In 2021, I wrote articles for Gothamist in a partnership with the New York Public Library. The articles covered pieces in the Polonsky Exhibition of Treasures.
Romare Bearden’s “Black Manhattan” Is A Reflection Of 1960s Harlem
“What Bearden wanted to do is show the beauty of the city. People looking out the window. The bustle of the streets. It’s a reflection of urban life.”
Photo Credit – NYPL
The 1930s Green Book That Focused On New York City
Started by a Harlem couple Victor H. Green and Alma Duke Green, this 1930s edition focused on the New York metro area.
Photo Credit – NYPL
Read More
“Worth Reading In Its Entirety”: Draft Of James Baldwin Speech Provides Insight Into His Process
In the first lines of the 1969 production of To Be Young, Gifted and Black, actress Ruby Dee takes the role of playwright Lorraine Hansberry and introduces herself: “My name is Lorraine Hansberry. I am a writer. I suppose I think that the highest gift that a man has is art, and I am audacious to think of myself as an artist.”
It had been four years since Dee and over 600 mourners celebrated Hansberry’s life at her funeral in Harlem. The play, compiled by Hansberry’s ex-husband and creative partner Robert Nemiroff, sought to tell Hansberry’s life in her own words after she was gone.
The Original First Page Of The Powerful “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” Script
James Baldwin, one of the most prolific writers of American literature, once began a speech entitled “The Negro Novel” with a greeting, an introduction to his topic (the novel and American writing), and a reflection on how we all hold opinions and ideas about novels, whether we read, write, or do neither.
And then: a long blank space:
“_______________________________________ or the novels.”
Here are links to my work published in the Hunt’s Point Express, a local Bronx newspaper.
Big Donation for Puerto Rico and Mexico
Capital Funding Revs up for Hip Hop Museum
Internationally Acclaimed Photographer Brings El Barrio to the Bronx
