Super big shout out to GQ Magazine for taking a brave stance and naming Colin Kaepernick ‘Citizen of the Year’. The excellent cover story properly places Kaepernick’s activism in the context of such icons as Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson. Shot in Harlem, Martin Schoeller’s simply incredible images of the athlete/activist resonate with power, purpose and poise. Since Kaepernick is currently not talking to the press, GQ talked to some of his closest confidants, which include luminaries like Ava DuVernay, J. Cole, Linda Sarsour and many others about the meaning of Colin’s activism. Channing Hargrove of Refinery29 took us behind-the-scenes of the epic photo shoot. According to his longtime stylist Rachel Johnson, “Kaepernick requested the clothes he wore reflected the spirit behind the photo portfolio.” Colin asked that the designers chosen for the spread were of color and/or women, as many of these designers never get their work featured in such an illustrious magazine like GQ. S/O to Harlem Haberdashery who designed the dope leather blazer Colin is wearing on the cover of GQ. Luis Ferré-Sadurni of the NY Times penned a simply heartbreaking account of the massive fire that tore through an apartment building in Harlem on Friday, November 17. The six-alarm fire broke out at 565 W. 144th St shortly before 3:15 p.m. on Friday and was not brought under control until 9 a.m. Saturday morning. The inferno obliterated the top two floors of building and has caused an undetermined amount of structural damage. The building will remain off limits until further inspection. The tight-knit group of tenants that were mostly of Dominican descent have been rocked by this calamity. The Red Cross has relocated most of the families to nearby shelters. A tenant, a police officer and seven fire fighters were hospitalized but there were no fatalities. John L. Dorman of the NY Times sat down with superstar Chef Marcus Samuelsson to talk about his burgeoning empire. Ameena Walker of Curbed NY reported on the efforts of River De La Cruz to revive the historic Coliseum Cinemas. In the latest episode of the Latinos Out Loud podcast the crew discusses the intricacies of rat hunting, the Above Average Women in Comedy event and Sammy Sosa’s transformation. The special guest this week is beauty blogger extraordinaire Ada Rojas. The Fix comes to us from IamCruz, Runnin’ Yo Mouth. 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.
November 13 – November 18
