The Uptown Collective – The Recap 12-30 to 1-4
By Led Black
December 30 – January 4
January 1st was an important day for me personally but I sincerely believe that it was also a significant day in the history of this city, this country and ultimately, the world. Not only was it the first day of the New Year but it was also the inauguration of our new Mayor, Bill de Blasio. I am SO done with Mike Bloomberg.
Anyway, as I listened to the inauguration ceremony on WNYC, I was totally blown away by the riveting piece of verse delivered by New York City Youth Poet Laureate, Ramya Ramana. The poem became the first post of the year on our site and is a clarion call for the start of a new era of Progressivism in New York City and hopefully beyond. New York City is the capital of the world. If immigrants and working people don’t have a shot in New York City, then New York City doesn’t have a shot. The same applies for the rest of the country. As Ramya stated so eloquently in her simply sublime poem, “This city always will be the foundation of this country.” Amen Ramya, Amen! Long Live New York City!
Our very own Jenni Ruiz put together a handy and humorous guide to making 2014 a great year entitled A New Year, A New You, A New Way. Our newest contributor, Carl L. Clemons, penned a heartfelt homage to Lil Man, who is a Washington Heights hood legend that survived being shot in the head and was a beloved figure in the community.
Uptown’s own Reyna of MTV’s Washington Heights fame, dropped the latest single and video off of her upcoming EP, entitled Strangers. Our good friends Nelson Salcedo and Audubon ably directed the video. The homie, Audubon, also wrote and produced the song. This week also saw the release of the first poem off of the audiobook version of the Notes to Self by Frankie Medina.
Did you know that one of this year’s Kennedy Center Honorees is world famous Opera singer and Harlem’s own Martina Arroyo? Check out our site for awesome pictures of the 1st Snow Storm of 2014 courtesy of Wallace Flores. Lastly, please take a trip through the year that was with our Top 10 Posts of 2013.
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.
I had been saying for most of 2012 that 2013 would be the year of Washington Heights. I think in many ways I was right. Not only did we kick off the year with the groundbreaking docu-series Washington Heights on MTV but the film, Trouble In The Heights, was also released and In The Heights had a special 5-year Anniversary.
