Word: black
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...young Tom Hanks, history was as dull as an algebra equation. For Hanks - a classic baby boomer, born in 1956 - World War II was just a string of long-ago muzzle flashes in black-and-white. Yet he did have a more direct connection to the global cataclysm. His father had been a U.S. Naval mechanic (second class) in World War II. But Amos Hanks wasn't the type to tell his son tales of bravery and sacrifice. "Growing up, I always knew Dad was somewhere in the Pacific fixing things," Hanks says. "He had nothing nice to say about...
...part, the slippage is a function of the district's changing character. Though Harlem continues to be a capital of black culture, it is no longer predominantly black. Gentrification, a vaunted history and a prime location near Manhattan's Central Park have made it a magnet for New Yorkers of all stripes, and today less than half of the district's residents are African American. The demographic realignment means the district's elected officials face different political challenges. "When the baton is passed to you, you have to run the race of the moment," says Bill Perkins, a state senator...
...York City from 1990 to 1993. The group inherited a tradition passed down from trailblazers like Adam Clayton Powell Jr., whom Rangel unseated in 1970, and together shattered scores of racial barriers, attaining offices once dismissed as off-limits and paving the way for the ascension of black leaders around the country. In the process, they turned Harlem - long the epicenter of African-African culture - into a political mecca, its pull strong enough to entice former President Bill Clinton to base his foundation headquarters on the district's main thoroughfare of 125th Street. But with Rangel, 79, giving...
...through Harlem's political machine, the newest batch of African-American leaders - stars such as Obama, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Alabama Representative Artur Davis, Rangel's colleague on Ways and Means - have risen through the traditional channels of the U.S. meritocracy, says David Bositis, an expert on black electoral politics at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. "These guys are Ivy league, corporate-law-firm types," Bositis says. "You're talking about a very different political system than what Basil Paterson, Dinkins and guys like that grew up in." Going forward, he adds, there will...
...Perkins says it's inaccurate to characterize a changing of the guard as Harlem's demise. Harlem has matured into a wealthier, more diverse neighborhood that "will continue to be the voice of the black community," he says. Wright, meanwhile, says Harlem's history will prevent it from ever losing its clout. "As far as I'm concerned," he says, "the road to any office, from the President of the United States on down, will always lead through 125th Street...