Gordon Chambers, an accomplished singer-songwriter, is a valued part of the Fort Greene community. Since moving to Fort Greene, Chambers has cultivated community and inspired many through his work. Among other things, Chambers mentors youth in the community, speaks at schools, and is a board member of Brooklyn Music School and Read Alliance in Brooklyn.  

After graduating from Brown University in 1990, Chambers moved back to New York and into Boerum Hill, working at Essence magazine. Chambers dreamt of living in Fort Greene, inspired by the multitude of Black creatives living in the area at the time, and in 2000 he was able to make the move to the neighborhood. Chambers purchased a home, which he aptly dubbed Love Song, as he has used it to reciprocate the love he’s received from the community. Chambers’s home has been a hub for friends, family, and strangers alike, contributing to the legacy of those who originally welcomed him to the neighborhood.

When asked about his choice to continue living in the neighborhood despite the loss of many of the people who drew him here, Gordon Chambers spoke about the responsibility he feels toward continuing the legacy of the Black artists who welcomed him by remaining present and active within the community, saying that the change was “exactly why [he] wasn’t leaving” and that it is his turn to step up. 

After a house fire, where he was forced to leave with only the clothes on his back, Chambers remembered how his neighbors all stepped up to help him, providing him with shoes, and a coat, and offering him a place to stay. The lesson he took away from that experience is that “community is kindness,” a lesson he carries into his work to this day.