Nelson George

Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Nelson George

Born in 1957 and raised in the Brownsville and East New York neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Nelson George moved to the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn in the mid-1980s. Best known as an author and filmmaker, his non-fiction books have largely focused on histories of popular music and biographies of Black musicians. He helped bankroll Spike Lee's filming of "She's Gotta Have It" (1986) and has produced, written and directed for the screen ever since. He featured Brooklyn in his book "City Kid: A Writer's Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success" and the documentary "Brooklyn Boheme." In 2016, he was a writer on Netflix's "The Get-Down" and he was continuing work on a series of detective novels.

In the interview, Nelson George takes in the Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn from several perspectives. Moving in a mostly chronological approach, he recalls trips with his mother to the Abraham & Straus department store on Fulton Street and visits as an independent young adult to a girlfriend in the neighborhood. George remembers the floor plan of his first Fort Greene apartment in the 1980s, and a theft that took place just outside his window. He reflects on the culturally vibrant time of African American artists inhabiting the area and how their departure opened a void that was filled by a new upper-middle class and young professionals starting families. George's friends Spike Lee, Chris Rock, and Vernon Reid all figure into his personal connections with the neighborhood. In much of the final half-hour, he gives his points of view on several Fort Greene landmarks and shares how affected he was as a young writer by living in the same Fort Greene where Richard Wright once wrote. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.

The Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Arts and entertainment series features a dynamic range of narrators. Some are well-known public figures and others are well-known in their communities or field. This ongoing series focuses on the arts and the experiences of these Brooklyn narrators, as well as documents local, national, and international cultures. The narrators often discuss their production of works of art or entertainment media. The oldest narrator in this series was born in 1917.

Citation

George, Nelson, Oral history interview conducted by Sady Sullivan, November 20, 2009, Voices of Brooklyn oral histories: Arts and entertainment, 2008.031.1.003; Brooklyn Historical Society.