03/06/2015
Last Sunday my project began with a phenomenal crew of youth and volunteers from Harlem-based literacy and education advocates Total Equity Now - Harlemand featuring installations from Nathaniel Donnett and Kameelah Rasheed. I give thanks to all who have shown their support in myriad ways. Liberation School launches Saturday at 1pm and Sunday at 3:30pm is our first open house. 2084 Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, on the ground floor of the former Hotel Theresa. Find us this weekend. More events to come!
Sunday, March 1, 2015, marked our 31st Literacy Across Harlem Day--the first day of each month!
Since September 1, 2012, TEN and our community partners have encouraged Harlemites to " "--serve as first-day-of-every-month role models for reading and learning--by taking their books or other reading materials out of their bags and carrying them proudly and publicly.
We want ALL Harlemites, from our pre-K students to our senior citizens, to become reading leaders and leading readers!
Many thanks to all the amazing volunteers and other community members who braved the treacherous weather on Sunday to join us for a special Street Team project examining and commemorating the life and legacy of , who profoundly shaped, and was profoundly shaped by, this community.
Neighbors, young and old, who stopped by the legendary Hotel Theresa (7th Ave. between 124th and 125th) to jot down on flipchart pads their current "reads"--as well as their reflections on the life of --received TEN-curated packets of children's, teen, and adult books about Harlem as well as information about Harlem's 10 public libraries. We also collected several donated copies of The Autobiography of Malcolm X to donate to Harlem youth caught up in the court system.
We are extremely grateful to our extraordinary host that day, author Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts (and her phenomenal team of artistic collaborators), for welcoming us into the amazing Malcolm X/Organization of Afro-American Unity art installation she has created in a storefront there at the Theresa, where the OAAU and Brother Malcolm maintained offices before he was assassinated 50 years ago.
Keep up with Sharifa's inspiring work via Blacknuss: books and other relics. Harlem, USA. and www.instagram.com/buyblacknuss.
An extra special shout out to the powerful teens and staff from New York City Mission Society's , located at 142nd and Malcolm X Boulevard, who volunteered their time and talents today in order to promote reading and help celebrate and strengthen our community's culture of literacy. From inviting community members to jot down their "reads" of the day on flipchart paper, to handing out lists of Harlem's libraries and books about Harlem, to running to grab a carafe of delicious hot tea from nearby Serengeti Teas and Spices so that other volunteers and participants wouldn't freeze to death, those young folks demonstrated what we can achieve together, for our community, when we work together intergenerationally.
Finally, we want to thank Candlewick Press again for contributing several copies of "X: A Novel," a book co-written for teens by Malcolm's third daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz. Some of our teen volunteers walked away with brand-new copies!
For full details about the March 1st event: http://conta.cc/1ARf30V.
Stay tuned for details about our next Literacy Across Harlem Day Street Team project on Wednesday, April 1st. (Hint: Ralph Ellison!)
