Walking in Harlem

Diary Entry for Saturday, May 21, 2011

Lazy morning. Slept in late and enjoyed it. Got up and ready for the day and then took another nap! Grabbed some lunch from the cafeteria before they closed. I think the swelling has gone down in my ankles.

By 2:30 pm I got out the door – heading down to Harlem. I have been told it is safe – as long it is day time. There was an exhibition of Patchwork quilts by Africans of India at the Schomburg Center at the Harlem-NY Public Library, on 135^th and Malcom X Blvd. Another opportunity to take the buses so off I went.

I always ask those at the bus station where the buses are going. Most times I am lucky and get a friendly sort. An older African-American lady guided me through the stops. While on the bus I asked her if the red brick buildings were considered the “projects” that I had read about. She assured me that they were part of “The Projects.” With there being green grass, the buildings are looking decent – but I haven’t been inside!

So I get to my destination and enjoy the exhibition of quilts. They weren’t ones we are familiar with, as the women use old saris, and any other bits of cloth they had. A true pieced-quilt. I was taking pictures of them, and had even asked if it would be OK, but just as I rounded the corner, the guard told me I couldn’t. Darn, I have all those pictures!!! Anyway, the quilts were very rudimentary compared to the masterpieces that are created from experienced quilters. But it is their story that makes them unique. Though the tops are varied, the process is the same, geometric shapes pieced together, than using a whole piece of cloth (if available) they are stitched together using a long running stitch. There was no batting that was sandwiched between the fabrics. After thinking about this, they probably don’t need to – they live in India – it doesn’t get too cold there. They use the quilts for decoration or for bedding. They have put into practice, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

While there I met an African-American woman who was a quilter. Quilters have a language, bonding is pretty quick – but she was a little stand-offish. But that was OK. She shared with me that she uses African fabrics for quilts – which she purchases from the Netherlands!!! She said the designs are unique and beautiful, Vlisco fabrics.

I went upstairs where they had another exhibition, of photos of the “African-American Renaissance.” They were some beautiful prints from a number of African-American photographers. I thought of Kimmy, hoping some day she would be able to capture people the way these photographers had. There was energy, color, history – all telling a story. There were some older African-American people viewing the photos as well. They were not from NYC, but it was interesting to hear their comments, asking one another, “Do you remember that time?” They had smiles on their faces as they were walking through the exhibition – so did I.  I find history of people fascinating.

I was writing down my thoughts about the photos, when the quilting lady from downstairs came up to me. She had pulled out some fabrics that she was telling me about. She had forgotten that she had some pieces in her purse, and wanted to show them to me. She had warmed up by the time she made it upstairs!!! Her name was Carene. She is a retired nurse, has a mother that is 90, a daughter and a granddaughter that is 30 – four generations. She has lived in NYC all her life. She had in her hands a book entitled Crowns. It was a book she had just picked up at the library bookstore about the hats that African-American women had worn through the 20^th century. Talk about hats! These were incredible pieces of design made out of felt, feathers, fabric, flowers and bling!

Carene then told me the story of her mother – that she loves hats. In fact she has 200 of them! She told me that in NYC, when there are women’s day at the church’s or other events, the women look forward to her mother showing up, in anticipation to see what hat she will be wearing. The African-American women dress up for church in NYC. They may do it in other cities – but in NYC – it is expected! Carene told the story of her mother’s recent trip to St. Louis and the hat shop. Her mother was looking into the hat shop and the owner noticed her. He opened the door, invited her in, offered her a chair and proceeded to show her “the” hat, as well as several more. She ended up buying three hats as glorious as the others in her collection.

I asked Carene if her mother would allow someone to see her hats. It was a very quick, negative response. I would have loved to have seen her hats. What a story that would have been.

After I toured the exhibits I started walking down Malcom X Blvd. or Lenox Avenue. Let’s say I was an uncommon visitor on these streets. Got a few smiles, but mainly I was ignored.

The sidewalks are wide on this street, and close to where the Harlem LDS Church building is. Along the curb many older African-American men were lined up, sitting on folding chairs. There would be a boom box playing music, but the men just sat, watching people walk by, or visiting with one another. I wanted to take a picture of them, but when I asked, they said no, so I walked on. There were a few people that had a tent set up with things to sell, those individuals were friendly. There were just a lot of people.

I crossed over 125^th Street, and walked south because I saw some beautiful buildings and wanted to take some pictures. I have been told that there is a resurgence of rebuilding and restoring a lot of the buildings in Harlem. There are a lot of historical buildings. I took pictures of some of the buildings that are in need of repair and those in the process – but again, the camera does not do it justice. One building is St. Mark’s. The gentlemen sitting on the corner said it was a mausoleum. Haven’t been able to confirm that, but it is interesting!

 Waiting restoration.

There were lots of buildings with fire escapes. 

S

 Loved the detail on these buildings.

 Historically these were beautiful - all in a row.

 Even on a Saturday it was quite the show of African-American women in their Sunday best.

So many churches on every street.

 Again, the details and craftsmanship on these buildings, how beautiful.

One of many red-brick buildings.

