Eve Arnold, a celebrated fashion photographer, is perhaps best known for her portraits of a nude Marilyn Monroe. Arnold should also be celebrated for the strikingly contemporary portfolio of work she produced in 1950 – the Harlem series.
The photos of Black fashion shows caused a sensation. They led to an invitation for Arnold to join Magnum Photos, the prestigious photographer’s agency and a 60-year international career, including as a Sunday Times photographer from the early 1960s to the 1980s.
Arnold photographed Black models in Harlem who often made the clothes themselves and put on shows in hired venues for paying black audiences. It was a whole developed, professional scene. And Arnold floated into this world: present, but invisible.”
The Harlem series was a nuanced study of style, elegance and self-reliance, captured just before the US civil rights movement. The photographs of models, often mid-change, and the crews of agents, dressers, make-up artists and security guards that surrounded them, exude energy and action. In the early 1950s.
The 1958 Esquire Magazine photo that started it all:
And with the rise of Hip Hop, XXL Magazine (in 1998) did this riff with Gordon Parks as the photographer:
Unfortunately, an ill-timed shadow marred the photo.
However, fewer people know that Gordon Parks’ also paid homage to the Art Kane 1958 original in 1995.
Parks wanted to reflect on the passing of a jazz generation and managed to get 10 of the 12 remaining musicians from the Art Kane photo to return to East Harlem. Once there, Parks photographed them standing where they had stood in 1958. The boarded-up facade of the now dilapidated brownstone in the image emphasized the absent musicians who had died.
Aria Madness
Music and Mentoring House is presenting a series of Saturday performances:
Music and Mentoring House, Inc is a fiscally sponsored project of Black Women Playwrights’ Group. All donation amounts are greatly appreciated and a very important contribution to continuing our efforts to serve artists of all disciplines. Black Women Playwrights’ Group is an IRS recognized 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law.
FINAL 2023 Summer Reading Circle on Tuesday, August 8 at 11:00 AM at the Sankofa PavilionPlease join The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance for great read aloud and fun literacy activities for school-aged children!
We meet at the Sankofa Pavilion located east of the 124th Street & 5th Avenue entrance to the Marcus Garvey Park. Bring a Blanket to sit on! *Indoor Venue available in case of inclement weather! *
Sankofa Pavilion Artist Appreciation Day on August 11th at 1PMJoin us to celebrate the artists who participated in the creation of the Sankofa Pavilion art installation at the top of the park. Activities include an introduction to the artist, a community paint session, Harlem Grown’s Mobile Teaching Kitchen, produce table from Harlem Grown’s farm and a jazz performance from Courtney Wright Trio.
SAVE THE DATE A Community Cookout Event featuring Endea Owens at Marcus Garvey Park on Sunday, August 20Presented in collaboration National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and the Charlie Park Jazz Festival, the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance presents Endea Owens & the Community Cookout on Sunday, August 20 at 3pm at Marcus Garvey Park near the Sankofa Pavilion. The Community Cookout is an initiative that was started by Endea Owens to help alleviate food insecurity during COVID, but evolved into a tradition that gets community members from all walks of life to break bread together, and to listen to great live music.
These are events are part of the the Harlem Grown Culture, Creativity and Care Initiative, made possible by The Mellon Foundation.
All welcome to AFRIBEMBE’s festival of music, food, art, and more. Come out to see Afrofuturism through a global Diasporic lens.
AFRIBEMBÉ’s featured artists and DJ lineup will utilize global Diasporic rhythms and sounds to move festival goers through statements of Black identity, agency and freedom. Through immersive artivism experiences in the Family Village, traditional and innovative flavors from across the Diaspora in the SoulFull Food Plaza, and beautifully designed artistry in the Ujamaa Marketplace, AFRIBEMBÉ intentionally seeks to inspire our community to envision and create a liberated future for the entire African Diaspora.
VISIT OUR FESTIVAL PAGE TO VIEW EVENT DETAILS AND REGISTER.
THIS EVENT IS FREE TO ATTEND. REGISTERED ATTENDEES WILL RECEIVE A FREE RAFFLE TICKET FOR A CHANCE TO WIN PRIZES FROM CCCADI AND VENDORS OF THE UJAMAA MARKET THROUGHOUT THE DAY!
