1936 Harlem’s ‘Voodoo Macbeth’

Before Citizen Kane and The War of the Worlds, leading Broadway actress Rose McClendon and producer John Houseman convince a gifted but untested 20-year-old Orson Welles to direct Shakespeare’s Macbeth with an all-Black cast in Harlem.

Reimagined in a Haitian setting, this revolutionary 1936 production, which came to be known as “Voodoo Macbeth,” was fraught with cast/director clashes – particularly between Orson and Rose – who played Lady Macbeth – over everything from scene blocking to crew hires. A larger, political storm also lingered nearby with Washington figures looking to shut down “communist propaganda.”

The movie ‘Voodoo Macbeth’ which came out a few weeks ago, is based on this amazing true story of a young Orson Welles directing the first production of “Macbeth” with an all-Black cast.

The movie “Voodoo Macbeth” somehow acquired a whopping ten directors and eight writers and controversially includes some difficult subject matter, including Orson Welles performing in blackface.

According to one of the directors, Orson Welles did indeed put on blackface and go onstage during one of his productions. The team decided to put the spotlight on the justified outrage that ensued rather than center the scene on Welles or excuse his actions.

“We wanted to show the anger that the other characters had against it,” Salnave said. “I think it was just as, you know, discriminatory and hurtful then. But they just maybe, perhaps didn’t have the voice or the ability to voice their opinions on it and put their foot down and say that they really didn’t like it. So we invoked a little bit, I think, of like a modern touch on that, but it gets the point across that, you know, it is a part of our history, and it’s not right.”

Turkish Baths

Urban Archive has a great article from Landmark East Harlem on the Mount Morris (Turkish) Baths that were located at the corner of 125th and Madison:

https://www.urbanarchive.org/stories/1P3aRw1DV44

Continuously in use from 1893-2003, Mt. Morris was the only bathhouse in New York City that specifically catered to Black men. The Baths started serving a predominantly gay clientele, probably sometime during the Harlem Renaissance. Those frequenting the baths during that period included Countee Cullen, Harold Jackman, Carl Van Vechten, and Lincoln Kirstein. Up until the 1960s, it was the only gay bathhouse in the city to admit Black customers.

HNBA Meeting Tonight at 7:00

Tonight HNBA will have our new Community Affairs Officer [Troycarra Powers] from the 25th Precinct attend our HNBA meeting to answer any concerns you have about public safety and the rise in crime in our community.

In addition, Tatiana from https://womenscja.org/ will be joining to talk about their effort to convert Lincoln Jail (on Central Park North) into a women’s jail.

We will also have Wil Lopez (a candidate for State Assembly) and Tony Shaw (a Harlem-based financial advisor) introduce themselves.

To get the Zoom link, join HNBA HERE.

OutGoingNYC: NYC’s Historic Gay Nightlife

Outgoingnyc.com is a fascinating time machine that you can use to explore gay nightlife from any time post 1859!

Looking at the map from Harlem’s perspective shows a fairly limited range of sites, but is fascinating nevertheless:

I had no idea a building at 5th Avenue and 128th Street was a sex club named Afrodeezziac, for example.

To learn more about the genesis of this project, see this talk by Jeff Ferzoco:

125th Street at FDB, Looking East

A great photo showing how 125th Street had street car tracks running down the center.

This photo is taken from 125/FDB, looking east towards 5th Avenue. Note how the huge rigid awning sticks out over the entire sidewalk in front of the Manhattan Market.

The vantage – the spot where the photo is taken – is the elevated platform of the 8th Avenue El, that ran up Frederick Douglass Blvd and was then replaced by the ABCD subways.

Precinct Meeting – Focus on The Rise in Crime

Bullet in East Harlem Bus Window Frame

Kioka Jackson, the president of the 25th Precinct’s Community Council writes:

Good Afternoon Neighbors and Friends,
I hope you all are doing great. I wanted to invite you to join us IN PERSON for our February 2022 meeting.  I have been getting a multitude of calls and emails about the current events in and around our neighborhood and want to invite you to discuss what’s going on, what is being done, and how we can help.  
The purpose of this meeting is to discuss your public safety concerns with the Commanding Officer, his team of Officers, along with other community stakeholders with the mission to make our neighborhood safe.  Please be advised that the meeting will not be at the Precinct. In order to have the ability to safely socially distance we are using a space that can accommodate a larger number of people.  Details are as follows.

Meeting Details:

Wednesday, February 16, 20226:00 PM (Meeting will begin on time)at Bethel Gospel Assembly 2-26 East 120th Street (Between Madison and Fifth) – right across from Marcus Garvey Park
You will be required to wear a mask.  There will be some available at the front door if you need one.  Upon arrival, your temperature will be taken and you will be asked to sign in before being directed to the meeting room. Please click on the link and fill the questionnaire by Wednesday at 3:00PM.
https://forms.gle/y8icpU7NYm2Q56sH8

Hope to see you all next week.

Have an awesome day

Kioka Jackson

The Gay Harlem Renaissance

Scholars of the Harlem Renaissance point out that acknowledging the queer culture and nightlife of the Harlem Renaissance is essential in order to paint a full picture of the time, queer history, and Harlem itself.

Additionally, looking at the thriving LGBTQ+ scene in Uptown New York helps to reveal rich cultural contributions by (frequently) overlooked queer artists and writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

Read more about the gay Harlem Renaissance, see: https://time.com/6104381/lgbtq-histor…