes and sneakers, “and I don’t even have it like that, but I had to. I bought them pizza every day because they were so hungry.
“Some of these kids don’t have baths. They don’t have phones. They don’t have food. It’s 2024. They say they are living with their sister or their sister’s boyfriend. There’s a lot of predators out here. I am blown away by how much these kids 7 and 8 know about sex. Brownsville is ground zero.


“I haven’t seen families like husbands and wives. They are living with friends, out at 12 o’clock.”
Making a direct plea to Mayor Eric Adams through the paper, Briggs said:
“Help us. They need it more than anybody I have ever seen in my lifetime, and I have traveled the world. But, being in Brownsville this last week with a little bit of sun, has changed them– it’s amazing how many kids are just lost. They don’t have anything. They don’t have a home. They don’t have food. Twenty-five, 30 kids are coming to the gym that’s not even open yet. They just want to come and sit down, and listen. They say ‘Yes Sir,’ ‘No, Sir,’ ‘Yes, Champ
“It was a dream all my life for the community, for the youth.”


Local businessman and activist Basir Ceylon Jones Felder told the paper, “In Brooklyn, you can see gentrification happening at a high rate. If you go to Nostrand Avenue you can see the effects of it and how it’s hurting our people. It affects the youth because there aren’t any resources the way they used to be, and a lot of the elders are stepping down or passing. The solution is getting those resources, and we’re teaching them about self-determination. With the violence, you can’t just stop it–you’ve got to meet them where they are. If you try to put them somewhere they are not accustomed to, they’re going to fight it. Instead, give them tools and have them understand the distinctions of what’s what. Tools like emotional intelligence, social training, and having mental health core groups.”


Jones said he intended to increase his efforts to be a part of the solution, including working closer with the elders in the community, and city leaders and politicians, “those who sit in the Council, and in position where they can advocate for change. We need to hold them responsible.”


Are we winning?
“No, we’re not. But, we’re not losing,” said Jones succinctly. I’m hopeful. We are in transition and when you’re in transition there’s no win or loss. It’s about learning.”

As Summer Approaches, Anti-Violence Initiatives Gear Up

Mary Alice Miller
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As Summer Approaches, Anti-Violence Initiatives Gear Up

By Mary Alice Miller
Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer. The warm temperatures bring people to the streets and seasonal crime, including violent crime, which is more common during the summer months. Heat seems to increase aggression.
Local organizations are preparing for the annual surge in murders, rapes, and aggravated assaults by trying to preempt them.


At a recent 73rd Precinct Council Meeting, Captain Odelle Despot said, “Warm weather brings a dangerous trend of increased gun violence in our community. There are a lot of gangs throughout the community. This is a significant problem. You are walking to the store, and you can be an unintended target. Public safety is something we are going to take a hard look at.” Despot added, “When you see increased shots fired – fatal and non-fatal – we are going to continue to do the best job we can in the 73 to minimize as many incidents of gun violence as we can. We have specific zones set up to address the issue.”


Despot listed programs conducted by the NYPD that are designed to prevent crime. “The police department has many programs to get youth off the streets, especially during the summertime. We have the Explorer program that kids can join and come to the precinct. For those who are a bit older, we have the Cadet program. We also have the Auxiliary program. We also brought back the Blue Chip program, where you can play basketball, football… We have Girl Talk,” Despot said.


“To take youth off the streets they are best engaged in a program or a school, not hanging out in the streets.,” said Despot. “Unfortunately, for the past week or two since I have been here, many of the drivers of violence were between 13 and 17-18 years old. There are groups of 4-5 kids walking around the streets and they are causing a lot of problems for everyone in the community.”


A 73rd Precinct NYPD Community Affairs Officer said, “In a few weeks, the NYPD is partnering with BIVO (Brownsville In, Violence Out) to host a Summer Jam event with HBCUs coming to Brownsville a stage with youth dance, singing, bouncy houses, free haircuts for the kids and coupons for girls to get their hair braided at a salon on Rockaway Avenue. We are going to incorporate everybody in Brownsville. We will also have the Blue Chip program with basketball and volleyball.”


GodSquad was founded by Pastor Gil Monrose to help end senseless gun violence. It started as a liaison between police and the community in the 67th Precinct. GodSquad provides unsolved murder case follow-up with the NYPD, victim services, shooting responses, emergency room crisis response, and street engagement—clergy walks, Occupy the Corners, and Block Takeovers.


Pastor Monrose currently serves as Executive Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships in the Office of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and has replicated the GodSquad model across the city.


GodSquad has established Clergy for Safe Cities, a national coalition to support clergy-based gun violence prevention initiatives and implement a collective, comprehensive community initiative to decrease the involvement of young people in crime and gun violence in their city.
Clifton Aaron Hinton, founder of DEUCES, runs Squash the Beef program, an anti-violence initiative for young people.

