Harlem Black History Awards, and Angst

Even the Columbia University crowd, via their school newspaper, the Columbia Spectator has to admit that there is a lot of tension in Harlem over the development or redevelopment of Harlem mostly for the rich downtown crowd whether they be white or black. And Columbia University is getting its cut with a plan to expand its campus west of Broadway all the way up to West 134th Street. The article in the Spectator referred to the Third Annual Trailblazer Ceremony, at the Alhambra Ballroom, including Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Scott said he will fight for Harlem turf, but does he really mean it?


Award recipients Charlie King, Rodney Leon, and Muriel Petioni were honored for their commitment to the Harlem neighborhood in the spirit of the month’s celebration of community identity. Petioni, 94, chair and founder of the patron organization for Columbia affiliate Harlem Hospital, was met with a standing ovation. Dr. Petioni said that she intends to keep on fighting, even though she feels sad that many of the fights that she has been in have not been successful.

Community Board 11 member Alexandra Vasalo spoke more to the dark side, on how Harlem seems to be out of control of the residents. ATLAH World Church minister James David Manning shed light on this sentiment Thursday evening. Manning named Stringer, City Council member Inez Dickens (D-Morningside Heights), and City Councilman Robert Jackson (D-West Harlem) as among those who have betrayed aspects of Harlem’s culture.
Manning used the event to promote the “No Dew, Nor Rain” campaign, which calls on community members to refuse to spend money in Harlem until May of 2010 in what has been a polarizing political effort to fight gentrification. Time to wear your I Love Harlem Apparel.

So obviously, the tension continues in Harlem over the various mega-projects. These include Columbia University's expansion to West 133rd St., and the office building planned for Park Ave and 125th St. And don't forget to "Save the Record Shack," threatened now at W 125th St., across from Apollo theater. And don't forget the appropriate Apollo, and Save the Shack t-shirts.

Bellevue Celebrates their First Afro-American Doctor

These Harlem totes are not exactly doctor bags, but they'll have to do. At Bellevue Hospital, in downtown Manhattan, they had a tribute to Dr. Urbert Conrad Vincent on "Black History Thursday" on February 14th, 12 Noon, in the Saul Farber Auditorium, 1st ave, near 27th St.

Dr. Vincent's daughter shared highlights of her father's career, with Dr. Vincent starting as a surgeon at Bellevue in the 1920s. Dr. Vincent made his home in Harlem on 138th St, Strivers Row and was part of the Harlem Renaissance.

Dr. Vincent set up the Vincent Sanatorium at 2348 7th Ave by 137th St in 1929, but due to bad financial conditions, it had to shut down after a year. For more on Dr. Vincent, see the Journal of the National Medical Association, 1975, Vol67, No.1 PP. 73-80. The T-shirt Queen joins in remembering Dr. Vincent.

Harlem Type fun at the Bronx Museum

THE BRONX MUSEUM CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO ATTEND THE OPEN HOUSE FOR OUR SPRING EXHIBITIONS, SUNDAY, MARCH 2 AT 2PM till 6 PM. The Bronx Museum is located at 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10456.

*Photographers, camera-crews and critics welcome
WHAT: The launch of The Bronx Museum of the Arts’ three spring exhibitions:

- Making It Together: Women’s Collaborative Art and Community, exploring an important chapter in recent history when women artists, inspired by the 1970s Feminist Movement, worked collectively in new ways to engage communities and address social issues;

- Highlights of the Permanent Collection: Women Artists, a counterpart to Making It Together highlighting women artists from the Museum’s permanent collection;

- Teen Council Presents: Jamel Shabazz, a special exhibition organized by The Bronx Museum’s Teen Council class of 2007-2008 featuring photographs by artist and activist Jamel Shabazz based on the theme of community. There will also be a panel discussion on collaboration and feminist practice at 3pm with Making It Together curator Carey Lovelace.

The Bronx Museum is usually a fun place. They also have been having these first Friday (of the month) programs which can be a trip, like the Black History performance at the beginning of February.

