What is oral history? It is a opportunity for people—many of whom have never been interviewed before because they are not professional athletes or politicians or reality TV stars—to talk about their lives. Their stories, their perceptions about their own lives and the events they have experienced can give us a picture not only of them but about the times they have lived through. These are some of the reasons why a group of faculty at Brooklyn College started the Brooklyn College Listening Project in 2014. In addition, we also thought that our students were uniquely qualified to help their families, friends, neighbors and strangers to tell the stories of their lives.
Recent Stories
Trinisha Williams
Listen to Trinisha Williams and you can hear her excitement about being a midwife and helping women give birth to their babies.
Tat Bellamy-Walker
A lot has happened since Tat Bellamy-Walker was interviewed for the BCLP in 2018. Bellamy-Walker graduated from the Craig Newmark School of Journalism (CUNY), got started on their journalism career and completed their gender transition.
Armelis D’Orville
Armelis D’Orville a 29-year-old freelance photographer on the rise, born and raised in Corona, Queens, developed a passion for the art of photography while taking a 35mm film, black and white course at Queensborough Community College.
Rayson Chen
Rayson’s Chen’s parents, immigrants from China, had big dreams for their first child. They expected Rayson to become a doctor, lawyer, CEO. Instead, he wanted to become a high school history teacher. That didn’t go over well.
Hassan Iqbal
Hassan Iqbal never intended to become a cab driver. When he was a teenager in Lahore, Pakistan, he dreamed about becoming a doctor or an engineer. “But then I put my dreams in the back and said, ‘I have to make money for my siblings, my family.’”
Rayan Itani
Rayan Itani grew up in a house bursting with different languages. Her mother is Lebanese and her father is Mexican. She grew up speaking Arabic, French, Spanish and English. It was a linguistic whirlwind.
Recent Podcast
Issues
Gentrification
Gentrification has almost become synonymous with Brooklyn. Neighborhood after neighborhood—Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Carroll Gardens—has been transformed as real estate developers have scooped up older buildings, putting pressure on tenants to move out, rehabbing apartments and charging three or four times the previous rents.