Photo: Todd Maiselīiggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, recalled facing throngs of mourners at the corner on St. Biggie showed us to rise up.” Voletta Wallace, mother of the deceased rapper, smiles and takes photos with other musicians and celebrities at the street renaming ceremony, June 10, 2019. I was a ‘D’ student in school and that was not who I was as becoming the first black borough president of Brooklyn. I understood where I was as a child being arrested was not who I was as a person, and I came back here as a police officer. I was arrested as a child, only to come back to this precinct to patrol when Biggie was growing up here. James Place when people were leaving Brooklyn because we were waking up to gunshots instead of alarm clocks. “Biggie came from streets of Brooklyn on St. “Where you are is not who you are,” Adams said. Photo: Todd Maiselīrooklyn Borough President Eric Adams spoke about raising himself up from the streets from a “D” student to becoming a police captain and now borough president. But there were people that struggled, people that fought, and now it is the highest place and everyone in the world wants to come to Brooklyn, and now the people who have lived here are being forced out and we will not allow this to happen.” Brooklyn Nets representatives were giving out free t-shirts to fans. People didn’t want to live here, people moved out of the neighborhood. It is a story of triumph Brooklyn, New York, we have had challenges-during the time when Biggie created masterpieces-this neighborhood was redlined. “It is undeniable when you hear the story of Brooklyn that we have a story that no other city in the world has. We had Biggie and Tupac, the most influential musicians and lyricists of our time, the greatest minds and greatest speakers of our time,” Cumbo said. “My parents grew up had Malcolm and Martin. Way” as an identity of the community, even as some on the council and city opposed it-some not understanding that Wallace’s story taught a lesson that has led to a safer city, but also a cautionary tale as that same neighborhood has become “yuppified” bringing in a new class of residents that she said threatens to shove out those who have lived there for generations because of rising rents and living costs James Place and Fulton Street “Notorious B.I.G. Photo: Todd MaiselĬouncilmember Laurie Cumbo made her case for the renaming of St. Councilmember Laurie Cumbo talks at Biggie Smalls street renaming ceremony, June 10, 2019. The message was clear, those violent lyrics were really a demand for change, a safer community free of that very violence that Wallace rapped about. On Monday, his fans returned to commemorate the message-the difficulty of growing up in a violent culture where what might’ve been a fist fight, would quickly escalate into a shoot-out-something that still occurs today but to a lesser extent. A Biggie mural is displayed on a building across the street from the renaming ceremony. You knew you were initiated in the hood that day when you were pepper sprayed, eyes burning with every blink. He grew up in that underclass among the poor black youth who often lashed out at society for the continued injustice of society that offered few jobs and even less opportunity.Īnd then, the fans went wild that day-dancing on top of parked cars, breaking windows, and throwing objects at the throngs of police sent to keep the peace. Wallace had a message that was enlightening to his fans and to observers as street violence was still the norm and crime was high. Fans show off their t-shirts emblazoned with pictures of Biggie Smalls. It was in keeping with the times for the “gangster rapper” who often, as many rappers did, feuded with fellow rappers and musicians-and he wouldn’t back down. In keeping with his violent lyrics, he had been shot to death days before (March 9) in a blood feud. The ceremony harkened to the day, March 18, 1997, when the streets of Clinton Hill/Bedford Stuyvesant were filled with thousands of fans of Wallace, also known as “Biggie Smalls,” for the massive funeral procession in front of his home. It was 22 years ago that the rapper was killed, gunned down in a still-unsolved drive-by murder in Los Angeles. Voletta Wallace (mother of Biggie Smalls), family, friends, and rapper Lil’ Kim, hold up the new street sign. James Place at busy Fulton Street where his mother, Voletta Wallace, her family, musicians, and elected officials announced that the intersection- where the rapper once lived-was officially renamed Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace Way in a ceremony attended by musicians and entertainers. CLINTON HILL – Despite the pouring rain, fans of rapper/lyricist Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” jammed St.
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