Envision Equity February 2019 Special Black History Month Edition

Envision Equity February 2019
A Day in Harlem with
Mr. Ashford
If I could spend one day in Harlem, New York, during the Harlem Renaissance, I would shed
my denim jeans, like the other migrants from the South, for a three-piece suit and fedora. I
would proudly walk two square miles around this oasis of black consciousness before
marching with protesters at the Silence Parade. I would then press my way through the
thousands of participants organized to protest violent crimes against African Americans,
until I was right behind James Weldon Johnson and W.E.B. DuBois. I would tell W.E.B.
DuBois how The Souls of Black Folks changed my perspective and ask him to be my tour
guide in hopes he would take me to Negrotti Manor on 136th Street, by way
of his favorite soul food restaurant. I would ask DuBois his opinion of
Alain Locke, “The New Negro,” and the art of Erin Douglas inspired
by Marcus Garvey’s vision of the motherland. I would ask DuBois
how he felt the first time he heard a Langston Hughes poem. I
would buy us both tickets to the theater to see movies starring
actors, who looked like us, acting out scripts that unapologetically
explored the racial challenges and issues of black community from
the black perspective. As evening neared, I would tip-toe in the back
door of the Cotton Club to observe the mixed crowd and witness jazz
in its purest form conducted by no other than Duke Ellington himself.
But those who truly know me know, I’m not a “Bourgeois Negro,” so, I
would have to top off my night with a trip to the nearest
speakeasy. Where I could hopefully hear some blues, sip on
some hooch or giggle water, and sweat out my zoot suit
dancing with a tall chocolate drink of water.
Photos, Abdul Sharif