A conversation between Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful and Rosemary Reyes
NDER: Can you talk about your connection to Jamaica, Queens? You and I met briefly in New Orleans, LA in 2015. We met again in Jamaica in 2016. I was wondering if there are any common threads between these two distant places and how your presence in New York might shed light on this.
RR: I must admit that before I started working here, I had no connection to Jamaica, Queens. My relationship with Jamaica began as one of service, but that's been evolving rapidly since I started. Now that I'm developing a closeness to so many community residents, I am slowly getting to understand Jamaica more intimately. The most obvious thread to me between New Orleans and Jamaica, Queens would be that both communities are or were on the precipice of a major socioeconomic change that naturally may threaten what is considered to be the native culture of those places. Because of this, my position in both scenarios is a delicate one particularly since I moved to New Orleans to work there and also had no prior connection to the place. That's why I feel most comfortable playing a role of service. As a visitor to these places I want to make sure that I create resources and spaces that perhaps weren't there before but there was a necessity for. My mother always taught me to leave any place that you are visiting better than how you found it, and I'm doing my best to apply that idea here out of mere respect.
NDER: Can you give us a picture of your daily walks through Jamaica? Do you have a particular route that you follow from day to day as result of your job? And what is your job in the neighborhood?
RR: I take the J train from Bushwick to Jamaica Center to get to work. I get off at Jamaica Center and Parsons Blvd and walk about 8 minutes down Jamaica Avenue to 161st to get to the Greater Jamaica Development Corp offices where I work from. I am the Project Manager for a new arts program of the City's Department of Cultural Affairs called the Building Community Capacity Initiative. The community has renamed it "Jamaica Is...." It's a community development program centered around the arts. GJDC is the fiscal agent for the program.
NDER: One of the parts of Jamaica that I have gotten to know more is the pedestrian boulevard. Can you elaborate on this particular area from a personal perspective? My perception of the boulevard is that of a living organism, always changing. I have been able to experience the marked shifts of moods and affects emanating from this thoroughfare throughout the day.
RR: It's certainly vibrant and ever-changing. The teenagers goofing around after school, business owners on their hustle, and families shopping and gathering what they need. I love the patty shop on 165th and I also love the Colosseum. It strangely reminds me of underground malls in the subways of Shanghai or just generally what markets feel like in the global south. You could be anywhere in the world really. It speaks to the strong presence of immigrants in the community but also how Jamaica really can feel like so many different places at once.
NDER: There is the general feeling that Jamaica is in the midst of transition. How would you say this neighborhood will strike a balance between what is already there and what might come to the place?
RR: It's really hard to answer this question because I feel like I'm constantly confronting the many nuances of this in my work. I don't know what will happen but I do know that Jamaica residents are incredibly resilient and very aware of how their community is changing which will help preserve what needs to remain in place through the transition. I also think the neighborhood is incredibly well-positioned to leverage the impending changes to benefit what is already there. Particularly if you look at other neighborhoods around the city (in Northern Brooklyn and Western Queens for instance) who have experienced rapid changes with resulting mass displacement, Jamaica feel much more well-equipped to engage with changes instead of falling victim to them. But again, it's very hard to say.
NDER: My understanding of Jamaica is that of a place comprised of an active business district and a quiet community-based section, meaning the apartment buildings and the houses where people live. I was wondering about any other areas existing between these two counterparts: the commercial and the residential.
RR: I do believe that the undercurrent of smaller or individual artistic efforts create another area. The faith-based practices and cultural customs of the neighborhood's new immigrant communities are another powerful undercurrent. Both certainly contribute largely to the ecosystem that sustains the community.
NDER: Jamaica is obviously a bastion for black culture not just from the U.S., but also from the Caribbean. How are these legacies of Africa in Jamaica mixing and hybridizing when it comes to the fashion, the visual arts, music and food?
RR: It's visible in everything! The powerful legacy of Jazz and Hip-Hop in the neighborhood is the most obvious (Tom Browne, LL Cool J, Run DMC, 50 Cent, Niki Minaj, and on and on). If you walk down the ave too, you'll see the pan African colors everywhere (lots of red, green, and black is visible). A lot of the artistic work happening in the community is centered around the African Diaspora: Black Spectrum Theatre, The United African Dance Troupe (traditional African dance), Culture Cocoa House (murals of hip-hop artists), and Drumsongs (teaches how to make and play African drums) are just a few of the artistic groups who's work is directly tied to African cultural heritage. In terms of hybridizing I would say The Afrikan Poetry Theatre does a really great job of integrating traditional African heritage with more African American cultural practices via spoken word performances, free style, and theatre. It's a social and educational space that's somewhat of a preservation hub for both new and ancestral cultural practices of the African Diaspora.
NDER: if you could bury your heart in Jamaica where would you do this and why?
RR: King Manor! It's such a historical gem that symbolizes resistance and freedom. It also continues to stand the test of time and I know that my heart will be safe there.
