Elliot Washor's TGIF 01.30.2026

Are you with me now? A. J. Ryder

I arrived in NYC just before last week’s snowstorm for the BPL Leadership Summit and barring the storm and perhaps even because of it, the time at the Renaissance Hotel on 125^th St and the school visits were all eventful in and of themselves. It was a great gathering. Being from Brooklyn, it was especially memorable. I felt like I was home and that the hard work of so many developing lots of schools and programs in NYC was for me a time of redemption. Decades ago, we were told by foundations and school officials that because of our design, we would never have a school in NYC. As Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerld so aptly stated, Who’s Got the Last Laugh Now? Casey and the NYC team along with many BPL staff did great work putting all the pieces together for a cohesive whole both doing the work in the schools and at the Summit.

Some personal highlights for me were:

 Meeting up with Ayinde Bennett who lives at 125 Hawthorne St., in Brooklyn, the building where I spent my entire NYC life. Here we are signing 1H for my apartment. He lives in 4D. Not only did I live there but my dad’s brothers, sisters and cousins all lived in this building as well. What are the odds of that happening? Ayinde works at CareerWise so, we have lots more to discuss than just 125 Hawthorne and the neighborhood. If you are into numbers the way I am, the fact that my building was 125 and that we spent our nights at 125^th St is kismet. You can’t design this sort of happenstance.

It was heartwarming seeing our former board member Irwin Kula at his home that he graciously opened up for a dinner with new and old friends of BPL. I was sorry that I couldn’t stay longer but had to get back to AfterDark.

 Once again by all accounts, Shameka and El AfterDark provided space for personal storytelling about what matters. We both love sharing this time and space with others about the things that you can only tell AfterDark. More to come.

My time with new and old friends at the Summit was a blessing. The spaces we were in were historical and they included renovated parts of the historic Apollo Theater and the Alhambra Ballroom which was an important part of the Harlem Renaissance.

Seeing NYC students playing jazz standards at the Apollo and watching the performance of National Youth Poet Laureate Stephanie Pacheco made old buildings come alive with the currency of youthful talent. Electrifying! I know people tell stories but buildings are the landmarks that remind us of what happened in our history and NYC is full of these places that conjure up their ghosts. It was great that in the evening conference attendees went to Broadway theaters that hold those histories as well. On the last night of the conference, Anthonette, Sonn and I went to my childhood friends' bar KGB’s. This place was once a speakeasy for Lucky Luciano and then was the social club and theater for Ukrainians living in the East Village. Our school buildings also had history. I was at Opening Day of Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom School with Deb Meier who knows how many decades ago. Before this building housed a school it was a factory where Christmas Lights were mad. It was the Small Schools movement of NYC that turned buildings like this into the schools they are today.

In other happenings during the week, Taylor and I were on a Zoom with the Winnipeg leadership team preparing for the BPL Leadership Summit happening in April. Registration will be open soon. Leadership Journeys will be part of the summit along with LtL’s and all the rest that makes a BPL conference, a BPL conference.

The book Pam Roy and I have been working on for the past months passed another milestone. It is now with the editors at Beacon Press for review.

Next week, I’m out of the cold and into the heat. Our k-8 IBPLC will be gathering in Barbados at Beyond the Box. While in Barbados, we will also be meeting with the education ministry and I will be searching for points of interest that tell the story of Shirley Chisholm, my Congresswoman from Brooklyn. Unbought and Unbossed.

Be well!