Here’s to Harlem Week turning 50—‘Celebrate the Journey’
By ARIAMA C. LONG Amsterdam News Staff
Harlem Week has been a staple event in the community for decades. It’s a heartwarming and raucous occasion that Harlem natives look forward to and newbies in the neighborhood have come to appreciate. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the celebration.
“Harlem was heaven,” recalled former Harlem resident Theda Pinkney, 103. Born in Philadelphia, Pinkney moved to Harlem in 1925 “on the block with Sammy Davis Jr.” Fresh from the Harlem Renaissance, Pinkney fondly remembers the buzzing parades, Freemason clubs, dancing, political figures, and Apollo Theater shows that built the foundational spirit of the community—a time before Harlem Week was even conceived.
Now a week-long event, it was initially just Harlem Day, a one-time event organized by the late Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton in 1974. Sutton chaired what was the Uptown Chamber of Commerce, known today as the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce (GHCC). The event was also produced by Blackfrica Promotions, an organization that included Lloyd Williams, the current president and CEO of GHCC.
“The theme for Harlem Week’s 50th anniversary is ‘Celebrate the Journey,’” Williams said. “It’s an invitation to our annual participants and first-time visitors to salute a half-century of Harlem Week and its many contributions to Harlem, and the ‘Harlems of the world.”
Harlem’s greatest minds and talents from the 1920s and ’30s, like poet Maya Angelou, writer James Baldwin, actor Sidney Poitier, singer/actor/activist Harry Belafonte, boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, Amsterdam News publisher Bill Tatum, and U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, contributed to the vision for the celebration. This year’s anniversary will honor Sutton, as well as pay tribute to the original founders and celebrity supporters who were present 50 years ago.
“It never entered my mind back in 1974 that Harlem Week would be a national and historic occasion, and at the same time, provide so many economic opportunities for a countless number of people,” said Rangel, 94, in a recent interview with AmNews.
“And Harlem Week is just one of the extraordinary accomplishments of Lloyd Williams. I remember when Percy Sutton and I thought about such an event as little more than a block party. I have learned so much from the people who have been a part of the celebration—their talents and entrepreneurship have been indispensable to
the community’s development. The Chamber has done a great job with superb staff and leadership. I don’t think anything like Harlem Week has been done anywhere in the country.”
The intention behind the original event was to uphold Harlem’s thriving businesses and religious, educational, arts, and cultural institutions during a time of economic hardships. It was considered by actor and producer Ossie Davis as the beginning of Harlem’s “second Renaissance.” It was first held on West 138th Street and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard with a concert on the plaza of the state office building featuring musical artists like Tito Puente and Chuck Jackson.
The spirit of the first Harlem Week celebrations has carried through to the present day with a focus on moving Black art, music, and culture forward. The week honors seniors and Black figures both past and present. The event also highlights issues of racial injustice, education, technology, the impact of climate change on communities of color, legislative policies, banking and finance, and improving health outcomes in Black and Brown communities.
Harlem Week has been a beloved time for Assemblymember-elect Jordan J. G. Wright, 29, a Harlem native who grew up in Riverdale on 135th Street, and not just because his birthday is also in August. His father, Keith Wright, was the assemblymember for the district he was just elected to serve.
“I remember my mother was the special events coordinator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, so she had a booth. I would always be there helping people — I’d do work myself. My dad would come around and I’d walk around with him,” said Wright, recalling his earliest memories of the event.
“It was really, really always a well-known part of the summer for me. Right around my birthday. An integral part of my upbringing, Harlem Week.”
Wright has enjoyed the children’s village, the tennis tournament, and seeing concerts with popular performers over the last 20 years, as well as spending time with electeds who came to visit the Frederick E. Samuel Community Democratic Club on West 135th Street during the week-long celebration.
“Harlem Week is when the whole city comes to Harlem, and they indulge in everything that we have.,” said Wright about this year’s anniversary. “From the vendors to our restaurants, it’s just a great opportunity for the neighborhood.”
From August 3–18, this year’s celebration will feature more than 100 family-friendly events, culminating along 135th Street
with four stages of live entertainment, international food vendors, and exhibitors at the “Summer in the City” and “Harlem Day” events, said Williams. On the last day, GHCC will recognize Tony Award-winning Broadway star Kara Young, from Broadway’s “Purlie Victorious”; Tony Awardnominated “Purlie” director Kenny Leon; and Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who captured a Tony Award for his performance in the Broadway play “Seven Guitars.”
“I’m excited about Harlem’s evolution, and how far the neighborhood has come since the economically depressed 1970s when we started Harlem Week with the
first Harlem Day,” said Williams. “I’m proud to say that for 50 years, Harlem Week has continually uplifted the spirits of uptown residents; supported the growth of small businesses, [and] residential and commercial construction; and encouraged the expansion of higher education institutions and medical facilities. Importantly, Harlem Week has been responsible for many improvements in infrastructure, transportation, and other areas that have directly benefited Harlemites and neighborhood visitors.”
