Renee Richardson Interview 08/10/2024

Renee Richardson Interview Transcription

Hello. I am Natasha Baron. I'm here with Renee Richardson.  My spelling is, I mean my Renee is R, E, N, E, E, little initial s, last name is R, I, C, H, A, R, D, S, O, N, and that's Richardson.

Thank you so much. What is your relationship to Park Slope? And my relationship is I grew up here since I was like two, two years old, my mom's moved from another part of Brooklyn over to Park Slope when I was two years old. So the relationship for me is diversity, okay, because it was different, way different than probably living in other sections of Brooklyn, okay, because it was it was safe, okay? It was exciting. You know, different foods that we ate, you know I'm saying quiet, you know what I mean? So and people was, we knew who everybody was. Let's put it that way. You know what I mean, basically. So we all grew up together, so that's diversity. I want to say diversity like family, like history.

How was Brooklyn when you were doing your job from through your eyes? Okay? So when I believe that, for me, it was it was it was it was fine. I didn't have any problems. I didn't do too many fights, you know, like, you know, kids had fights. I didn't have none of that. We when I was younger, 51 high school used to be where we used to go to the center, and we would play games like hockey, you know, what you can call them hockey, you know, with the sticks, okay? It was similar to, like, shooting pool, you know, we used to play basketball. 

Let's see we pretty much hang out there, like, maybe we could do our homework if we wanted to, you know, after school, like that. So we have plenty of things to do, you know. I mean, the park here, we used to hang in this puck, and we used to swing on the big swings. It was big swings at the time. Our handball courts was on the other side, okay? And we used to play handball all the time. We're going in and play handball. So to me, it was a lot of different things to do, you know? I mean, I didn't feel like I was bored, you know, I'm saying we had block parties, we danced, we won trophies for dancing. You know what I'm saying. So we had a good time. 

If I had to say Park Slope being different than any other section, I didn't realize that until I was in my I want to say 17 or 18 years of age, maybe 19, when I realized that other parts of Brooklyn were totally different, more wanting to fight more harassment, you know, I'm saying people not you know, you could say hello when they didn't want to speak to you, you know. So it was totally different. It was a kosher shock for me, seriously, from being in Park Slope. I mean, we could hang out. There was a on Ninth Street. We there was the donut spot that used to make donuts. Italian man, used to make donuts. And at night we would go up there around 910, o'clock or 11 o'clock. 

At night, just walk up to Ninth Street and buy his donuts. I mean, his donuts was excellent, man. I mean, I can't even describe some of the things that we did in Fox dope, but Avon movie theater was on Ninth Street. We used to go over there. We looked at West Side Story at that movie theater. Yes, we did. Let's see. What else did we do? I think it was 292 Lincoln. We used to go over there. And that was like, another place that we can go and play basketball, you know, hang out and, you know, talk to people. Not only that, we used to walk up to Park Slope, I mean, up to Prospect Park, we would go hang out over there. 

You know, in the winter time when it was snowing and stuff, we used to sled down, down, down the hills and park, I mean, in the park and prosper Park. So it was a lot of stuff for us to do. I until I got older, I didn't realize how important those things was at that time. Because when you move somewhere else and you see a big difference, like a different different culture, you understand trying to say, it's like a shock to you, and you say yourself, Oh, wow. Out now I realize this place was somewhere that we should have stayed, in a sense, you know what I mean? Because you want peace, you want. You want happiness you want. You know being able to mangle, being able to go over other people's houses, enjoy other people's cultures and lives that they you know that they go through so, yeah, this was totally different, way different, I'd have to say that really.

Yeah, I remember when I graduated from night school, ninth, ninth grade, and we had our graduation and John Jay High School. And for some reason I don't know, somebody volunteered me to sing, and it was me and another young lady named Lisa. I can't remember what her last I don't want to say Lisa Williams, something like that. Okay, and we were both up on stage in front of all about the graduation people for the ceremony, and we had to sing, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and we did what we had to do. I was scared. Lisa had a beautiful voice. I thought, you know, I'm saying, I didn't think that I was that great. But this teacher from, I'm not sure if it was from my high school or from from John Jay told me that I had a good voice and that I should let somebody help me with my voice. Yeah, and so that was, that's why I said in parks, there was a lot of different things. 

We had togetherness, man, and everybody knew who everybody was, and we didn't really, we didn't really argue over little things. You know, I'm saying, like kids, you argue about stuff, but not to the point where I'm looking to kill you or something like that, or I'm coming out my house to hurt you and all that kind of stuff. No, but this was a beautiful place. Seriously, if I, if I my son, my son was still young, I would have loved to have raised him out here, and that's the truth. So why did you decide to come to park zone for kind of a military to see all the different people, all my friends that I didn't see when, you know, when I left, and all of us left, you know, some of us left and moved at other places. And, yeah, definitely you want to see those people again, because you have memories with them, you know. I'm saying special memories, you know. 

