Word: harlemization
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...festival invited various interpretations of what it means to look back and move forward. This year, BAF began with a panel discussion about Black Art featuring renowned poet and writer Amiri Baraka, one of the central figures in the Black Arts movement in Harlem during the 1960s. The panel also featured two perspectives from a younger generation—spoken word artist Joshua Bennett and scholar Cameron Leader-Picone, a fellow at Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. In defining Black Art, Baraka spoke of his experiences growing up in a segregated society and took an explicitly political...
...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...
...current crop of Harlem politicians know that measuring up to their predecessors' accomplishments is impossible. "They are absolutely historic figures," says New York state assemblyman Keith Wright, who represents the district. "Without Percy, Charlie, Basil and Dinkins, you probably wouldn't have this number of [politicians] in Brooklyn, in the Bronx, in Queens. They're pioneers." But Wright acknowledges that the power they accumulated is now flowing elsewhere - to the outer boroughs of New York City and to cities like Chicago, President Barack Obama's adopted hometown...
...There is, perhaps, another factor as well. Instead of coming up 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...
...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...