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June 3, 2008

Slave Theater in Court, Preservation Effort Weak

The fate of Slave No. 1 Theater in Bed-Stuy, opened in the early 1980s by Judge John L. Phillips, Jr., is still being decided by the probate court, documentary filmmaker and activist Mya Baker told us. The retired judge, who after being declared mentally incompetent lost control of $10 million or so worth of property in Bed-Stuy, was pronounced dead last February, on the same day a rally was scheduled to save his cherished theater, once a hub of black activism. "He didn't really have any family members and he didn't leave it to anybody, so it all depends on if they're gonna take it or not," she said.

Baker acknowledged that preservation efforts have so far received a tepid response, but a Juneteenth Festival to that end is still planed June 21. Online petitions such as this one, started last November to prevent its sale, have only a handful of signatures, and a myspace profile created for the theater hasn't been logged into in six months. "Last week they had a play called 'The Meeting Between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.' and it was a three-day run ... I went on the first day. It was, you know, people, not that many people," she said, sounding a bit dispirited. During the time Baker, 34, was most heavily involved with the theater, she said, "It's just trying to rally the community to want to save it, that was the biggest problem." This is in stark contrast to the energy that once emanated from the place. During the 1980s, when racially-motivated killings twice caused firestorms throughout the city, the varied factions of the black community needed a central meeting place, and that became the Slave Theater. While the name was intended as reminder of the injustices black Americans have endured, inside the walls are lined with portraits of prominent activists like Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who led movements to overcome those struggles. Baker said there are still efforts to sell the theater, and we found a listing online, albeit almost a year old. Meanwhile, the historic theater continues to play host to small events.
A Symbol of Activism Is at Center of Court Dispute [NY Times]
Slave Theater could be sold to pay judge’s ‘debts’ [Brooklyn Paper]
John L. Phillips Jr., 83, Civil Court Judge Is Dead [NY Times via mybedstuy]




Posted by sarah ryley at 11:01 AM | Comments (27)
Categories: Culture, Historical

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I grew up on Hancock Bet Beford and Nostrand. Back in the days it was call The Regent Theater. They had the triple feature of Bruce Lee, Blaxploitation films, Spaghetti Westerns and other films of the 70's. I spend some of the best days of my life there.

The funny thing about the Regent there was no age limit. at 10 years old I saw Pam Grier in her beauty.

John L. Phillips Jr., 83 had Alzheimer and the Slave theatre went into disrepair. I hope some one makes it a land mark, it's a piece of Bed Stuy's history.

BTW If any asshat ask me what was the other theater in the neighborhood, it was the Banco. A 99 cent store is there now!

The What (Born and Raised in BROOKLYN!!!!!!!)

Someday this war is gonna end....

Posted by: what at June 3, 2008 11:16 AM

Pam Grier...
For once I agree with the What.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 11:32 AM

Thanks for the info, What! Do you have any pictures from back then? I keep on hearing about how active the theater was in the early 80's, but in the three years I've been in the neighborhood, it's been locked up.

Posted by: madison_st at June 3, 2008 11:36 AM

I think that the lack of interest in this preservation effort is a mark of the changing times. As that type of firebrand activism fades into history, so will the theater. It's no coincidence that the chief proponents of militancy are entering or in their senior years (Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Charles Barron, Maxine Waters, etc.). Barack Obama and Hakeem Jeffries represent the current generation: corporate, button-down, and focused on playing the game rather than fighting the man.


It will probably wind up being condos or retail. C'est la vie.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 11:44 AM

The photo is amazing! Does anyone have information on the year, event, photographer credit, etc?

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 11:49 AM

Hey, Al Sharpton's only 52...

I remember seeing him outside the Slave one evening...big community meeting going on inside, maybe around the time of the Crown Heights shootings. It was also a popular venue for the Black Muslims, who generally wouldn't let white folks in to their rallies.

Posted by: WonTon at June 3, 2008 11:56 AM

"Thanks for the info, What! Do you have any pictures from back then? I keep on hearing about how active the theater was in the early 80's, but in the three years I've been in the neighborhood, it's been locked up."