Photo: Rosemary Reyes
NDER: Can you talk about your connection to Jamaica, Queens? You and I met briefly in New Orleans, LA in 2015. We met again in Jamaica in 2016. I was wondering if there are any common threads between these two distant places and how your presence in New York might shed light on this.
RR: I must admit that before I started working here, I had no connection to Jamaica, Queens. My relationship with Jamaica began as one of service, but that's been evolving rapidly since I started. Now that I'm developing a closeness to so many community residents, I am slowly getting to understand Jamaica more intimately. The most obvious thread to me between New Orleans and Jamaica, Queens would be that both communities are or were on the precipice of a major socioeconomic change that naturally may threaten what is considered to be the native culture of those places. Because of this, my position in both scenarios is a delicate one particularly since I moved to New Orleans to work there and also had no prior connection to the place. That's why I feel most comfortable playing a role of service. As a visitor to these places I want to make sure that I create resources and spaces that perhaps weren't there before but there was a necessity for. My mother always taught me to leave any place that you are visiting better than how you found it, and I'm doing my best to apply that idea here out of mere respect.
NDER: Can you give us a picture of your daily walks through Jamaica? Do you have a particular route that you follow from day to day as result of your job? And what is your job in the neighborhood?
RR: I take the J train from Bushwick to Jamaica Center to get to work. I get off at Jamaica Center and Parsons Blvd and walk about 8 minutes down Jamaica Avenue to 161st to get to the Greater Jamaica Development Corp offices where I work from. I am the Project Manager for a new arts program of the City's Department of Cultural Affairs called the Building Community Capacity Initiative. The community has renamed it "Jamaica Is...." It's a community development program centered around the arts. GJDC is the fiscal agent for the program.
NDER: One of the parts of Jamaica that I have gotten to know more is the pedestrian boulevard. Can you elaborate on this particular area from a personal perspective? My perception of the boulevard is that of a living organism, always changing. I have been able to experience the marked shifts of moods and affects emanating from this thoroughfare throughout the day.
RR: It's certainly vibrant and ever-changing. The teenagers goofing around after school, business owners on their hustle, and families shopping and gathering what they need. I love the patty shop on 165th and I also love the Colosseum. It strangely reminds me of underground malls in the subways of Shanghai or just generally what markets feel like in the global south. You could be anywhere in the world really. It speaks to the strong presence of immigrants in the community but also how Jamaica really can feel like so many different places at once.
NDER: There is the general feeling that Jamaica is in the midst of transition. How would you say this neighborhood will strike a balance between what is already there and what might come to the place?
RR: It's really hard to answer this question because I feel like I'm constantly confronting the many nuances of this in my work. I don't know what will happen but I do know that Jamaica residents are incredibly resilient and very aware of how their community is changing which will help preserve what needs to remain in place through the transition. I also think the neighborhood is incredibly well-positioned to leverage the impending changes to benefit what is already there. Particularly if you look at other neighborhoods around the city (in Northern Brooklyn and Western Queens for instance) who have experienced rapid changes with resulting mass displacement, Jamaica feel much more well-equipped to engage with changes instead of falling victim to them. But again, it's very hard to say.
NDER: My understanding of Jamaica is that of a place comprised of an active business district and a quiet community-based section, meaning the apartment buildings and the houses where people live. I was wondering about any other areas existing between these two counterparts: the commercial and the residential.
RR: I do believe that the undercurrent of smaller or individual artistic efforts create another area. The faith-based practices and cultural customs of the neighborhood's new immigrant communities are another powerful undercurrent. Both certainly contribute largely to the ecosystem that sustains the community.
NDER: Jamaica is obviously a bastion for black culture not just from the U.S., but also from the Caribbean. How are these legacies of Africa in Jamaica mixing and hybridizing when it comes to the fashion, the visual arts, music and food?
RR: It's visible in everything! The powerful legacy of Jazz and Hip-Hop in the neighborhood is the most obvious (Tom Browne, LL Cool J, Run DMC, 50 Cent, Niki Minaj, and on and on). If you walk down the ave too, you'll see the pan African colors everywhere (lots of red, green, and black is visible). A lot of the artistic work happening in the community is centered around the African Diaspora: Black Spectrum Theatre, The United African Dance Troupe (traditional African dance), Culture Cocoa House (murals of hip-hop artists), and Drumsongs (teaches how to make and play African drums) are just a few of the artistic groups who's work is directly tied to African cultural heritage. In terms of hybridizing I would say The Afrikan Poetry Theatre does a really great job of integrating traditional African heritage with more African American cultural practices via spoken word performances, free style, and theatre. It's a social and educational space that's somewhat of a preservation hub for both new and ancestral cultural practices of the African Diaspora.
NDER: if you could bury your heart in Jamaica where would you do this and why?
RR: King Manor! It's such a historical gem that symbolizes resistance and freedom. It also continues to stand the test of time and I know that my heart will be safe there.
Photo: Rosemary Reyes
