Slavery began in NY State in 1626, and officially ended in 1827. Yet in 2022, housing segregation and discrimination, school segregation, economic disadvantage and police abuse still overshadows Black American life in NY as well as the rest of the country. During this history / discussion ride, we will go to some of the former slave labor sites in Brooklyn dating back to the Dutch settlement and then visit Weeksville, one of the largest communities of free Black Americans before the Civil War. Not far from there is Ocean Hill/Brownsville, the center of a racially charged teachers strike in 1968 that created huge rifts between NYC's Jewish and Black communities. Segregation in communities like this was formed due to government policy, such as the "redline" maps where the government told bankers that not a single existing residential area of Brooklyn could be considered fully safe for mortgage lending due to the "infiltration" of "Negroes, Jews, and immigrants". We'll also stop by two former African burial grounds and pay our respects to the Black Americans whose bodies were later evicted to make way for the expanding city.

BRING LUNCH - we are not going indoors except for bathroom stops.

WEAR WARM LAYERS - there will be several outdoor stops at the various historical sites.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: YOU MUST HAVE AND WEAR A MASK WHEN NECESSARY ON ALL 5BBC RIDES AS INDICATED BY THE RIDE LEADER. THIS RIDE HAS THE POSSIBILITY OF SPENDING SOME PERIOD OF TIME INDOORS. IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE AND JOIN ANY INDOOR ACTIVITY, YOU MUST BE MASKED, VACCINATED AND BRING PROOF OF VACCINATION. ADDITIONALLY, THE 5BBC MAKES NO REPRESENTATION AS TO THE VACCINATION STATUS OF ANYONE ON THE RIDE OR ENGAGED IN ANY ACTIVITY, INDOOR OR OUT. THE RISK INVOLVED IN ANY ACTIVITY ON THE RIDE IS ASSUMED BY EACH INDIVIDUAL RIDER.