This originally appeared in my Broke-Ass City column in the San Francisco Examiner. A decade ago, I moved to Brooklyn. I was there for a year researching my second book, Broke-Ass Stuart’s Guide to Living Cheaply in New York City, and while doing so was working as a waiter four

  Fully recharged and inspired by his eye-opening first trip to Mecca, the 2011 uprisings in the Middle East, and the worldwide Occupy movements, Brother Ali is prepared to unveil Mourning In America and Dreaming In Color. He takes the stage on Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Atlantic Ave has always been a pretty lively business strip that changes dramatically with each block, especially in the strip between the BQE and the Atlantic Yards. Walking the small distance brings you from Brooklyn’s unofficial antiques district to Islamic supply store clusters. Naturally, as it is the border of