Tonight: Nelson George talks with Toure!

It's a neighborly week at Greenlight -- tonight we're excited to have two amazing and respected Fort Greene locals talking about the neighborhood, friendship, music, writing, and lots more. Don't miss this one!

Thursday, April 8, 7:30 PM Nelson George reads and discusses City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success with Touré
Nelson George is the award-winning author of Hip Hop America (1998) as well as other books and films on popular culture, and was a long-time music critic with Billboard and The Village Voice. In City Kid, he writes about his coming-of-age right here in Fort Greene and elsewhere, encompassing family stories, cultural analysis, and his literary and musical influences. George talks about his story and his neighborhood tonight with his friend, fellow Fort Greene resident and music and culture critic Touré.

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Author Nelson George on his own Fort Greene

Nelson George, author of the forthcoming memoir City Kid: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success, has an interesting meditation in today's New York Times on the changing face of Fort Greene.

George moved to the neighborhood in 1985 and views the area as a "crucial black artistic enclave." Like many New Yorkers, he's regretful to see his neighborhood change from the way it was when he first encountered it, and wonders about the changing race and class dynamics of the neighborhood. It's a valuable piece for the portrait of one writer's history in Brooklyn, and as a starting point for thinking about Fort Greene's identity. A conversation about the article and related issues is already underway on Brownstoner; feel free to wade in with your opinions.

I'm following this discussion closely, hoping for additional insights into what I've observed and learned about the neighborhood. To me, Fort Greene seems like a wonderful example of racial co-habitation and community -- it's one of the reasons I love it. But it always hurts when things change around you, and I know that racial tension is probably always a presence in Brooklyn to some degree. I'm curious what Fort Greene's current crop of writers, readers, and artists think.