Move to rename Harlem neighborhood sparks outrage over erasing black history
Last edited Fri Jul 21, 2017, 10:36 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
Move to rename Harlem neighborhood sparks outrage over erasing black history
By Barbara Goldberg | NEW YORK
New York City real estate companies' attempts to rename a Harlem neighborhood "SoHa" have enraged long-time residents of the historically black enclave, who say the move erases the community's rich cultural history.
The neighborhood served as home and inspiration to generations of leading African Americans, including activists W.E.B. Du Bois and Malcolm X, who dubbed it "Seventh Heaven." Artists such as poet Langston Hughes and singers Harry Belafonte and Ella Fitzgerald also lived there.
The "SoHa" name, echoing the high-priced, largely white Manhattan neighborhood of SoHo in lower Manhattan, has begun appearing in real estate listings for apartments located between 110th Street and 125th Street, and Realtor Keller Williams boasts a "SoHa Team" of agents on its website.
Keller Williams did not respond to a request for comment.
Harlem's U.S. Congressman Adriano Espaillat vowed to introduce a House resolution to protect Harlem from being renamed.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-harlem-idUSKBN19H2CL
= new reply since forum marked as read
****** You can't take their history away from them. You have tried to take everything away from black people for ages. Back the fuck off, have you not done enough white damage? It is time for you to go away. Harlem is always going to be Harlem.******
Earlier this month, the Hip Hop Hall of Fame Museum won a bid to acquire a Harlem building and development site for a new state-of-the-art facility that will “preserve, archive, exhibit, educate, and showcase hip-hop Music and culture from around the world.”
Phase one, which is set to begin in February 2018, of the museum’s development plan will include, among other things, a multimedia film production studio and a television content production center for students “that will be training for careers in tech and media, while producing real-life content for the museum, and the hip hop television channel network,” the museum’s founder, JT Thompson, said in a release.
Eventually the 20-story building will include 5-star hotel, retail mall, an arcade, restaurant and concert lounge. The organization has also launched a $150 million fundraising campaign to help complete funding for the entertainment complex.
Last year, Thompson ― who’s also an Army veteran ― told the New York Post that the museum’s progress has been a “labor of love.”
https://goodblacknews.org/2017/06/20/harlem-will-soon-be-home-to-20-story-hip-hop-hall-of-fame-museum/