“That is the equivalent of a rap battle, but not really a battle. We teach them how to use literary devices – simile, metaphor, hyperbole – to make rhymes. That way, they can learn to use words to resolve disagreements instead of violence,” said Hinton. “We also conduct Operation Safe Passage for younger kids in elementary and middle school if they need an escort to school. Some kids don’t go to school because they are being picked on or bullied, so they don’t make it to the school building.”


James Moultrie, Inc. is partnering with the Christian Vision Ministry to host an anti-violence event in August. “We are creating a task force to police our community,” said Moultrie. “We are working with young people to teach them not to pick up and gun and not to destroy their own community.”

Patricia Robinson Musically Inspires Black Youth from Brooklyn to Carnegie Hall

Editor, Our Time Press
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Patricia Robinson Musically Inspires Black Youth from Brooklyn to Carnegie Hall

Energy and Excellence at Home in Bed-Stuy

By Fern Gillespie

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? For Brooklyn youth, it’s practice, practice, practice at The Patricia F. Robinson Music Studio, 590 Madison St. in Bed Stuy. On June 8, a group of Patricia Robinson’s musically gifted children ages 2 to 13 will be playing the piano with an orchestra at the prestigious Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall.


“It’s really magnificent. I don’t know any other school that is doing it at this point in time,” Ms. Patricia Robinson explained to Our Time Press. “I want to take my children to the best. Carnegie Hall is the best in terms of acoustics. It’s built for music. The children are in awe. There are practice rooms. Carnegie Hall tunes the piano before the concert, and we have freshly tuned piano every time we play there.”

Twins Kenzo and Akira Hakia. Photo by Marco Sagliocco


It was the Jazz Age when Robinson’s mother, piano teacher L. Elsie Cumberbatch Graham, decided to create The Stuyvesant School of Music at her brownstone. Since 1930, the site on Monroe Street has been a Bed Stuy musical institution. This is the school’s 94th annual student recital, which has been staged at Carnegie Hall since 2017.

“Music was my mother’s passion,” she explained. Her mother was born in Philadelphia and raised in Barbados with a father who was a musician. Moving to Brooklyn, her mother became known as a pianist with her choir. Her advisor, the renowned Brooklynite Dudley M. Archer, encouraged her to start a school. “She was different. She was fabulous. She was beautiful. She dressed up all the time,” said Robinson, whose mother died at age 84. “She never retired. She was teaching until her very last breath.”

Award-Winning Piamist John Goodrich Williams. Photo by Marco Sagliocco


When Robinson was a 9-year-old student attending PS 44, she began teaching piano at The Stuyvesant School of Music. “My mother wasn’t home when I would come back from school. She would have some adult students waiting for her,” she recalled. “My mother said, will you give them lessons? You know what to do. So, I assisted my mother, but I had my own students.”


The Patricia F. Robinson Music Studio has continued her mother’s legacy for generations of Brooklynites. One of her former students, opera singer Paul Grosvenor, now teaches voice at the school. He has performed at the Metropolitan Opera and won a Grammy Award for singing in Porgy and Bess. “I think that it was so wonderful that he would come back after all these years,” she said. “Most of my students become doctors, lawyers and other professionals. Music is the thing that takes you someplace else in terms of your mind. It’s stimulating the learning process. I advise students that between your homework to practice your music. It helps to relieve that stress. Music is a discipline.”

Pianist Skylar Sagon. Photo by Marco Sagliocco


Students from The Patricia F. Robinson Music Studio have performed globally. The children have been involved in international competitions where they compete against other music students from Germany, Japan, China, Australia, Canada and Columbia, South America.
In addition, she’s established a relationship with a sister school, The Thrive Music Academy of Africa in Uganda, “Our kids have Zoom meetings with the kids in Uganda,” she explained. “They talk about the instruments. We have concerts with each other on Zoom. We also sent instruments to Uganda, including a baby grand piano.”


Robinson is a graduate of the Mannes College of Music at The New School, where she studied piano, voice, and violin. She’s a very active vice president in both Mu-Te-Or, the Brooklyn branch of the National Association of Negro Musicians and the Brooklyn Music Teachers Guild.

L. Elsie Cumberbatch Graham
Patricia Robinson


Although she only teaches piano, there are a variety of instruments available at the school. She takes children beginning at two years old if they show readiness. She also teaches several autistic children. “I think we’re pretty good with the autistic kids,” she said. “They don’t come showing a special talent. They just fool around on the piano and then they begin to play just wonderfully.”


For almost 100 years, these two piano teachers have changed thousands of lives one musical note at a time. “I love seeing what music does for kids in their lives. My students teach me how to teach them,” said Robinson. “They will let you know how they learn. Then you take that and build.”

