Caribbean New Yorkers

Posted on March 30, 2022March 29, 2022 by Harlem Shill

The largest wave of immigrants from the Caribbean came to Harlem during the Harlem renaissance. Indeed, many of the greatest artists, luminaries, and thinkers of the Harlem Renaissance were Caribbean-born. Claude McKay, Marcus Garvey, and Arturo Schomburg.

Almost a quarter of Harlem’s Black population was foreign-born in the 1920s. Earlier, however, in 1880, the distribution of Caribbean immigrants was thin:

However, by 1910, the beginnings of a Caribbean enclave around Lenox/5th Avenues and 131st to 138th Streets had begun:

The father of James Weldon Johnson – Harlem Renaissance poet and author of the Black National Anthem: Lift Every Voice and Sing – was born in the Bahamas and likely figured in the census data map, above.

See more at Mapping Historical New York.

Questlove Notes That Harlem in 2022 is Still Facing Many of the Issues it Faced in 1968

Governor Hochul & OASAS Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham: Stop Fueling the Overdose Epidemic!

We are asking Governor Hochul and Commissioner Cunningham to commit to reducing the disproportionate density of drug programs in communities of color like Harlem. We believe that a fair-share distribution of small-scale, effective, and holistic OASAS-licensed programs in all New York neighborhoods will lead to more effective outcomes and reduce overdose deaths. By leveraging the OASAS relicensing process and new Opioid Settlement funds, Governor Hochul and Commissioner Cunningham have the power to rebalance OASAS programs on a geographic and racial fair-share basis.

Sign the petition if you agree.

Currently, the imbalance in Harlem is such that 75% of the opioid treatment patients that OASAS sends to programs located in Harlem and East Harlem do not live in our community – traveling from as far away as Staten Island. While our community only accounts for 8% of all opioid treatment patients, OASAS sends 20% of all patients to Harlem every day. We are advocating for OASAS to decentralize the concentration of opioid centers in Harlem and commit to a data-driven and equitable approach that increases access to community-based programs that are small-scale, effective, and holistic.

Why is this important?
We ask OASAS to join us in fighting this imbalance for three reasons. First, we know that when programs are more conveniently located in all neighborhoods, drug treatment success increases with positive outcomes. Second, we know that the current presence of treatment mega-centers in communities of color reinforces the message that addiction is a Black issue and one that should be contained in Black neighborhoods. Third, concentrating the majority of the city’s programs in Harlem fuels the overdose epidemic. New Yorkers shouldn’t have to go out of their way to access vital care. Equitably distributing the locations of treatment centers throughout NY will not only work towards racial justice, it will also lead to better health outcomes for all.

Sign the petition if you agree.

Harlem Wednesday – Animation

Posted on February 12, 2022February 5, 2022 by Harlem Shill

An animated film titled “Harlem Wednesday”:

Listen: Questlove Details the Recovery and Birth of Summer of Soul

Until about a year ago, if you mentioned the cultural impact of the Harlem Cultural Festival, most people wouldn’t know what you were talking about. Taking place over several weekends in the summer of 1969, and featuring artists like Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and B.B. King, the Harlem Cultural Festival was vastly overshadowed in the media by Woodstock. Extensive footage and recordings from it sat packed away in a basement for decades, so the event survived mostly in the memories of the people who were there. And then, Questlove was approached to make that footage into a documentary.

That award-winning film, called Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), was Questlove’s directorial debut. And recently — naturally — he released the soundtrack to go along with it.

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/04/1078218490/questlove-breaks-down-the-process-of-directing-his-celebrated-doc-summer-of-soul

HNBA March Meeting, Tomorrow at 7 PM

Posted on March 8, 2021March 4, 2021 by Harlem Shill

Join HNBA in order to get the meeting’s Zoom link: https://hnba.nyc/join-hnba/

7:00 – [email protected] – Join to learn how Kristin Jordan – a candidate for City Council district 9 – will address the burden that our part of the district bears with 2 sanitation garages, the M35 Bus, numerous homeless shelters, and the Lee Building’s infamous role as a regional methadone megacenter.)

7:30 – rankthevotenyc – Nicole from Rank The Vote NYC will lead us through the maze of Ranked Choice Voting and how it works.

8:00 – Mark Levine: Mark will introduce himself and his candidacy for Manhattan Borough President. We will open the 1/2 hour up for HNBA members to talk to Mark and learn more about his thoughts on the burden that our part of the district bears with 2 sanitation garages, the M35 Bus, numerous homeless shelters, and the Lee Building’s infamous role as a regional methadone megacenter.

The Harlem Cultural Festival 1969

Sundance recently hosted the world premier of Summer of Soul by Questlove which won top honors with the 2021 Grand Jury Prize.

This amazing film takes footage shot in Marcus Garvey Park (Mount Morris Park at the time) during a multi-week music festival – The Harlem Cultural Festival – in 1969.

While (whiter) Woodstock etched itself in the minds of a generation, The Harlem Cultural Festival thrilled Black New York but was largely ignored during the summer of 1969 (and afterwards) in mainstream America. Questlove worked to secure access to the incredbly rich audio and video of the festival and has combined this 1969 material with additional footage from the 1960’s and contemporary interviews with people who attended or performed at the festival.

The stage was setup in the north-west corner of the park, and with no swimming pool at the time, the audience filled the park south of the stage, and up onto the rocks of that now bolster the pool.