Every Sunday in summer, the corner of Tompkins Avenue and Monroe Street buzzes with people dancing to live music, shopping and socializing, but it's not just any block party.
It's the Building Black Bed-Stuy marketplace, which features all Black vendors and performers, in an effort to protect the neighborhood's Black-owned businesses and Black community from displacement, as gentrification transforms the area.
Now in its third year, BBB is an organization that raises money for existing Black-owned businesses and organizations in need, through a series of grant programs and events.
It all started in 2020, when Kai Avent-deLeon reached out to her friends and now co-founders Rajni Jacques, Nana Yaa Asare-Boadu and Dana Arbib with the idea to combat gentrification and the lack of growth in accumulating Black wealth in Bed-Stuy, Avent-deLeon said.
“I wanted to create something that would help during lockdown, specifically more of a local level within our community, meaning the Black community,” said Avent-deLeon. “We all brainstormed and fell on this idea to raise money for local Black businesses, and it grew from there. The initiative is still the same, but now we do the marketplace as well.”
In round one of fundraising, BBB supported Life Wellness Center, The Watoto Free School and The Black Power Blueprint. In the second round, it supported Little Sun People and the Bed-Stuy Volunteer Ambulance Corps. In round three, it supported Buy Better Foods, Brooklyn Packers and Bed-Stuy Art House.
Bed-Stuy's rents are rising higher than ever before according to StreetEasy data. And, the neighborhood lost 22,000 Black residents and added more than 30,000 white residents in the last decade, according to the U.S. census.
As more and more people post videos of the marketplace on TikTok and Instagram, Avent-deLeon said she hopes viewers understand that the event is more than just a good party — it's a crucial chance to support Black business owners.
“I saw a couple of videos on Instagram, and I think it’s great,” said Avent-deLeon. “I do feel like we need to be careful because we don’t want our mission to get lost in the fact that we also do these marketplaces. We have this element of dancing and a DJ, but that is not our purpose or our mission. It’s obviously great to have a growing community of people that know about the organization, but we do want to make sure that our actual purpose is being seen as well.”
BBB is currently on its fourth fundraising round and it is not slowing down anytime soon. This time, the organization is fundraising for Alfreda’s Cinema, the United Order of the Tents and the Hattie Carthan Community Garden. So far, the organization has raised more than $5,000 on its GoFundMe, and has a goal of $30,000.
“We would really like to continue raising funds for either brick-and-mortar’s that already exist, and organizations or businesses that would like to open a brick-and-mortar, whose mission aligns with ours,” Avent-deLeon said. “I think our main focus will always just remain in raising this money for the businesses that are in this community.”
As part of her mission, Avent-deLeon said she is also working to provide more resources and education around home and land ownership for Black community members, and that she wants to build "more financial literacy around those types of topics."
"I’ve done a few forums and panels at my store, Sincerely, Tommy, around those topics and gentrification," Avent-deLeon said. "[They are] just different tools that could help navigate the rise in gentrification."
Currently, BBB is accepting donations through GoFundMe. Its next marketplace event will take place on July 23 at 343 Tompkins Ave. The event runs every Sunday on Tompkins Avenue during the summer.