And so we since, I think the first time John gave this, we've been to every last one of them, my whole family, all of us. So I don't think we have, we haven't missed one at all. No, and it's five of us left, including my mother. Makes six because my mom's had seven or two of her children passed away. Yeah. So my sister Christine, my brother Alfred, my sister Catherine, went to 250 ones. Me, Darryl and Rodney went to is 88 Yeah. So they bust us up further, you know, because that was all the way up. And my sisters, and then when my sister and brother, my sisters and my brother went over here, 51 what are some things you think more people should go about parks or Brooklyn based on your experience growing up here or just being from here, that is a beautiful place to live. And if we had that opportunity to come back here, we would, and that's the truth. 

You know, I think about it all the time. My mom's only left because the place that she lived in, the place that she was renting caught on fire, and that was the last place that we lived at, and on Sixth Avenue, 3/86, Avenue, and I wanted my mother to go back, because that was somewhere where we can come and, you know, I'm saying it still be a part of Park Slope, but unfortunately, she wasn't able to go back to that house. They put it in the projects, and so we just left it as that, but after we seen how the place has changed and, you know, and not changed in a bad way, but in a good way, you know, I'm saying even better than what it was before, yeah. So yeah, I would say yes. I would definitely stay down here and live my life here? Yeah, my mother's still here. No, my mother lives in Jersey now. Yeah, so No, she doesn't live. She doesn't live in the projects. She moved from the projects. Well, she was up, she moved from the projects, and then she moved to Lincoln between, between Underhill and Washington, right? 

So she was in the same building where my brother lives at, you know, the same time, say, and then from there she moved to Jersey, and she's been out there all that time. But mommy always liked it out here, you know, I'm saying, and that was a place where she could walk around, do what she want to do, go shopping, you know, I'm saying, Mommy. So, Avon, i. I don't want to get into that story, because I want to tell my mother's story eventually, too for her, you said, I'm saying so I don't want to get that get too deep in that part of my mother. But for her, but everybody out here knew my mom's they knew who she was, you know right now. They still know. And she may be, she may not remember them because of having a stroke, but, but, yeah, everybody knew my mom's my mother's last name was Fenton. They used to call it Jackson, and then to this day, they'll call it Jackson. How you doing? Miss Jackson, you know? 

So yeah, what are your hopes for the future of the neighborhood and corporate way? I hope they stop pushing people out. I wish that they would make it equal for everybody. I wish that people that can afford to move back here to Bucha to give them that opportunity to do so instead of raising the rents up so high that nobody can't come back here, you see what I'm saying. So if they, Oh, if they, if they would take and make it more affordable for people. It seems like everybody's moving out of out of New York or Brooklyn period, because the rent is so high you can't afford to stay here. The rents that you pay here, you can go down south and probably get a whole house for that. So, yeah, if they was, if they would make it more affordable for us, you know, for everybody that can't afford it. I think that that's what they should do. You know what I mean, to make it equal and give other people the opportunity to have diversity. You know what I mean? Because when you're in with different people and they have different cultures, you get to learn about that. 

But if you're with one culture, you don't learn very much so that. So when it's time for you to be able to relate or speak with somebody, you don't know how to handle that because you only handle one way. You never got that opportunity to learn different things, you know? And I think that's what Park Slope was for us. We had that opportunity to be able to be around people on on all levels and diversity. And so when we when we came from here, I knew how to talk See what I'm saying. I didn't have the street language. I had the language that I was supposed to have to be able to relate to other people and make sure that they understood what I was saying. 

So I think it's important that everybody, that it should be a mixed, mixed diversity area for everybody you know, just get to know everybody. Get to know what their cultures are, and maybe things would be a lot better, more love, love, peace and happiness. So that goes out into one of those questions. So I just want to ask, what does history mean, ancestry, my history, finding my roots, finding who I, who I, who I, who I am, and why I do what I do. So, yeah, my roots definitely. I already researched everything, you know. I'm still trying to go further, you know. 

And I want to make a book for all my grandson, my grandkids, nieces and nephews, so that they could be proud about who they are. So when somebody asks you, have you ever had slave slaves in your in your family, or do you know anything about the history? You could be proud and hold your head up high, and you could tell them, I'm from Nigeria. I'm from Bendi Togo. You understand, I'm trying to say I'm from Ghana, okay? And you let them know I might have not lived in that country, but I'm still them, my ancestors. Is who I am right now to this day. So that's what history means to me, ancestry. I want to thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you so much. Okay.