Authentic Harlem « Harlem Heritage Tours & Cultural Center

Authentic Harlem

Authentic Harlem’s mission is to provide information that pertains to Harlem’s cultural and socio-economic, past present and future.

Me and Bill

1/20/2010

The other day I was organizing some things in my office, getting ready for Black History Month and came across a bag of old mini dv cassettes. Instantly I remembered hiding them a year a ago in the same place I found them. This find prompted me to recover another mini dv cassette I shoot around the same time ( Dec. 2005) which contained the above video.

On 12/15/2005, me and Mr. Bill Miles (legendary Harlem Filmmaker) attended the unveiling of the brand new Marquee at the Apollo Theater, it was an exciting event that took place outside the theater and attracted a bevy of celebs: Richard Parsons, Mayor Bloomberg and Former Pres. Bill Clinton + many more.

At the time I had no clue that this would be the last time me and my beloved idol would attend such an event in Harlem together. I watched as many of the young media folks, eager to get the perfect shot obstructed Bill’s view as he attempted to take pictures – they had no clue who Bill was and the great contribution he made to popular media. Bill being Bill, remained cool and got the shots the scene would allow – I was displeased, but busy myself with my hand held dv camera.

To my pleasant surprise out of nowhere comes another Bill:
Former Pres. Bill Clinton, and I’m in the perfect position to shot and interview Mr. Clinton. This would be the 3rd time that I’ve been lucky in meeting Bill Clinton and talking with him. I happen to like Bill Clinton, but I love Bill Miles.

Mikes Old School News Stand – Authentic Harlem

01/12/2010

I remember when I was a kid in Harlem (below 10 years of age), all I needed for the day was one dollar and I could eat like a king at places like Mikes News stand. Back then the bags of potato chips were 10 cents and the 16 oz. sodas were 25 cents – man if I could get my hands on a dollar bill I was good. My Mother would often send my to Mikes News Stand to get her number cards. Number cards are cartoon like literature usually published on a daily basis. Those who were looking to determine what the number (gambling) will be for that day consulted these cards religiously: “Big Red”, “Big Blue”, “Golden Seal”, “Nite Lite”, “Ching Chong ” just to name a few – yes, I knew them by heart and still remember them all. You could only get them at local operations like Mikes News Stand.

Im still doing research, but I was told by Mike that the news stand was built in 1932. Mike purchased it 12 years ago from the son of the original owner who died in 1999 as a result of a car accident. Many are talking about the drastic changes in Harlem that are ever visible as you walk the streets of the community, but if you look closely you will see that many of our valued community assets are still here. This blog’s mission is to celebrate the needed change, but also to pay homage to the people and places that paved the way for change – support venues like Mikes News Stand and if your feeling lucky pick up a number card, my favorite has always been the “Big Red” LOL.

If I Only Knew – I Wish I Knew

01/12/2010

I took this picture of Mr. Percy Sutton (Center) in 2000 while conducting a tour of Harlem for the above group from LaGuardia Community College. Shortly after starting the tour we encountered Mr. Percy Sutton who was on his way to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The great thing about Harlem is that notables from the community are constantly walking the streets, some are my friends and when possible I introduce them to my guests.

At this time I knew Mr. Percy Sutton was the former Lawyer for Malcolm X and that he had authored the plan to save the Apollo Theater, but I now know that there was so much that I didn’t know about him until now. I didn’t know about his controversial Mayors race of 1977, that ultimately resulted in Mr. David Dinkins becoming the first African-American Mayor of New York City in 1989. I didn’t know that there are so many who started their journalism careers out of college via one of his many media outlets (WBLI or WBLS) through out the country.

I didn’t know that it was Mr. Sutton who some 35 years ago worked with City, State and National tourism associations to promote Harlem as a tourist destination. It was at this time (mid 1970’s) that many stayed as far from Harlem as possible. Now Harlem is one of the top 3 most requested tourist destinations on the Island of Manhattan/NYC. Even after becoming a wealthy man, owning radio stations across the land, he still was very approachable as I remember him stopping to take the above photo with my group. I now know that he made it possible for Harlem Heritage Tours to exist – I now know that I owe him a major debt – I wish I knew it then. I would have thanked Mr. Sutton.