Fairs and Towers

People watching is what I like best about NYC. But sometimes it is hard to do this because everyone is moving so fast. 
One afternoon after church there was a street fair going on. I had to eat, so I decided to walk around and see what delectable foods they had to try. This was fun because people weren't in a hurry, they had slowed down to just enjoy the sights and smells of the street vendors. There still was an energy about the fair, the noise of NYC had not lessened, but people were just enjoying themselves with no hurry to be anywhere.
The vendors were many. The fair was about three blocks long, with various foods to eat, "I Love NYC" t-shirts, scarves, plants, jewelry, women's accessories, sunglasses, African art and baskets - it was all there.

And then there are the Towers. I found three. There possibly could have been more. There was one on Columbus Circle, another across from the UN and the third was on the west side, across from the Hudson River. The Heliport was near the third tower, it was pretty busy the day I walked by. They didn't seem very busy. Occasionally there were some cars parked in front where chauffeurs were opening doors as people hurried into the Towers. Maybe I should have walked in one to see if they are as grand as I had heard. Maybe the people I would have seen in the Towers would have changed my perspective of people in NYC. Possibly it could have been the best people watching episode I could ever want! But I didn't because there are just too many people in NYC that are interesting all by themselves.

Homework in NYC - Really?

While here - I am taking a class on International Media. Our first assignment that we have turned in, was to interview a person at I-House, of the country we will be doing a presentation and research paper on. So I was able to interview two young women from India.

We had three questions that we were to ask:

• What are the differences between America and India, the challenges, things you missed or any annoyances.
• How is the media different or the same from your country.
• What advice would you give someone visiting your country.

Ana is from the Bengali district of India and was graduating with her masters in software engineering. She completed her undergraduate in India. Her father is a pediatrician and her sister is an engineer for Google in India. She was leaving in a week for Santa Monica, working at Yahoo. I visited Ana while she was preparing a Chicken Curry dish for her aunt and uncle that were in town visiting. I didn’t have the “list” of questions with me, so I just visited with her.

During our conversation, I didn’t gather that she was annoyed, nor indifferent to the American lifestyle. She spoke of being able to adjust to any type of people or situations, and was looking forward to her time in California. When asking if she would seek others from Indian background she said that if she came across others, then yes she would spend time with them. But I could sense that she was looking for some new adventures and experiences.

I specifically asked Ana about the media outlets in India, and in particular, about Bollywood. She chuckled. She said that in each region of India there was a “Bollywood.” Bollywood was for those of the Hindu religion, and that for each region and religion, they had their own producers of film. She was Bengalese, and said that in her region, the films were just as big and popular.

Ana said that print media was very popular, lots of small newspapers were printed each day, and the citizens were avid readers. Interesting fact she shared was that the south and east areas of India had literacy rates of 90+ percent.

My next interview was with Prateedi. I was more direct in my questions with her. She loves NYC, especially the public transportation system and the opportunity she has as a woman to excel in her profession, a culinary chef. She hasn’t found it difficult to adapt to the American lifestyle.

However she does find it disconcerting that when meeting new people, particularly Americans, they are ignorant and have this “Aladdin” mindset of what and how people are from India. Their ignorance is manifested when talking with them. If it doesn’t directly affect them, here and now, they are not interested. She also felt they had little understanding of global issues. Case in point – the tsunami that destroyed Sri Lanka. They really don’t care because it wasn’t in their backyard!

Prateedi also commented about the literacy rate of people in India – everyone reads and subscribes or buys up to three newspapers a day. She felt that their news was well written and had in depth news. Accordingly, the different newspapers are written in ways that reflected the financial backing or agenda of its owners, both with sensational news and coverage of serious political issues. The same with TV, lots of stations with lots of news. One major difference in their broadcast news was that many stations would have an hour long program of world news, with ties into local situations. She felt that the U.S. news only covered what was happening here locally.

Trying to get a feel for how movies play in the social and economics of India, she chuckled as well. Movies are very integrated in the lives of the Indian people. Everyone watches movies she said. There are stories of Muslim men falling in love with Hindu women and vice-a-versa. Tragic stories, documentaries – just good stories. I asked her if watching these movies, would I get a sense of what life in India was like. She said that many of the movies are exaggerated, they are not realistic. The purpose of movies is for entertainment about interesting people within their different cultures.

When asked what she would suggest to do if visiting her country, her eyes lit up! She commented that the touristy spots are wonderful and that people should go see them, but tourists need to explore more. She suggested that they go to rural areas to see how people live day to day. Unfortunately, she said that the “mindset” people have of India, such as poverty issues, are all people will see when they visit – and that they miss seeing the normal people of India. The Modern India of today, how it has progressed and improved. Apparently, the Indian people are proud of the improvements they have made in their living conditions and they would like others to see this whole new world of theirs. She mentioned that visitors need to go with an open mind, meet people and hear their stories. And most importantly – eat the food!

           

           

Times Squared

Friday after work, Leesa and I headed on down to Times Square to check things out. Can I say PEOPLE, and you know what I mean? I have a point and shoot camera, so the quality of my pictures are not great. And besides, unless you have the time and space to frame your shot, nothing gives justice to the magnitude of Times Square or New York for that matter.

Me in the middle of it all.








We went down just so we knew where to go and have an idea as to what we wanted to see later. It really was a walk-through. Definitely going back at nighttime for all the lights.

Times Square New Years Eve Ball.

A play I hope to see.

Next two pixs are of the same building - just different light graphics.

Something sweet. When we walked past - people had these two-foot long Hershey bars that they were purchasing!