For more information and a schedule of events, visit www.harlemweek.com.
An economic development project
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Reproduced
Harlem Week:
New York Amsterdam News (1962-); Aug 11, 1984; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News pg. 26
Harlem Week co-founder Marvin Kelly displays the art of leather
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff
First name Marvin, middle name Sinclair: M. SIN is the nom de plume that the artist Marvin Kelly uses when he is presenting his art.
Kelly has constructed leather-crafted, wearable art objects for the last 50+ years. His MarvinSin.com website displays the pocketbooks, earrings, bracelets, and cellphone pouches he etches with African-inspired carvings and drawings.
Crafting wearable art became one of Kelly’s central sources of income back when he was in college at Columbia University. He usually made drawings and paintings, but one day, he saw his roommate working with Tandy carving leather, and the prospect of sketching his designs on this special type of canvas lured him in.
“One of the reasons that I shifted from painting into what we call wearable art or craft was because many of the painters who I admired and respected were kind of waiting on a line, on a long line––waiting to be
noticed or acknowledged or appreciated––and the line wasn’t moving,” Kelly reflected. “To be an artist, a Black artist, rendering imagery reflective of our culture? Back then, there was no room for it, no space for it. Even the Black curators turned their noses up at it, so, there was no room, and I thought, what’s the use of getting on the end of a line that’s not moving? Let me start my own lane.”
Kelly continued making art throughout his college years, even when he was approved for a work-study assignment at NYCHA’s Grant Houses. There he met Lloyd Williams, the future CEO of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, who at that time was director of an afterschool teen recreation program. Together, the two came up with a cultural project program of entertainment, African fashions, and projects for the kids. Their success led them to create an event planning company called Blackfrica Promotions, which was designed to connect community members to their African culture.
“I guess the difference in our perspec-
tive was that it was like, ‘Come as you are: African.’ With most other organizations, you had to kind of go through a ritual transformation: You had to change your name, your attire, your something, to represent your African spirit. Our model was to say, ‘You’re an African any way that you exist.’ We were using that to invite people to experience a culture that, in many cases, they felt excluded from, because again, you had to jump through and over these hurdles or through these hoops to be connected to it.”
Blackfrica Promotions and Kelly and Williams’s active participation with Percy Sutton and Charles Rangel’s local political club led to their being invited to helm the Harlem Chamber of Commerce ,which had an almost 90% white membership at the time. They weren’t sure about the best way to reach out to Harlem’s local Black organizations and bring them into the Chamber of Commerce until they came up with the idea to create a “Harlem Day”––a platform that would showcase some of the work and projects of organizations that were active in the Harlem community.
“The image of the Harlem community was very negative,” Kelly recalled. “There was still a lot of drugs, some no-go zones in the Harlem community, places you really didn’t even want to be at after dark. There was that image issue. The combination of putting a brighter light, [a] positive face, on the Harlem community and allowing some of the organizations that were doing great work to showcase what they were doing became a collaboration of meeting with all these folks and talking about the idea and getting their input. That was the genesis.”
Sutton’s political pull allowed them to get all the city agencies––from the transit police to sanitation––to cooperate with the planning for Harlem Day. Buses were re-routed and the police cordoned off the street. But on the morning of August 28, 1974, Harlem Day began in pouring rain.
“We had a cut-off time of maybe about 8 a.m. or something where we had to give a go or no-go to the agencies, about whether this was going to happen or not. At around
7:30 or so, it tapered off a little bit and I remember that some of the members from the National Black Theater and our group, Blackfrica—we walked out into the rain, and…it stopped raining, and it was on. The rest, as they say, is history. But…it was inches away from never happening.” Kelly no longer lives in New York City. Although born and raised in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Kelly said the pace of life in New York didn’t work for him. As Blackfrica Promotions took off, he began regularly planning two to three events a week, “and before you could resolve one, there were two more on the plate, and then you did those and there were more. There was never a time to reflect, analyze, grow from the event: It was just a rapid succession of things, things, always things, and you were still functioning at that same pace. It was just too fast for my spirit, and I could never see the fruits of my labor; I was giving and giving and giving, and there was nothing feeding me back. After a while, it just wore me down.” Kelly still returns every year to take part in Harlem Week. Since 1979, he has had a designated table at the event where folks can purchase his culturally inspired, wearable art.
Marvin Kelly with some of his leather-etched art pieces (Photos courtesy of Marvin Kelly)
New Yorker
A selection of Harlem Week 2024 events to enjoy
By NADINE MATTHEWS Special to the AmNews
Harlem Week began 50 years ago as a one-day event called Harlem Day. The goals were building a sense of community and bolstering the local economy. It was so successful that subsequent events were held over more days. Now, as Harlem Week ushers in its golden anniversary, it is a highly anticipated annual summer event (lasting a bit longer than a week) celebrating the best of Harlem’s people, history, and culture through a variety of events and discussions. Here are some of the events happening during this year’s Harlem Week, starting on August 7.
