UC Recap – January 22 – January 27
Jon Michaud penned an absolute must-read in The New Yorker on the importance of Coogan’s and how the community rallied together to save the beloved establishment. Jon’s piece is a welcome reminder that people sometimes have the power to change their circumstances. Not all gentrification stories have a happy ending but this one does, so please read it and share it far and wide. By the way, now we have to coalesce to try to save Galicia. Please find out more at http://bit.ly/2mLBDIG. Listen up folks, you have until February 18 to catch X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation at the Theatre at St. Clement’s. This magnificent show vividly brings to life the assassination of the late great Malcolm X. We cannot say this enough, you need to see this show ASAP. Beautifully written by Marcus Gardley, this play will make you cry, laugh and think really deeply about how the American experiment has still not lived up to its lofty rhetoric. Please hit up the site for an important piece on the removal of the statue of J. Marion Sims in East Harlem. Dr. James Marion Sims is considered the father of modern gynecology. His statue stands solemnly on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street. The thing is that he obtained his knowledge by experimenting on enslaved Black women. Without anesthesia, may I add, because he believed that Black people did not feel pain. The painting above perfectly encapsulates the sheer terror that the “good doctor” inflicted on his unwilling patients. Speaking of statues, shout out to Congressman Adriano Espaillat for pushing to get a statue of trailblazer Shirley Chisholm erected in Washington D.C. That is a statue we can fully support. The Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA), in partnership with Broadway Housing Communities and The Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling is seeking submissions for Women in the Heights – Resistance, an exhibition featuring work by women artists of Northern Manhattan. The incomparable Andrea Arroyo curates the exhibit. The deadline to apply is February 11, so get on it. The merriment continues on the latest episode of the Latinos Out Loud podcast. The special guest is none other than viral sensation Pio La Ditingancia. 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.
January 22 – January 27
