UC Recap – April 10 – April 15
It is 2½ minutes to ‘midnight.’ The Doomsday Clock is ticking ever so louder ever since you know who usurped our democracy. Welcome to the Republic of Fear. Every day immigrant communities are being terrorized with relish by this illegitimate administration. Lady Liberty has been gagged, bound and forcibly prevented from calling out to the huddled masses yearning to be free. The rapid undoing of decades of progress has begun and continues to gather momentum. What you are witnessing, make no mistake about it, is a right-wing Revolution. These radicals are hell bent in not just subjugating this country but the entire world. Just last week, the United States dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever in Afghanistan. This massive instrument of death is playfully nicknamed the “mother of all bombs.” With that said, it is now or never, folks. Either we stand up right now and organize, galvanize, mobilize and agitate or we are done for. America is done for. Today it is immigrants; tomorrow it will be another group and so on and so forth. I had the good fortune of hearing Alicia Garza of the #BlackLivesMatter movement speak at Barnard last week. One of the jewels I walked away with is “solidarity is a verb.” It is time for ACTION. Please join the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights (NMCIR) and a whole host of other groups in demanding that America live up to its principles. On Sunday, April 23 we will let the world know that uptown is united and ready, willing and able to fight against the hate and fear that is currently consuming this country. Alice Neel was an artist to watch for when she decided to move to Harlem in the 1930’s. Her love of Harlem was evident in her portraits of its people. Lola Adesioye of The Atlantic delves into that love affair. By the way, you have until April 22 to catch Alice Neel, Uptown at the David Zwirner gallery. Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodríguez came Uptown last week to promote the latest installment of the Fast And Furious films. Joel Dreyfuss of the NY Times penned a great piece on the French culinary renaissance taking place in Harlem. The beleaguered public schools of Harlem are hemorrhaging children and resources. Clara Hemphill and Ana Carla Sant’anna Costa of the Center For New York City Affairs explain why. 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.
April 10 – April 15