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is the Cultural Phenomenon that Reclaimed its Black Roots!

Editor, Our Time Press
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Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is the Cultural Phenomenon that Reclaimed its Black Roots!

By Lisa Durden
Everybody Black knows that WE created many forms of music; Jazz, Blues, Rock’n’Roll, Disco, Pop, Hip Hop, and oh yes, Country! So, we were all side eyeing those #Karens and #Kens who tried to play in Beyonce’s face by calling her “Cowboy Carter” album cultural appropriation. White folks, y’all know dayum well y’all STOLE country music from Black folks! It continues to bug me out the lengths racists will go to erase Black History.

These fools were hoping Black folks forgot that we are the pioneers of the country music genre, but to their chagrin, Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” Is The Cultural Phenomenon That Reclaimed Its Black Roots and the album is FIYAH!


The history of country music is deeply intertwined with the contributions of Black artists, whose influence has been significant and enduring. Pioneers such as Charley Pride, Etta Baker, Aaron Neville, Cleve Francis, Jake Blount, DeFord Bailey, Lionel Richie, Louis Armstrong, Linda Martell, Dobie Gray, Rufus Payne, and more recently, artists like, Miko Mars, Mickey Guyton, Darius Rucker, Vicki Vann, Brittaney Spencer, Kane Brown, Jimmie Allen, Breland, TLC, Lil Nas X, K. Michelle, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey, Willie Jones and of course Beyonce, have played crucial roles in continuing to shape the genre.

Despite their contributions, the mainstream false narrative of country music has often marginalized these artists in favor of their white counterparts.


When Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ album hit in February 2024, the song “Texas Hold Em” not only debuted at No. 1, but she also made history as the first Black woman to hold the top spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart and Mrs. Carter also become the first Black woman to top the Billboard Hot R&B Charts and Billboard Hot Hip Hop Charts, since their inception in 1958. #ClapForThat! The #Beyhive swooped down and confronted white folks who tried to come for #QueenBee by calling her country album cultural appropriation.

Her fans weren’t having any of that! In an appearance on MSNBC’s The Blaze,” Dulce Sloan from ‘The Daily Show’ argued, “If white people hated cultural appropriation, then they shouldn’t have stolen music from Black people!”


Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ project, seeks to correct this long-lasting lie, by highlighting and celebrating the achievements of Black country musical masterminds. Through her music, she brings to the forefront the sounds and stories of Black country musicians, ensuring that their legacy is recognized and appreciated by the masses.

By doing so, she honors their contributions and reclaims a genre that has been in fact, appropriated by white country artists, not the other way around.


It was really a slap in those racists’ faces when they learned that the ‘Cowboy Carter album features country music stars and collaborators like Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, Reyna Roberts, Shaboozey, Willie Jones, Miley Cyrus, and the one and only Miss Dolly Parton. They were hot as fish grease! And I loved every minute of it. As the saying goes, “success is the greatest revenge!”


The gag is…the brilliance of Beyoncé’s country album was multi-faceted and strategic! Which all began in 2020 with her visual album ‘Black Is King,’ although primarily a celebration of African culture and heritage, which incorporated elements of country music, blending modern beats with country aesthetics.

The imagery of black cowboys and the rural South, combined with contemporary fashion and dance, created a powerful visual and auditory experience that resonated with fans worldwide and proved to be a planned precursor to ‘Cowboy Carter.’ The haters were hating, cuz they weren’t ready for what hit they angry asses!


What I am most impressed with is the portrayal of Black cowboys in Beyoncé’s work as a deliberate effort to honor and illuminate a significant part of American history that is often neglected. By doing so, she brings visibility to the contributions of Black cowboys and cowgirls, enriching the cultural narrative and providing inspiration for future generations.


As Beyoncé leads the charge, ‘Cowboy Carter’ is recognized as the cultural phenomenon that reclaimed its Black roots. Its critical acclaim continues to inspire and resonate with audiences worldwide, ensuring that the legacy of Black country music singers is honored, celebrated, and remembered!


Lisa Durden is a prominent National Media Contributor and TV Personality, renowned for her appearances on prestigious platforms such as ABC 20/20 as an ABC News Contributor, Revolt TV’s ‘Revolt Black News,’ and Fox Soul’s ‘Being Black With Tammi Mac.’ Her contributions extend to CBS News, The Dr. Oz Show, and as an #APlusPanel Contributor on #TheOpinionZone for the former ‘Chasing News Series’ on the My9 Network. Her distinctive voice and activism echoes through her storytelling, establishing her as a vocal Social Justice Journalist and thought leader, recognized by media outlets like Newsweek, Ark Republic and Our Time Press.
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