Great place to wear your I Love Harlem t-shirt. Do it for the T-shirt Queen.

Some More Harlem Events and T-shirts

The Lucille Armstrong story is being presented at toe Morris-Jumel Mansion, at 65 Jumel Terrace, not far from W 156th St and Amsterdam Avenue, on the Northern end of Harlem, New York. Ms. Carolyn Carter-Kennedy, NYC Educator and Armstrong Docent will be there to talk about the wife of jazz great Louis Armstrong. That's on Thursday Feb 21st, at 7-8 PM, free, register at 212-923-8008.

Then you can see "the People of Clarendon County, by Ossie Davis, and see author and editor Alice Bernstein. Performance excerpts will be preformed by the children of St. John's Baptist Church, at Sister's Uptown Bookclub, 1942 Amsterdam Ave, near W 156th St. call 212-862-3680. That's on Saturday Feb 23, at 4-6 pm.

And for some Harlem apparel and T-shirt action, just click on the pix.

Harlem Apollo family series- Represent!

Today, at the Harlem, Apollo theater, Sunday, Feb 17th, 5 pm, they are premiering the showcase series called- Represent! Tickets are only $12, not that bad. Represent! is part of the Apollo's new series to show case the talent of youth.

"I am fired up about Represent!, says the show's producer, Monique Martin. "In one word it says so much about who these young people are. Sounds like a lot of dancing and rapping around the clock. The Apollo theater is sooooo retro. It's amazing it is still in operation.

Miss Keke Palmer, Bee star, will perform selections from her debut album "So Uncool." Other music in the event will be African dance, hip hop, inspirational music, and classical strings. And for I Love Harlem apparel, just click on the pix.

More Harlem, Black History Fun

Here is another event in New York for black history month. What a great place to wear your I Love Harlem apparel, and make the t-shirt queen proud.
Community Works is an arts and education organization which is active in Harlem for this Black History month. On Saturday, Feb 23rd, they will work with New Heritage Theater group and the Museum of Natural History and present "Passing the Torch, Blues, Tap and Swing." Costs is $15 suggested contribution, at the Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and West 82nd St, New York City.

The event pays tribute to the creative contributions of African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance,with Marlon Saunders, Mickey Davidson Savoy Swingers, and four generations of tappers from the Ruth Williams Dance Studio.

National Black Theater in Harlem Reves it Up

They are performing the play Medea, by Euripides, at the National Black Theater, at 2031 Fifth Ave, near 125th St. This is the classic story of revenge of the forsaken woman, Medea, on her former lover Jason, the father of her two children. I actually liked better the recording of the opera Medea, starring Maria Callas, but alas, she has gone to her eternal reward.

The casts includes Trezana Beverley as Medea, a Tony Award winning actress, for her performance in "For Colored Girls have Considered Suicide, When the Rainbow is Enuf," I think she sings too, but not in this production. The show is on from February 15th to March 2nd. Gala night tix, Feb 19th are $50, otherwise prices go down to $15 and even discounts for students and seniors. And if you go in an I Love Harlem T-Shirt and I or the T-Shirt Queen see you, you get a kiss on the cheek!

New York Historical Society event on Black History

The New York Historical Society will feature tomorrow, on Tuesday, the Untold Narratives of Two American slaves. The scholars David W. Blight and James G. Basker will tell the stories of two men who escaped slavery and were on the Underground Railroad. The slaves, Wallace Turnage and John Washington escaped to new lives in the north. The performance starts at 5:30 pm on Feb. 12th, and tickets are $`5 for non-members. The NY Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West, by West 77th St, NY. Call SmartTix at 212-868-4444 to buy tickets.

And don't forget I love Harlem, kiddie hoodie, and Live at the Apollo, greeting cards, postcards, and mini-poster. Just click on the pix, I Love Harlem.

Clix on the Pix for Harlem Black History

There is a lot of stuff going on this month at the Schomberg Center on 135th St and Malcolm X Blvd., just a few blocks south of Harlem Hospital.