August 7
6 p.m., Climate Change Conference
Climate change, which can already be felt by all New Yorkers in warmer average temperatures compared to years ago, is poised to have a disproportionate impact on the Black community. In recognition of this fact, the Columbia Climate School and the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce are putting on their Climate Change Conference for the third year, to discuss the threat it poses and solutions to neutralize some of its effects. (Adam Clayton Powell Office Building)
August 8
4 p.m., Uptown Night Market
Made for food lovers and food adventurers, this annual event is a celebration of global cuisines from a plethora of food vendors, punctuated by cultural and family activities. (701 W. 133rd Street, https://www. maschospitalitygroup.com/uptownnightmarket)
7 p.m., Indoor/Outdoor Film Festival
With screenings through August 18, this film series features films made in and around Harlem. Harlem Historic Tours will introduce some of the films and provide info about their history and connection to Harlem. Featured film will be “Black Nativity,” starring Angela Bassett, Mary J. Blige, and Jennifer Hudson. (Location TBD)
August 9
10 a.m., Senior Citizens Day
The day’s events include health demonstrations, health testing, performances, exhibits, the Demystifying Technology panel, the Senior Hat Fashion Show, and more. (Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Office Building)
August 10
7 a.m., Summer Streets
A day of non-stop fun where attendees come together for biking, walking, running, jumping, meditating, skipping, skating, dancing, and live music! (109th Street and Park Avenue–125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.)
5 a.m. start, Harlem 5K Run and Walk and Children’s Run
For some New Yorkers, this marathon is second only to the New York City Marathon. Sponsored by New York Road Runners and the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, it has attracted runners and walkers from all over the world. (W. 135th Street)
7 p.m., Great Jazz on Great Hill
Jazzmobile and the Central Park Conservancy Present “Great Jazz On The Great Hill” featuring performances from internationally acclaimed artists. Attendees are encouraged to sing along and kick up their heels. (Central Park Great Hill, 103rd–107th Streets)
August 11
12 noon–7 p.m., Great Day in Harlem
The International Village opens, with vendors and exhibitors of arts and crafts, jewelry, clothing, unique accessories, international foods, and more. Entertainment from the stage is presented in four segments: Artz, Rootz, & Rhythm, featuring local, community, and emerging performers of varying genres; the Gospel Caravan, with local, national, and international performers; AFRIBEMBE, presented by the Caribbean Cultural Center, a celebration of the diaspora, tracing the journey from Africa through the Caribbean and to Harlem; and Concert Under the Stars, featuring national and international performers backed by the Harlem Music Festival All-Star Band, led by
“Music Director to the Stars” Ray Chew. (Ulysses S. Grant National Memorial, Riverside Drive)
August 12
10 a.m.–3 p.m., Children’s Conference and Hackathon
The Children’s Conference presents panel discussions by and for young adults, exploring issues of importance to them. The Hackathon is a contest for middle and high school students to come up with technological solutions to some of the issues from the panels, with presentation of prizes to winners. (Location TBD)
August 13
12 noon–3 p.m., Economic Development Day
Small-business owners, representatives from corporations, and political representatives come together for discussions about community development, economic development & diversity, and Technology & Cyber-security. (Location TBD)
3–5 p.m., Arts and Culture/Broadway Summit
Black talent has always played a pivotal role behind and in front of the scene in arts and culture, enriching culture and economy significantly. This summit features conversations with actors, producers, directors, and those behind the scenes in the theater industry. (Location TBD)
August 14
7:30–8 p.m., Harlem on My Mind
This series of conversations runs through August 15 and features a range of topics germane to Harlem history, culture, and community by “Harlem-inspired” thought leaders. (Location TBD)
10 a.m.–4 p.m., Jobs and Careers Fair
More than 40 companies representing banking & finance, city services, climate, construction, education, health, hospitality, restaurants, technology, transportation, and more will be ready to meet and greet prospective employees. Career development workshops will be featured. RSVP at: https://bit.ly/ghcc2024jobsandcareerfair. (CCNY, 160 Convent Avenue)
August 15
9 a.m.–3 p.m., Black Health Matters Summer Health Summit and Expo Health professionals and patient advocates will share stories of perseverance and resilience, and offer strategies to leverage science and technology to benefit your health. Free health screenings, prizes. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. (Alhambra Ballroom)
6–9:45 p.m., Banking and Finance for Small Business and Entrepreneurs Industry experts will offer advice and tips for maximizing profit. (Chase Community Bank, 55 W. 125th Street)
For more info, visit https://harlemweek.com/.
(Bill Moore photo)