Green, Richard, 2010 June 17, inclusive

Richard Green speaks briefly about his upbringing in Brooklyn. He speaks at length about the informal beginnings of the Crown Heights Youth Collective and in general about the meaning of youth centers to a community. Park gatherings were an early form of the collective. Green reflects on when he met Cecil Simon, the co-interviewer as well as a narrator of another oral history in this collection. Simon asks for Green's observations on changes in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. Green traces the recent history of the area, including the relationship between the Black and Hasidic communities, the riot in 1991, and the two decades that followed. Simon discusses his high school experience, the importance of literacy and kindness in street culture, and his incarceration. Richard Green speaks about the teens with whom he works, their assumptions and the collective's workspace. He relays the historical benchmarks of many areas in Brooklyn. Green opines on redevelopment and the fallout in communities. He comes back to the Crown Heights Youth Collective, where he instills values and goals in the members. Interview conducted by Cecil Simon and Alex Kelly.