I remember when John L. Phillips changes the name "The Slave" people went nuts but he explain everything in a letter posted at the theatre. The Neighborhood was hoping he reopen but, he got and the rest was history.

Plus there was a barber on the first floor called "Panama" Panama used to cut hair on the handball court with a razor and scissors. The dice game would be going and people would wait for Panama to finnish. BTW I saw Panama a couple weeks ago. For a man in his late 60's, he looks great.

One last thing about The Regent. They a had bad rat problem and when someone would scream, RAT!!! The whole place would empty out, LOL. The sad this was you had to pay again to get in..... Like Archie Bunker would say "Those where the days.......

The What

Someday this war is gonna end....

Posted by: what at June 3, 2008 12:07 PM

I'd guess this photo was snapped circa 1971.

And 37 years later, there is a real possibility that the next prez will be African-American.

Pretty damn cool.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 12:15 PM

Thanks what - more stories about brooklyn back in the day please...nice for the readers to catch a glimpse of your pleasant nostalgic side!

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 12:20 PM

To much crime in the area thats why they want to tear it down.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 12:21 PM

Tear it down? I hope not. The building has a great history. When I moved here in the early 80's there was still sporadic activity there, although nothing like in the 70's. Judge Phillips was quite the local character. What happened to him towards the end of his life shouldn't happen to anyone.

The theatre is really nice building - solidly built, great mass on the block. I'd turn the ground floor into a first class restaurant and separate coffee bar. The second floor I would lease to some kind of creative companies for offices, and have a non-profit office/gallery space for someone whose interests include local history and lore, local artists and/or organizations interested in preserving historical Bed Stuy.

Any financial partners out there? I have great ideas, I'm just broke.

What - that was great info.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at June 3, 2008 12:52 PM

Starbucks, Banana Republic or a bank would be a better use of the space.

Fake What sounds like NOP.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 1:05 PM

Man oh man, those recollections of rats brought me back to the old Happy Hour Theatre on Columbia Street in Red Hook. I went there in the early 1960's for ten cents a show and twenty-five cents for a double feature. The place was invested big time with rats, sometimes crawling on the stage near the screen. No one left the theatre because of the rats back then.

Judge Phillips was one of several blacks judges in the City back in the day; these guys were pioneers in a sense. Cut-em-loose Bruce (Judge Bruce Wright)was another character too.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 1:08 PM

1:08: Those days are over - for a very good reason.

Convert this to a Chuck.E.Cheeze.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 1:21 PM

There are other historically black theatres around the country that have been renovated, saved and are still going strong with good programming. They did a great job with the Morton Theatre in Athens GA where I went to school.

You have to run it like any other nonprofit arts organization. It is so hard to raise money and get people to attend programs. Even with the very best adminstrative staffs and best program directors and the best boards of directors it's a struggle. Much less when you have a guy who was declared mentally incompetent but who never lined up anyone to take his place and keep things going. This has nothing to do with a lack of interest in the community about saving a black theatre. It's about lack of organization. This theatre could be a center for black cinema in the country. The only answer is to convince a well established media nonprofit to absorb it into their fold. Don't make the mistake of putting more amateurs in charge of it. You need people who know what they are doing.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 1:34 PM

didn't the article say they just had a play there? Wish I had known- hope there is some way to preserve the theater and its history.

Posted by: bxgrl at June 3, 2008 1:54 PM

1:21: In a sense, you're right, although out of adversity some of us build strength and character. Don't know about those days being over: http://gothamist.com/2008/06/02/a_plague_upon_a.php

The Lincoln Theatre in the U Street corridor in DC is another historically black theatre that has been rescued from extinction. In a broader sense, a lot of these old movie theatres are still standing in smaller cities and towns. The great cinema theatres of my childhood like the Loews, Albee and Paramount theatres in downtown Brooklyn have long since gone.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 1:57 PM

