My new favorite place to spend an afternoon by the water, West Harlem Piers Park.
Random Views of Harlem, 4
Author: Marcia Mayne
Marcia Mayne travels a world full of books, music, art, fun people and great food. She raves about them constantly. Currently, she is journeying through Jamaica, her home country, to discover the places she missed.
Travel Photo Thursday – Stonehenge
Looking back at the photos I took at Stonehenge, the one of this stone always grabs my attention. Maybe because it’s separated by several feet from the main stone circle and seems to be keeping watch over the others or maybe because of its shape — it looks like a large animal — I’m not sure. I look for clues and see body parts where there’s only stone.
Random Views of Harlem, 3
Today, August 17th is the birthday of black nationalist, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. He was born in Jamaica on this day in 1887.
In 1973, Mount Morris Park was renamed Marcus Garvey Park. More on Garvey later.
Random Views of Harlem, 2
Please enjoy these random views of Harlem while I take a few days off.
See you in a few days,
Marcia
Random Harlem Views
Please enjoy these random views of Harlem while I take a few days off.
Thanks!
See you on the other side,
Marcia
Soulful Sundays – Damian Marley
The youngest son of the reggae icon, Bob Marley, Damian Marley seemed to explode on to the music scene with
his double Grammy Award Winning CD, Welcome to Jamrock, which was recorded in 2005. But these weren’t his only Grammy Wards. Marley, who’d been singing since he was thirteen, also won in 2002 for his second CD, Halfway Tree.
Damian Marley was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1978. His mother, Cindy Brakespeare, is a jazz singer and a former Miss Jamaica.
I was pleased to hear Marley showcasing the unmistakable ‘old school’ reggae vocabulary on several tracks on this CD. One of my favorites and the featured song for today’s Soulful Sundays is There For You. Most of reggae is protest music, and songs about poverty and social injustice. It’s always a pleasant surprise when an artist slips in one that isn’t. There For You reminds me of the turn his father took with a little love song, which interestingly, was penned for Damian’s mother.
Take a listen to There For You.
Weekly Photo Challenge – Entrance
I have so many photos of entrances, especially those to churches, I had a hard time deciding which ones to include.
Entrances can be opulent, functional or rudimentary. Either way, it’s one detail that tells us a great deal. See what you think.
- Entrance, Chatelet Metro, Paris
Enjoy!
Things I Love About Harlem, Pt I
I love Harlem and I love living in Harlem. Having lived here for more than ten years, there are quite a few things I love doing. It was a little difficult to limit myself to ten.
- Studio Museum in Harlem– The premier venue for viewing the works of artists of African descent.
Morningside Park, image from the Internet Included in its collection are works by Romare Bearden, Sam Gilliam, Julie Mehretu, Jacob Lawrence, Chris Ofili and Lois Maillou Jones. Studio Museum is open Thursday to Sunday and is located at 144 W 125th Street. My go-to place when I need inspiration.
- The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture – Named after the distinguished scholar, Arturo Schomburg, whose personal collection was added to the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library in 1926. Schomburg was born in Puerto Rico and was curator from 1932-8. The center was renamed in his honor in 1940 and designated a research facility in 1972. Today, the collection contains over 10,000,000 items. The Schomburg Center is located at 515 Malcolm X Blvd at 135th Street. I’ve been to several events at the Schomburg, look forward to many more.
- Continue reading “Things I Love About Harlem, Pt I”
Travel Photo Thursday – New York City
New York City has an unmistakable skyline but it’s difficult to see it when you’re in the city. Some of the most spectacular views are from New Jersey. I took this photograph in Jersey City, which because of its close proximity to Lower Manhattan is fast becoming part of the business and financial area of New York City.
The tall structure on the left (with cranes on top) is the new building going up at Ground Zero.
Enjoy!
Historic Harlem – 125th Street
From time to time, I hear Harlemites refer to 125th Street as the “real” midtown. Looking at the map though, it’s 110 Street that is the actual halfway point on the 220-street grid that makes up Manhattan. 125th Street, however, has most of the major highway connections. Traveling east leads to the Harlem River Drive on the East River and going west, there’s access to the Henry Hudson Parkway on the Hudson River.