SALUTE TO BLACK HISTORY MONTH
OPERA IN THE COURT
Friday, February 29th 7:30 PM
Pre-event Reception 6:00 PM

Harlem Opera Theater honors the memory of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and the Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. in the 100th year of their birth. They also salute the legacy of civil rights leader, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 40th year after his assassination, by presenting classical singers performing operatic scenes which take place in the court room.

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X Boulevard @ 135th St.
New York, NY 10037
Travel: 2 or 3 trains to I35th St and Lenox Avenue.


Then there is a free event on Thursday, Feb 28th, for the Schomberg African Film Festival, at 7pm.

Black History Month, Feel the Love in Harlem

Feel the love for Brother Malcolm X, or click on him and get the shirt. Celebrate him and his Autobiography, for Black History Month. Mourn his assassination just north of Harlem, in February 1965, already 42 years ago.

On a lighter note, the Studio Theater Museum of Harlem is offering what it calls "African Comics" this month and through March 18th. It is located at 144 West 125th St. Harlem, NY.

Then at the Apollo theater, there is on Feb. 14, at 8pm, tickets $45/55, jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves. You can also stop by for Amateur Night every Wednesday.

I Love Harlem Totes and Messenger Bags are Here

We at I Love Harlem Apparel have the generic messenger bag, I Love Harlem, for more, click on the pix. There is also the "Save the Shack" bag, which is a very timely message, since the Record Shack is threatened with immediate closing. Also, see the Malcolm X messenger and tote bags, as well as the Apollo Theater, Live at the Apollo messenger and tote bags.

I Love Harlem and Valentine's Day Again

There are still a lot of nice things to get for Valentine's day, from I Love Harlem apparel and the T-Shirt Queen. Show your sweetheart that you love Harlem, NY, and all things Harlem.

I Love Harlem and the Bronx

On Wed. Feb. 6th, 2008 a celebration was had for students of photography at the ICP program at “the Point” Organization, at 940 Garrison Avenue, on Hunts Point. The photo exhibit was called “I Love the Bronx." Now as is well known, I love Harlem NY, but I guess I love the Bronx too. The T-Shirt Queen would understand. After all a lot of people in the South Bronx can't afford Harlem anymore. This is the 11th year of ICP (International Center of Photography) at the Point. Students from aged 9 to 18 participated in the program. I talked to Rashuan Mulholland, a 17-year old young man who produced a photo of an above ground subway station in the Bronx. He goes to school at Bronx Lab High School, on Gun Hill Rd. He explains that it takes a lot of work. First he had to take several pictures at a site trying out different angles and lighting. Then he developed the film, this is all film photography, not digital. He had to try to get the right shading for these black and white pictures, and the right construction. In order to get the subway signs in the shaded portion of the picture to appear clearly, he had to “burn them”, which means to overexpose that portion of the picture. The coordinator, Isabella Moreno had lots of fun talking about the work of the young people, and taking their photograph together. This was a featured event in the Bronx trolley.

Another organization that set up their table at the ICP event was SSBX, Sustainable South Bronx, a pro-health and environmental organization. They have started a walking club, in order to decrease asthma rates. At the table, I met Ms. Ervin Jarvis, who is a young full time staffer, and a member of the volunteer Americorps/Vista Organization. She has been helping the SSBX organization just starting this week. Already she has met with the Parks and Recreation Department, the Hunts Point Community Organization, and Urban Health Planning. Their plan is simply to get young people to exercise with older people, so that all can be healthier.

Real Pix of Harlem Style, Bronx Black History Event

This was a real black history event, dedicated to Afrika Bambataa and to the late James Brown. It took place Friday, Feb 1st, 2008, at the Bronx Museum at 166th St. and Grand Concourse.

Pictures are of: Jacques Stix (check spelling) on the solo guitar. Aja Monet, doing her intense poetry, and Event Producer, disc jockey from Cuba and now New York City, Ariel Fernandez.