I disagree. Bed-stuy is filled with intelligent, well-monied people, especially at this point. If a high-degree of interest were present, this effort would have gained far more momentum that it currently has. In general, movie theaters are becoming a thing of the past - by the next generation, the vast majority of film buffs will enjoy cinema online or on DVD. Theaters will be for the periodic special occasion. For this same reason, I doubt that the Loews on Flatbush Ave. will ever be renovated.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 2:07 PM

Yeah but 2:07, those intelligent, well-monied people have many many many organizations vying for their attention and their pocketbooks. It's not enough to merely exist a few blocks down the street from these people. It takes a well-run organization and awesome programming to get attention and support and keep it.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 2:41 PM

Black people hate remembering slavery--all Americans do. The name of the theater dooms it. Who wants to save the "Slave"ery theater. It's absurd!

I grew up around here--was teen in the 80s & my cohort found the whole thing ridiculous.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 3:58 PM

Hey, I remember seeing my first pair of(Pam Grier)tits on that great screen too. As a child I participated in a film on the life of Sonny Carson. The theatre was used as a luncheon hall during the filming. Rent the movie and you will see some great shots of the theatre and other parts of Brooklyn including a historic Gang fight in Prospect Park. Also, for those looking for some historical photos of Brooklyn including fabulous pics of the "El" that ran along Myrtle Ave than check out http://pcullinan.smugmug.com.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 4:01 PM

Unfortunately, the building is in disrepair. Unless someone has a lot of money to rehab the place - even before they do one artisitc thing - an arts center would be hard to create. If they tried to connect with the arts district in FG - which is a stretch - or Restoration Plaza complex - which is more likely - they could get something going. Given the rise of live music venues, e.g. Solomon's Porch, soemthing along those lines could work quite well in this area, which lacks that kind of venue.

At the least, saving the buidling for any use over something out of proportion to the surroundings, would be a small consolation.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 4:14 PM

"I'd guess this photo was snapped circa 1971."

Nope, mid 80's.

"I remember seeing him outside the Slave one evening...big community meeting going on inside, maybe around the time of the Crown Heights shootings. It was also a popular venue for the Black Muslims, who generally wouldn't let white folks in to their rallies."

For one, please explain why... The case was they didn't want to let reporters in so the bastards said crap.. I guess with name like WonTon you was cooking in back of the restaurant.

"Any financial partners out there? I have great ideas, I'm just broke.

What - that was great info."

Thanks Morris. I wish I had the money to buy it. BTW When I was a Agent I met John L. Phillips Jr in 2004. He was living on Herkimer St bet. Nostrand & New York and by that time Alzheimer got the best of him. I look on his wall and you can see all of the accomplishments and Law Degrees. He was a good man....

"Starbucks, Banana Republic or a bank would be a better use of the space.

Fake What sounds like NOP."

Yep Homeboy, I was in Bed Stuy and you was on the farm in Wisconsin humping little farm animals in the barn...

Come on Asshats The What is going to do you... Punk Anons...

The What (Reping BK!)

Someday this war is gonna end....

Posted by: what at June 3, 2008 4:27 PM

"The name of the theater dooms it. Who wants to save the "Slave"ery theater. It's absurd!"

Agreed. It's SO shrill. Doesn't appeal to the audiences or supporters with money, black or white, and doesn't appeal to funders.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 7:39 PM

So the t'What is a former Real Estate Agent. Your story changes all the time.

You are the biggest piece of ghetto trash.

This neighborhood is changing, t'What and you have no say and no influence. Move out.

btw: I was getting an education in NYC - where I was born - while you were sitting in movie theaters instead of getting an education or a real job.

Ghetto

Ass

Punk

Bitch

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 10:17 PM

That was cool thanks for the history.

I was born and raised in PH and I think the name is ignorant. Why not King,Ow Master

Posted by: jack slade at June 4, 2008 9:33 PM

The name is ignorant? Do you mean the name is stupid, or the person who named it was ignorant of the implications of naming it "Slave"? The name itself is not ignorant, only the person who named it is.

Did you name it?

Posted by: guest at June 4, 2008 10:46 PM

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