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[Last name, First name], Oral history interview conducted by [Interviewer’s First name Last name], [Month DD, YYYY], [Title of Collection], [Call #]; Brooklyn Historical Society.

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Edmon Braithwaite

Oral history interview conducted by Bahati Williams

April 21, 2008

Call number: 2008.030.05

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0:23 - Edmon Braithwaite's short biography, list of community-service activities

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0:51 - Founding the Merchants' Association (MA); Business Improvement District (BID) in Bed-Stuy

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3:33 - The BID & Merchants' Association's aid, guidance, and a network for local small businesses

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9:56 - The BID and gentrification, threats to small businesses; Diversity within the MA

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15:16 - Councilman Al Vann's role in advancing the BID

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17:12 - Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation's resources; recession readiness & aid

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23:57 - Importance of keeping local businesses in Bed-Stuy; politics of alcohol sales in Bed-Stuy

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29:58 - EB's desire to use his business operations as a mechanism of community development

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34:56 - Final thoughts

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Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Edmon Braithwaite

Edmon Braithwaite (born 1959) was a businessman in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. At the time of the 2008 interview, Braithwaite was the owner of two businesses, co-chairman for the steering committee for the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood Business Improvement District, vice president of the Fulton-Nostrand United Merchants' Association of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and a chairman of 1 Caribbean Radio.

In this interview, Edmon Braithwaite details the responsibilities he's shouldered as a civic-minded businessman, his thoughts on community service, and describes his role in founding the Fulton-Nostrand United Merchants' Association of Bedford-Stuyvesant. Braithwaite explains the local Business Improvement District's goal of fostering an enticing shopping district to attract shoppers and support the neighborhood's economic revitalization. He discusses the benefits of prosperity and challenges charges of gentrification by citing a number of recent opportunities afforded local citizens by new small businesses. Interview conducted by Bahati Williams.

Brooklyn Historical Society (BHS) and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation (Restoration) partnered on the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral history project in 2007-2008 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Restoration's founding as the first community development corporation (CDC) in the United States. Nearly sixty interviews were conducted with founding Board members, supporters, activists, artists, tenants, and other community members. Audio clips from these oral history interviews were included in the exhibit "Reflections on Community Development: Stories from Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation" (BHS 2008, Restoration 2009).

Citation

Braithwaite, Edmon, Oral history interview conducted by Bahati Williams, April 21, 2008, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories, 2008.030.05; Brooklyn Historical Society.

People

  • Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
  • Braithwaite, Edmon
  • Dabu, Joel
  • Fulton-Nostrand United Merchants Association
  • Katz, Noah
  • Mitchell, Bernadette
  • Robinson, Annette (Annette M.)
  • Vann, Albert, 1934-

Topics

  • Business enterprises
  • Community centers
  • Community development corporations
  • Economic development
  • Enterprise zones
  • Gentrification

Places

  • Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
  • Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)

Finding Aid

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation oral histories