Harlem’s soil has always been the beacon and the playground for the souls of creative black Americans. From poets and musicians to authors and artists, the list is endless. Their lives unfolded through the flow of the charismatic Harlem lifestyle.
They include: the world-renowned poet, social activist, playwright and novelist Langston Hughes, better known as a leader of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance, who lived in a beautiful brownstone on East 127th street until his death; Zora Neale Hurston, anthropologist, filmmaker and author of “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” who became a Harlemite in the ’20s and Countee Cullen, who arrived in Harlem at the age of nine with his grandmother. As an adult, Cullen taught in the New York City public school system and penned children’s books, including the acclaimed “Ballad of the Brown Girl.”
In the 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald depicted the flamboyance and excess of white Americans of the Jazz Age in “The Great Gatsby.” On the other side of town, black Americans were already in the throes of a new resurgence, referred to as the “New Negro Movement” by Alain Locke. The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual, social and artistic explosion. When intellectuals held social and creative gatherings, it was always an auspicious occasion. The Negro Americans (as they were called at that time) would be decked out in their best Sunday “going to meeting” attire. There was always plenty of food, music and drink.
I would’ve loved to have listened to W. E. B. Du Bois, historian, civil rights activist and Pan-African author, chatting away with acclaimed artist Aaron Douglas or to Marcus Garvey on his platform preaching “Negroes should all go back to Africa,” while 19-year-old Billy Strayhorn played the song he wrote for Duke Ellington, “Take the A Train.” The beauty of these soirees was that they took place in beautiful 20-foot townhouses, which were large, ornate and decked out in original details.
The gatherings usually would accommodate 30 or more guests comfortably on the first floor of a townhouse. The first floor is still better known as the parlor of a 4,000-squarefoot townhome. These spacious, beautiful townhomes rarely come on the market. When they do, they are immediately purchased at full asking price or more, mostly to European buyers. Most pay in cash, which is a broker’s sweet spot.
Harlem has spacious apartments, as well. Most of them are rent-stabilized or rent-controlled. One of its best-kept secrets is Graham Court on Lenox Avenue. The architecture firm Clinton and Russell was commissioned by the Astor family to construct Graham Court flat houses in 1898, and it has since become the home of Billy Strayhorn and other noted famous and acclaimed black families.
Early this year, I had the pleasure of meeting international traveler Lenise Logan, an art advisor and exhibitions producer who lives in a beautiful, spacious Harlem townhouse where often she holds lectures about art with the Harlem base community. One of the Harlemites who continues the tradition of social intellectual gathering, Logan is very well-versed in her field. She has worked with some of the worlds’ most successful auctioneers, including Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, being responsible for some of the most valuable works of art in the world to the tune of over $3 billion.
Yet another Harlemite who keeps the these gathering on the mainline is internationally famed pianist, composer, musician, educator and philanthropist Rodney Kendrick, the son-in-law of the legendary Diana Ross. Kendrick is married to Rhonda Ross, herself an actress, activist and a composer of conscience music. Often speaking about his upbringing in Philadelphia, Kendrick shares his history and knowledge with the younger boys and girls through social change to illuminate the young minds of today. His main goal is to educate young minds, as he has done with his son Raif Henok Kendrick; at nine years old, Raif speaks French, Spanish and Chinese.
One of Rodney Kendrick’s mentors, for whom he composed and later on became the musical director for, was Abbey Lincoln, the jazz musician, vocalist, poet, actress and activist who lived in the heart of Harlem. Today, Kendrick opens his spacious, flatline, 3,000-square-foot abode to the young minds of the day, continuing the social gathering that started 100 years ago in Harlem.
Amanda Jhones
Triplemint
220 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
amanda.jhones@triplemint.com
917-334-8992
