Bailey's Café – Connecting Generations to Make a Better World

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Our Programming

About Bailey’s Café

Bailey’s Café is a space of community healing and belonging — a secular church, a home, a kitchen table. Bailey’s welcomes all with an open heart, compassion and love, generating a culture of belongingness, non-judgment, acceptance, community, and space to be your full self. This is Bailey’s unique value.

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Premiering 2020-21

In Virtual & Physical Spaces

Bailey’s Café presents As Quiet As It’s Kept (AQAIK), a multi-discipline performance installation based on the stories of veterans of color and their role in a changing community under the artistic leadership of Monica L. Williams in collaboration with artists from various genres:
Kadeem Alston Roman, Zoe Flowers, Michael Hill, Anna Pond, DJ Reborn, Robyn Twomey

Coming Up in May 2021

We Are Here comes to Brooklyn! Beginning April 16th through June 20th, five of the portraits and interviews from the 16 portrait project will be installed in DUMBO as part of Photoville’s Fence. We Are Here centers images and stories of long-time BedStuy residents, cementing their place as neighborhood icons in the name of resilience and permanence. It features photographs by Robyn Twomey and interviews by Monica L. Williams.

Sunday, May 23rd DJ Reborn’s We Made It: A BedStuy Sonic Exchange. A listening session will be shared online. Curated and mixed by DJ Reborn the AQAIK sound collage combines audio interview snippets from resilient BedStuy veterans weaved with eclectic music spanning the last four decades to tell the sonic story of life after military duty in a rapidly changing world and neighborhood.

Thursday, May 27th Homeward a play by Anna N. Pond, directed by Monica L. Williams (press and others by invitation only), a dramatic reading presented on Zoom. Homeward is the story of Vietnam Veteran Rufus Jefferson and his struggle to find home as he remains haunted by the invisible wounds of war.

Saturday, May 29th Thank You For Your Service, a film written and directed by Zoe Flowers, starring Sherri Pullam, a watch party followed by a panel discussion Bailey’s Cafe’s YouTube Channel. We travel through time and space with Jake, a Vietnam Veteran. We meet him on a stoop in BedStuy. He recounts his life, his experiences, and the impact of gentrification without ever naming it.

Sunday, May 30th The Natasha Johnson Suite, a song cycle based on the words of longtime BedStuy resident Natasha Johnson, Michael Hill, songwriter, vocalist, guitarist accompanied by his brother Kevin Hill, bassist, composer. Pre-recorded and streamed on Bailey’s YouTube Channel, including a conversation with Natasha. The humor, passion, struggles and humanity of her story will be spotlighted in succinct musical snapshots in the way that can only be done by music.

Beginning on May 15th our virtual home for As Quiet As It’s Kept will launch. All of the artifacts from each performance installation will be made available, including Kadeem Alston Roman’s dance film Losing Forward that premiered October 2020.

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Bailey’s is now part of the ShopIN.NYC Movement

Encouraging Support for Local Businesses

Use Code BAILEYSCAFE to support Bailey’s

Bailey’s Current Offerings

Healthcare for the People

Currently Indoor Sessions are Suspended But They Will Be Back!

Stay informed here

Fabric Art Workshop with Ramona Kearns and Marienne Thomas

Wednesdays, 4 PM to 6 PM. No Experience Necessary.

All Ages Welcome

Virtual Community Sing with Janice Pendarvis

First Saturday of the Month on Zoom 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Please Consider Making a Donation to Bailey’s and Help Us Meet Our Year-End Goals

Testimonials from the Bailey’s Community

I did not know anything about theater and the arts until I met Ms. Kymbali. Now I have picked up some of her attributes and I am able to lead the group in warm ups and other theater games. Bailey’s Café is more than an arts program in that it helps you further your growth emotionally, spiritually, and every way.
"Now I am more connected and more decisive. I want to be strong and have my voice heard, to be more articulate and stand up for myself."
"Bailey’s helps the young people develop discipline, a sense of respect and a sense of understanding. The door is open for them to walk through."
"This is my second time being with this group and I never expected i would have been doing what I was doing – thought I would just come and observe-here i am acting. It is like therapy, like group therapy it fits in there somewhere. It is a great opportunity to work with young people."
"We are pushing to meet somewhere in the middle (youth and elders) so we can just become one community…we have drifted as a people…we are pushing for something better in the community"

Even though the planet is round, there are just too many spots where you can find yourself hanging on to the edge…unless there’s some space, some place, to take a breather for a while…