The Renaissance Theater And Casino, Harlem NY, 1923

If one walks along Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard (aka Seventh Avenue) in Harlem today, they will see, for the first time in over 90 years, a vacant lot on the east side of the thoroughfare between West 137th and West 138th Streets. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.By submitting…

Anita Thompson, Harlem’s American Cocktail Girl, 1920’s

Langston Hughes was a cousin; Booker T. Washington was a friend; Bill “Bojangles” Robinson taught her tap dance; W. E .B. du Bois a likely first lover… Contemporary ‘It girls’ have nothing on the free spirits of the 1920s like Anita Thompson Dickinson Reynolds, who danced the Charleston, turned cartwheels on the sidewalk, and drank…

The Harlem Junior Tennis And Education Program Celebrates 42 Years

Tennis stars and celebrities including James Blake, Mayor David Dinkins, Jeanne Ashe and more, with the evening’s emcee, Al Roker of the Today Show. were on hand to celebrate the Harlem Junior Tennis & Education Program’s 42 years of Service.  Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field…

James Melvin “Jimmie” Lunceford, 1940-1972 (video)

James Melvin “Jimmie” Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your…

My Grandmother’s Harlem Renaissance Wedding

By A’Lelia Bundles Langston Hughes called A’Lelia Walker “the joy goddess of Harlem’s 1920s” Whenever I see my grandmother Mae’s 1923 wedding photographs, I can’t help but marvel at the elegance and extravagance. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.By submitting this form, you are consenting…

Melvin Stanton “Mel” Tapley Of The Amsterdam News

Melvin Stanton “Mel” Tapley was born in New York on May 29, 1918. In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, the Tapley family of three lived in Cortlandt, New York at 1105 Park Street. His parents were Harry, a chauffeur, and Louise, and his age was recorded as nine months, which would make his birth in…

Henry “Taj Mahal” Saint Clair Fredericks, Harlem

Henry Saint Clair Fredericks (born May 17, 1942), who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your…

Elizabeth Catlett, Passes at 96

Elizabeth Catlett, whose abstracted sculptures of the human form reflected her deep concern with the African-American experience and the struggle for civil rights… Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your…

Reginald E. Gilliam, Jr., Passes

Reginald E. Gilliam, Jr., a trailblazing African-American lobbyist and most recently Sodexo Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, passed away at the age of 67 on March 28, 2012 after succumbing to lymphoma. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.By submitting this form, you are consenting to…

Jazz vs. Racism By Greg Thomas

In the brief time that I’ve been posting blog entries to Integral Post, rarely have I explicitly discussed the issue of race, which, it seems to me, is a blindspot of the Integral community. Yet I intend, more and more, to visit the theme of race and view it through an Integral lens. Become a…

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie In Harlem (video)

John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie (pronounced /ɡɨˈlɛspi/; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer. Become a Harlem Insider! Sign-Up for our Newsletter *Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your…