More on the Barclays Center's neon art/advertising installation: scenes from "Block Party," video of speeches by pols, artist, sponsor

Let me expand on my essay in The Indypendent, "Art or Advertising? The Contradictions of 'You/We Belong Here' Neon Signage at Barclays Center" with some more images, observations, and videos of the ceremony, aka "Belong the Block Party," held at the arena plaza on October 23.

At right is the invitation.

Below is a photo I took of Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, owners of the Brooklyn Nets, Barclays Center operating company, and New York Liberty--and, of course, behind the Tsai Foundation's Social Justice Fund--posing with Rep. Yvette Clarke, one of the two establishment politicians who spoke at the event.

Note that, in the backdrop, the Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty logos are just as prominent as the branding for the Social Justice Fund.

Photos by Norman Oder

Another view of the platform for the ceremony, with the logos.

Below, the uneasy combination of signage from the Social Justice Fund and Webull, sponsor of the Nets' uniform patch.

The swag, and the videos

As shown in the photo at right, the swag was all Nets-related: a bag and a mask.

Below, I reproduce videos of the four main speakers, though keep in mind that the event included not just free food (including from vendors supported by the Social Justice Fund's low-cost loan program) and tables from various agencies, but performances from the Brooklyn Steppers marching band, the Brooklynette, and others associated with arena entertainment, including kids' and seniors' troupes. 

Also present was Gregg Bishop, executive director of the Social Justice Fund and well-connected politically as a former head of the city Department of Small Business Services.

Clara Wu Tsai

The first speaker was Clara Wu Tsai. She first thanked DJ Angela Yee, Rep.  Clarke, Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin, and artist Tavares Strachan.

"So, you know, on behalf of Joe and myself and Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Liberty, I really want to thank all of you for coming out today. I mean, I'm looking out and I look at the rich diversity of this borough and it's really inspiring, the power of the people at this borough."

(Notice her pronounciation of “borough” as “borrow.” C'mon, the Brooklyn Nets used to say "my borough is thorough," quoting Notorious B.I.G., lyrics NSFW.)

She cited some of the "businesses that we've been able to support," hired to cater the event.

 

"But overall, I mean, we're here to celebrate the history and the culture. of Brooklyn. And we're also here to commemorate the activism and the bravery of all the people that were here, underlying all the social movements that really took root over the last year in the wake of George Floyd's murder."

"I really believe in the power of art, and I really believe in the power of public art. And when it's done well, it really speaks to our shared identity and our shared pride and really to our belonging."

Rep. Yvette Clarke

It was interesting to see Clarke's praise for the larger project get relatively little reaction. At about 2:13, she stated (reading from her phone), "The Barclays Center is the foundation of a $6 billion redevelopment project that was subjected to years of protests and lawsuits, to keep it from getting built, even at all."

"And just about every high profile march in Brooklyn, seems to have begun and ended or passed through this great arena. And it wasn't that long ago, that the this very plaza was filled with thousands of people protesting the murder of George Floyd. So how fitting that the Barclays plaza is located at the crossroads of the two biggest streets in the city's most populous borough. If you build it, Brooklynites will come. We will show up and we will show out."

"We'll come from the great entertainment offered, but also in defense of freedom, and our ongoing demand for change and justice. And we can all finally believe it. This iconic arena accommodates the diverse nation that Brooklyn represents. From concerts, the Nets, public art project, and the candlelight vigils to Black Lives Matter protests, and Friday afternoons."

 

Clarke at 3:44 stated, "The Barclays Center has truly become the mecca of Brooklyn."  Note the lack of response from the crowd, perhaps more attuned to their friends and relatives invited as performers or vendors.

"Although some only recently found their way here, others have roots that span generations. And so today we celebrate we celebrate our diversity because we all belong here."

Note that Clarke also mentioned another guest, expected 35th District Council Member, Crystal Hudson, and encouraged people to vote for her. Hudson, no great fan of the arena, didn't speak or promote the event on social media. But it's understandable why she wouldn't refuse the invite.

Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin

Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin spoke. "I came from a little known village called Harlem and I just wanted to come in first, give a lot of love to Joe and Clara Tsai for the Social Justice Fund. Let me tell y'all something. A lot of people in the wake of George Floyd's murder made a lot of commitments about what they were going to do for our community."

"But I can say with you right here to now when you look at the business that are out here, getting loans from the Social Justice Fund, led by Gregg Bishop and the Tsais. You look at what they're doing with the installations and what we're talking about doing. They are putting their money where their mouth is and I want to give them a big round of applause for stepping up. And not just giving us symbols, but having real teeth behind it."

Of course he's ignoring all the new revenues for the arena and team, and the use--as mentioned in my main essay--of any canvas on the arena perimeter for advertising and promotion. Nor would he mention such things as a wealth tax.

"Let me say when I hear the words 'We belong here' it's a very complicated feeling I have because someone shouldn't have to tell me that I belong where I was born and where I live. But when you look at what has happened over this country, over the last hundreds of few hundreds of years, it became important to say Black Lives Matter. It became important to uplift those who have been marginalized and who have been racially set aside."

Those are heartfelt and important observations, but, as I point out in my main essay, it's notable that the event producers apparently did not invite--or attract--any of the more radical organizers of the protests.

Benjamin continued: "And so when I think of we belong here, I say to myself, we all belong here, but some people need to see and know that Black and brown people belong here."

Artist Tavares Strachan

"So I'm gonna keep this really short and simple," said Strachan. "When you hear words like 'You belong here' and 'We belong here,' unfortunately, we live in a world where these statements are necessary. And for me, whenever I make words like this, the goal is for us at some point in the future, to not have to say these words to each other."

He seemed to be asserting the statements as declarative, rather than as raising questions, as he's done with similar installations, as I wrote.

 

"But at the moment, we have to say these words and we have to keep saying them louder and louder," he said. Someone shouts "we belong here" and Strachan responded "Exactly."

He invited Clara Wu Tsai onstage to light the installation. Afterwards, he stated, "So, thank you all for coming out. Hopefully this space continues to be a place of conversation, a space of contemplation, and all of the folks who are in the crowd and it might be a lot of us, have felt what it feels like to not feel like you belong somewhere."

That said, as I argued, it's also a space for commerce.