Langston Hughes and James Baldwin Place: Harlem, A Walk To Remember

I miss June. My sweet and I were in NYC for 10 days. We like to be there every summer, though normally aren't able to stay that long. But last month was our first time traveling in 16 months--as I'm immunocompromised, my lockdown's been total--and both of us are fully vaccinated, so we left, and lingered. 

A highlight was a walk in Harlem. I'd been wanting to visit "properly"--as in, to know what I'm looking at.  Manhattan is after all where I landed, when I arrived in the US. Though I'd been to Harlem a few times before, and read some of its history, I hadn't attached the history in a deeper way to the area. Though I usually avoid tours, after some online browsing, I contacted Harlem Heritage Tours.

We were lucky to have the owner, Neal Shoemaker, to ourselves. I love that he began by pausing at the poster on the office's window, in which Malcolm X addresses a huge crowd at the intersection where we stood, between Malcolm X Boulevard & Lexington Avenue. Across the street lay the Masjid Malcolm Shabazz, where Malcolm X once preached. 

Masjid Malcolm Shabazz

Soon after we began walking, who do we meet? The incredible Korey Wise. That is something I never thought I'd say. What an honor and privilege. Those who've seen When They See Us will know that Korey was one of the so-called "Central Park Five" convicted and imprisoned as teens for a crime they did not commit. It is a devastating story, so if you don't know, please watch the Netflix series. Korey happened to be riding along on his motorbike on, yes, Malcolm X Boulevard--how the past and present collide--when he and Neal called out to each other. Korey opened his arms to us. That is what he does. He puts out love. I don't know how, but he does. My heart is full. I can't believe we met. Thank you, Korey Wise. May you finally and forever have all the love and light. 

Dave and myself with Korey Wise 💕 (photo by Neal Shoemaker)

Well, what a beginning. After Korey left, we continued walking, and the pacing was perfect: we paused, we conversed. A good guide is knowledgable, passionate--and engages. A script may be needed, but so is improv. As Neal shared stories of Civil Rights legends, key events, buildings, and jazz bars, he also asked what we do. I told him we are writers, and that I love Langston Hughes, a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Neal improvised. It wasn't on the script, yet he took us to Hughes' house on 127th Street. What a joy to stand where Hughes once lived, to pause and absorb the spirit of this beautiful writer whose plants once covered that building. 

Langston Hughes lived here at 20 East 127th Street for the last two decades of his life.
(The middle photo shows remnants of the vines that climbed up the building--he loved plants.)

Neal then led us to 128th Street, where another literary giant once lived: James Baldwin. Long before I came to the US, my father, who didn't care for American literature, made two exceptions: John Steinbeck and James Baldwin. He told me to read both. I did. As we now walked to Baldwin's school and home--Baldwin was born in Harlem and lived in many NYC locations till he left for France--I was overwhelmed and humbled. What distances we the living, and those who nest within us, traverse and elide. 

James Baldwin lived in many Harlem homes till the late 1940s, including this one

P.S. 24, Baldwin's elementary school, now the Harlem Renaissance School
(you can just about spot "Public 24" etched above the lion's head)

                          
While walking, we talked: about different works by Hughes and Baldwin, the African diaspora, newer Islamic centers in Harlem, housing justice, racial justice movements today, and, of course, music. 

This was a walk I'll never forget--thanks to Neal Shoemaker and Harlem Heritage Tours.