Harlem Week 50th Anniversary Launches With Senior Day, Percy Sutton 5K, And More!

HARLEM WEEK will kick off its 50th year anniversary this weekend with a stellar line-up of live and virtual events.

These events including Senior Citizens Day (Aug. 9), The Percy Sutton Harlem 5K Run & Health Walk & Children’s Run (Aug. 10) and a “A Great Day in Harlem” (Aug. 11). 

Centered around the theme, “Celebrating the Journey,” this year’s festivities are curated to remain true to the mission of HARLEM WEEK –to provide direction, hope, inspiration, leadership, focus, and unity to the “Harlems” of our nation and beyond.

In its 15th year of collaborating with The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, New York Road Runners (NYRR) will host around 5,000 runners of all ages and abilities at the annual Percy Sutton Harlem 5K on Saturday, August 10. As NYRR’s premier event in the neighborhood, the Percy Sutton Harlem 5K spotlights the nonprofit’s year-round impact in Harlem and commemorates the legacy of Sutton, who championed the first five-borough New York City Marathon in 1976 and founded Harlem Day, now known as HARLEM WEEK.  Among the programs represented will be more than two dozen New York City high school junior and senior young women of NYRR Run for the Future running their first-ever 5K alongside NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella.  

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HARLEM WEEK’s first major public outdoor event, “A Great Day in Harlem” will feature an International Village with vendors and exhibitors; entertainment by Artz, Rootz & Rhythm, Bishop Hezekiah Walker, Mama Foundation Sing Harlem Choir, Uptown Dance Academy, the Gospel Caravan, and AFRIBEMBE presented by the Caribbean Cultural Center – A celebration of the diaspora tracing the journey from Africa through the Caribbean and to Harlem. The evening will conclude with a Concert Under Under the Stars featuring the debut of the HARLEM WEEK 50th Anniversary theme song “Jam & Party”–performed by the Harlem Music Festival All-Star Band led by “Music Director to the stars” Ray Chew.  

Organized by the late Hon. Percy Sutton, HARLEM WEEK began in the summer of 1974 as HARLEM DAY, a one-day event with the objective of revitalizing the greater Harlem community and lifting the spirits of residents who were suffering disproportionately from of the most severe economic depression that New York City and the nation had faced in generations.  The event was produced by Blackfrica Promotions, a Harlem-based arts and cultural organization, with key members Joseph Roberts, Voza Rivers, Marvin Kelly, Larry Frazier, Tony Rogers, Stephanie Francis, and led by Lloyd Williams.

The late great actor and producer Ossie Davis proclaimed that HARLEM DAY was the beginning of ‘The Second Harlem Renaissance.’  HARLEM WEEK has been responsible for many improvements in infrastructure, transportation, and other areas that have directly benefited Harlemites, and neighborhood visitors. 

“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, residential and commercial construction, and encouraged the expansion of higher education institutions and medical facilities” said Lloyd Williams, HARLEM WEEK Founder and Chairman.

Photo credit: GHCC.