Meet Bryanna
“Black, strong, active, supportive, family-oriented, and loyal” are the words Bryanna uses to describe Harlem. Born and raised in the neighborhood, she has built strong relationships and has found community between 118th and 121st Street, the blocks she grew up on. Block parties, cookouts, water fights, going to the park, tag, playing basketball, and getting lite formed her Harlem experience. The people in her building and in the larger Harlem community have been very supportive and loving in her journey. From going to school in Harlem and Brooklyn, and playing travel and high school basketball, to playing collegiately and professionally, her community prepared her to persevere and have the tools to succeed.
She began playing basketball pretty late, at 10 years old, “Before that, I don't know why I just thought I was gonna be… a professional dancer. I used to go to Alvin Ailey camp… I could have… done that professionally, but I didn't see… the fun in it after being so young… I hated ballet, for real… Without ballet, I'm probably not gonna go as far as I want to… And then… I really wanted to give my mom the opportunity to… not have to pay for college, so I was like, let me pick up a ball... And my [two older] brothers… played ball, so being around them helped me. And… having friends in the neighborhood… [and] growing up in Milbank, you see everybody… playing basketball, so just like, ‘All right, I guess this is the way out for everybody. Let me join.’ And [I] picked up a ball…. Never looked back.” Bryanna traveled across the country playing AAU and played in high school when she attended Bishop Loughlin Catholic School. With hard work she played at Lincoln University which opened doors for Bryanna to play professionally in Portugal. Currently, she plays locally in Gersh, Zone Six, Dyckman, Mount Morris Park, Uptown Challenge on 130th Street and Fifth Avenue and more, “It feels good… being able to have… my family and friends come to my games, having their support physically, because it's hard overseas. Mentally and stuff like that.”
“I really wanted to give my mom the opportunity to… not have to pay for college... And my [two older] brothers… played ball, so being around them helped me. And… growing up in Milbank, you see everybody… playing basketball, so... [I] picked up a ball…. Never looked back.”
Milbank and Bethel Gospel Assembly are large community ties for her, “Milbank [is a] huge tie. Huge tie. I like to give back to them as much as I can. I grew up there. Been there since I was probably, like, seven years old. Definitely one of my huge ties to the community. Bethel Gospel Assembly, the church, I also grew up [there]. I love them down. My BGA family, so connected to them as well. But I know so many people going up and down Harlem.” She says, “[Bethel Gospel Assembly is] definitely community based. I grew up praise dancing [there]... We have… Father's Day Cookouts, Mother's Day… brunch… back to school activities before the kiddies go back to school. It's a lot of giving back, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, having soup kitchens and stuff throughout the week.” She gives back at Milbank when she can as well, helping to coach and being a role model for youth in the neighborhood.
It is hard for Bryanna to pick a single favorite Harlem memory, she looks back on her ever evolving story with extreme fondness reflecting on all of the fun that she has had. For example she and her team getting treated with Nikko’s Hibachi after a good game or the community coming out to support at basketball tournaments. Rather than a favorite memory, she does have a story that sticks out as a defining experience in her life. She says, “I was seven years old. Growing up, I was playing in this playground right here behind Success Academy. I broke my arm playing monkey tag, and there was… [a] little thing we [would] climb up and had… [an] opening you [could] come up [from]. But I was trying so hard not to get caught, and I forgot that [there] was… nothing behind me, so I fell back on my arm. It was behind my back, and I fell and landed on it. And my brother was in the park playing basketball, and he didn't know what to do, so I had to kind of… just be tough and be strong. That definitely… built my character… ‘You could do anything. Pain is temporary.’ …It was an experience, but [I] just had to learn how to be tough early.”
“[Harlem] created me, so it’s really impactful… Having… a loving and supportive community around you just helps you build your confidence and gives you… a backbone to pass it on.”
Bryanna has pushed herself throughout the years, persevering, achieving her goals, and growing with each experience. She is excited to explore more activities in the community to create more core memories, traveling, and simply enjoying life. Describing the community, she says, “I would say… everybody's different, but we're able to come together. I like that. Definitely… [diverse], [culture] wise, race, skin color, all of that. To be able to… stand together and get things done. I feel like that's what makes Harlem so unique and so fun and… [accepting]. Like, everybody be like, 'I went to Harlem. I enjoyed it.' …We're great vibes, food wise, music wise. You think it, we got it.” Many Harlemites have similar pride when it comes to their neighborhood, “We definitely put [Harlem] on a pedestal. We hold it up high… That's why we give so much into it, because everything has flourished from [it].” She loves Harlem and it’s where she wants to start off, owning her first apartment and building her life. The significance of Harlem for her cannot be overstated, “It created me, so it's really impactful… Having… a loving and supportive community around you just helps you build your confidence and gives you… a backbone to pass it on.”
