THE BROOKLYN BLACK BELT SALON RETURNS WITH ITS FIRST ANNUAL HOLIDAY DESSERT CELEBRATION IN BROOKLYN'S FORT GREENE/CLINTON HILL NEIGHBORHOOD

On Saturday, December 10, the Brooklyn Black Belt Salon Brunch continues its community outreach and returns with a spirit of giving for the holiday season. Current and former Clinton Hill/Fort Greene neighborhood residents Gwendolyn Quinn, Jacqueline Rhinehart and Jelani Bandele will host the First Annual Holiday Dessert Salon. Invited guests will bring gift items for the residents of the New Carlton Rehabilitation Center in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn. The Dessert Salon will feature live entertainment, by Grammy-Award Winning Artist Gordon Chambers, Alexis Suter, Johnny Mercer, Marva Allen, Rhonda Davis and Nedelka, music by DJ Bryant Smith, great food and drinks and holiday treats. Many of the neighborhood establishments will donate desserts and other items for the event.

On Monday, December 12, friends of the Brooklyn Black Belt Salon Brunch will visit the residents of the nursing home, sing Christmas carols and deliver gifts items to the elderly. Last year, a group of six singers visited, spread holiday cheer and brought presents to over 60 residents. The residents were gracious and deeply moved and so were the singers, who all agreed to come back for this year’s holiday season.

Brooklyn Black Belt Salon events open to the public will be announced during 2006.

Between 1880 and the early 1900s the most prominent of Brooklyn’s educated and cultured elite resided in the Clinton Hill/Fort Greene neighborhood ––dubbed Brooklyn’s Black Belt over a century ago. Still one of the borough’s most upstanding African-American neighborhoods, the area motivated long-time residents Gwendolyn Quinn, and then Jackie Rhinehart and Charles E. Rogers to form the Brooklyn Black Belt Sunday Salon Brunch.

The history of the Brooklyn Black Belt Sunday Salon Brunch dates back to 1990 when, while crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Rhinehart, Quinn and Rogers agreed that an organized effort ought to be made to bring the residents of their neighborhood together. The monthly brunch was conceived as a way to provide a creative intellectual environment for people to exchange ideas and interact with their neighbors.
Initially, the Salon Brunches were hosted at the residences of music industry professionals Quinn, Rhinehart, Rogers, Lisa Cortes, Juanita Stephens and others. After only a few months the turnout was so large that it was no longer feasible to hold the event in private homes. The Brunch then moved to neighborhood restaurants and clubs. For nearly ten years, organizers coordinated a monthly series that presented a wide variety of events –– from panels on entrepreneurship to live performances, poetry readings and fashion shows.

In 1999, after an extended hiatus, the Black Belt Salon Brunch returned with the first of the renewed series titled, “On The Real–Estate of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill: Our Neighborhood’s Changing Faces and Economic Bases,” addressing the area’s developing landscape. Rhinehart, Quinn and Rogers joined with lifetime resident, salon brunch organizer and entrepreneur Jelani Bandele to host the event at Brooklyn’s Two Steps Down restaurant, where participants shared a meal and took part in a frank and informative panel discussion.

Over the years, the salon brunch has inspired and encouraged many residents of the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill area to further develop, foster and build both personal and professional relationships in the community. In 2003, Bandele published a resource book, Plenty: The Ultimate Guide to Life & Leisure in Clinton Hill/ Fort Greene. The directory includes more than 600 listings and a run-down of elected officials, houses of worship, retail and home-based businesses, non-profit organizations, healthcare providers, restaurants, social service and government agencies, schools, parks and playgrounds, entertainment venues and more. It is a comprehensive source for community services and businesses in the Clinton Hill/Fort Greene community.

“After being on hiatus for several years we are excited about rebuilding the Salon as an annual holiday event, dedicated to continuing the legacy of giving back to the community,” says Quinn. “I don’t think there’s enough focus on the elderly population of the community; and that just breaks my heart. We look forward to reconnecting with former Brunch participants as well as residents new to the area. This is an important component of life in this community on a number of levels. The community is changing. Fort Greene/Clinton Hill has always had a vibrant creative community and we know that the Salon Brunch is a vehicle that fostered healthy and productive relationships and it should start in our backyard.”
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