
Museum Goers








A week ago during the snow storm, I left my warm apartment and went to Harlem and volunteered with i, Too, Arts Collective which is a non-profit organization committed to nurturing voices from underrepresented communities in the creative arts. They are responsible for renovating the Harlem renaissance poet, Langston Hughes, home.
When I was in college, I went on a date with a young man who grew up in New Orleans. He was crazy about the Harlem renaissance because of his high school teachers. I, who grew up in New York, was crazy about Harlem because of the books I read alone (my high school curriculum skipped majority of my history…really America’s true history). In any case, he took me to Harlem for a date and I remember us standing outside of Langston Hughes home taking about his poems. Then we spoke about what it would take for his home to become a museum. Then, we stopped talking so the conversation pretty much died like a raisin in the sun. However, the dream didn’t because I am now apart of a team of people who are preserving Mr. Hughes legacy by opening up his space and reserving it for writers and other artist to gather.
Last Thursday I had the opportunity to join my boss, Heidi Hynes, her family and Ezekiel and his mother on a cruise!
It was a cruise on The Jewel that headed south along the East River and passed underneath the 3 major bridges (Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn), then it continued to cruise through the New York harbor to the Statue of Liberty. Then the Jewel turned around and made the same trip again in reverse.
The purpose was to raise money for the Musicians-Aid Society which is the same society that sends musicians to the Mary Mitchell Center.
I originally told the piano player, Patrick McLellan, that I wasn’t going but I am glad I changed my mind. Even though it rained most of the night, it was a great experience. I got to meet wonderful people (which you will see in the photos) and even got to hear the great saxophonist Charles Neville live (from the Neville Brothers) and heard his son, Kelif, play a mean piano.
Here I am smiling with Ezekiel and Heidi.
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