BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Some of Brooklyn’s best will be celebrated this month as part of the annual Bedford-Stuyvesant/Crown Heights All-Star Reunion awards ceremony honoring those who have given back to the borough.
The awards event was created to celebrate the artistic and cultural contributions in the central Brooklyn community, according to organizers.
Among those acknowledged this year are “outstanding figures that have made a positive impact around the world, past and present,” including Chinita Pointer, wife of the late jazz musician Noel Pointer and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater alumna Dwana Smallwood.
Smallwood recently opened a performing arts center in Bedford-Stuyvesant to help children in the neighborhood, and Pointer created the Noel Pointer Foundation, an organization aimed at teaching string music in the city’s public schools.
In addition to music and food, the Feb. 6 event will feature a tribute to Broadway performer and actor Ben Vereen.
Last year’s honorees included Bed-Stuy native and entertainment attorney Londell McMillan, with the festivities co-hosted by filmmaker Spike Lee, hip-hop legend Ralph McDaniels and Councilman Robert Cornegy.
The councilman is sponsoring the event for a second time around in conjunction with Carver Federal Savings Bank and the Bed-Stuy Gateway BID.
"I'm supporting this event to highlight the talent that comes out of our community and goes on to serve our city and, really, the entire country,” Cornegy said.
“Kids from this neighborhood should see themselves in the local heroes we recognize and know that they can go on to achieve great things."
The celebration helps usher in Black History Month, according to organizers, and will take place on Feb. 6 at the historic Weeksville Heritage Center at 158 Buffalo Ave. from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public, but attendees must RSVP to Ofalcon@council.nyc.gov.
