The Uptown Collective – The Recap 1-27 to 2-1
By Led Black
January 27 – February 1
From the Heights to the State of the Union speech, Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School student, Estiven Rodriguez, had the honor of attending the event and even got a shout out from POTUS. Estiven arrived in the country at 9 years old and thanks to hard work and a supportive and dynamic school is now on his way to Dickinson College this fall. Our contributor Jenni Ruiza, penned an Op-ed entitled, The State of the Union & The Boogie Down.
Our Uptown Video comes to us from Arlene Schulman and focuses on the transformation of Uptown resident, Pamela Lloyd, as she begins her commute at the A train station on Dyckman Street. In the first installment of Stories from Underground, Arlene explores the culture behind women who put on makeup on the subway. This week saw the new video from Trops of Mad Amps for his latest song, Tryna Live Life. The homie, Tellie Floydd, also dropped the visuals for the songs Akuma and Gill Scott Heron.
The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) and Museo del Barrio (1230 5th Ave) present a screening of Joe Cardona’s documentary, Celia the Queen on Wednesday, February 5 at 7pm. The film is a loving look at the amazing life and legacy of a woman whose voice symbolized the soul of a peopl and captured the hearts of fans worldwide. Also on the 5th, The National Black Theatre kicks off Facing Our Truth, which is composed of 10-Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege. You have until February 10th to catch Facing Our Truth, so make sure you buy your tickets ASAP.
If you have ever traveled from one end of 125th Street to the other, it would be hard to miss the brightly painted gates depicting life in Harlem. The artist of this series of street art is Franco Gaskin also known as Franco the Great. Artist and writer, Lynn Lieberman, wrote a great piece on the prolific artist for the Untapped Cities blog.
The always-informative Cole Thompson penned an excellent and exhaustive history of Inwood’s 215th Street Incinerator Smokestacks. Cole Thompson’s MyInwood.net is an outstanding resource for historical info on Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood, Inwood. You already know our motto, Spread Love It’s The Uptown Way!
Keep checking us out at www.uptowncollective.com.
Led Black
Editor-in-Chief
The Uptown Collective
The UC’s mission is to become “the” definitive, transformative and community-based force impacting the arts, culture, business and New York City’s overall perception of Upper Manhattan. Its objective is to reset, reboot and positively redefine Uptown’s artistic, political, cultural and business spheres via the online space as well the collective’s initiatives and functions.