Free Debt Management and Credit Building Workshops
Join us for an exciting community celebration on August 11th as we unveil the captivating 2nd round of art installations in Sankofa!
Your presence would make it even more special!
Still Protecting Harlem, Nearly a Century Later
This hydrant in East Harlem is dated 1926. For almost 100 years it’s been witness to a lot, and yet the pitted cast iron remains ready to provide life saving water to the FDNY, or cooling spray to Harlem children in the summer.
Wolfgang Lauinger was persecuted by the Nazis for three reasons. He was gay, the son of a Jewish father, and a “swing kid.”
Being a swing kid meant Lauinger (pictured above on a moped) was fascinated by, and actively enjoyed swing music by American artists like Tommy Dorsey. Lauinger belonged to a group of Germans who loved American swing music that they called the Harlem Club (pictured, below):
In 1941 the Gestapo learned of this underground group of swing music enthusiasts and arrested Lauinger.
The Charlie Parker festival continues after the Sylvia Cuenca Organ Groupperformance in The Harlem Rose Garden in Marcus Garvey Park.
Friday August 25, 5:30-6:30
Sylvia Cuenca Organ Group
Drummer Sylvia Cuenca has performed around the world with many jazz greats, including four years with Joe Henderson, and 17 years with Clark Terry’s quintet and big band, in addition to stints with Billy Taylor, Gary Bartz, Dianne Reeves, Jimmy Heath, Etta Jones, Kenny Barron and many more . She has been a clinician and educator at a number of universities–most recently Columbia University–and has twice received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. This group features Jared Gold (organ), Paul Bollenback (guitar), and Freddie Hendrix (trumpet).
The East Harlem Committee For Good Government and Progressives Educating New Yorkers, Inc. are currently preparing a memorial booklet to commemorate the lives of our beloved community members who lost their lives to suicide. To make this initiative a success, they are seeking sponsors interested in supporting this meaningful cause.
If you would like to participate in this event and opportunity, please contact the organizers at [email protected]
My name is Musa Jackson and as a child, I was one of the original Harlemites who attended the historic Harlem Cultural Festival of ‘69 and also starred in the Oscar winning documentary Summer of Soul. Harlem Festival of Culture (HFC,) a 3 day cultural celebration taking place July 28-30 in East Harlem’s Randall’s Island, will return this iconic annual Festival to Harlem and NYC, while also reimagining the 53 year legacy of the original.
Many of the 300,000 attendees who attended the 1969 Festival and were so beautifully represented in the Summer of Soul documentary, resided in New York City Housing Authority developments or NYCHA where I was also raised by my Mother along with my siblings. My mother still lives in the same apartment to this day. I am so grateful to her and the NYCHA community that provided the loving childhood I so fondly remember; and for the opportunities my mother provided to expose me to the rich educational and cultural experiences NYC had to offer. Attending this historic festival in Harlem as a 4 year old child is one of these special memories, one that changed the trajectory of my life and likely that of many of the other 300,000 attendees who have long since been forgotten. This iconic celebration provided a safe space for cultural enrichment, healing and wellbeing for the Harlem community. I am committed to ensuring that this legacy is never forgotten again and that young children and families like mine are provided the opportunity to attend this year’s Harlem Festival of Culture and in years to come.
Harlem Festival of Culture Foundation ( HFCF), a 501c3 non-profit, is committed to creating social impact for the Harlem community in the areas of economic development, health equity and youth development. HFCF has launched a fundraiser to provide the opportunity to NYCHA families to attend the Festival July 28th – 30th. We invite you to join us in this effort with a tax deductible charitable contribution toward this goal. Your donation will help support free admission for NYCHA residents.
The East Harlem Committee For Good Government and Progressives Educating New Yorkers, Inc. are currently preparing a memorial booklet to commemorate the lives of our beloved community members who lost their lives to suicide. To make this initiative a success, they are seeking sponsors interested in supporting this meaningful cause.
If you would like to participate in this event and opportunity, please contact the organizers at [email protected]
