The Harlem Reader: A Celebration of New York's Most Famous Neighborhood, from the Renaissance Years to the 21st Century [Paperback]

Herb Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2003

There is no neighborhood in America as famous, infamous, and inspiring as Harlem. From its humble beginnings as a farming district and country retreat for the rich, Harlem grew to international prominence as the mecca
of black art and culture, then fell from grace, despised as a crime-ridden slum and symbol of urban decay. But during all of these phases there was writing in Harlem—great writing that sprang from one of the richest and most unique communities in the world. From Harlem’s most revered icons (like Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, Ann Petry, and Malcolm X) to voices of a new generation (including Willie Perdomo, Mase, Grace Edwards, and Piri Thomas), The Harlem Reader gathers a wealth of vital impressions, stories, and narratives and blends them with original accounts offered by living storytellers, famous and not so famous. Fresh and vivid, this volume perfectly captures the dramatic moments and personalities at the core of Harlem’s ever-evolving story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Boyd, national editor at The Black World Today and history professor at the College of New Rochelle, has assembled a memorable "mosaic of impressions," as he states in the introduction, of "personal experiences, organizations, institutions, and the dramatic moments that are at the core of Harlem's ever-evolving history." Drawing on a wealth of works from short story writers, song composers, essayists, poets and activists, Boyd charts Harlem's history chronologically-from notes Alexander Hamilton made circa 1802 about his "Home on the Grange" in what was then rural Manhattan, to a short series of interviews Boyd conducted with contemporary Harlem leaders. Boyd ably combines jeremiads and odes. Among the former are James Baldwin's "Fifth Avenue Uptown: A Letter from Harlem," in which he describes a housing project that "hangs over the avenue like a monument to the folly, and the cowardice, of good intentions." Malcolm X denounces police brutality "when Brother Hinton was attacked with night sticks," which cracked open his scalp. Ann Petry praises the respite the Junto Bar and Grill provided for the "young women coming home from work-dirty, tired, depressed," and Mayo Angelou cheers Fidel Castro, who stayed in Harlem's Theresa Hotel, while Sonia Sanchez evokes the days when she was one of the homegirls "who smiled and danced and kept our dresses down because everybody knew we were going to make something of our lives." An insightful book that will undoubtedly find a place in many classrooms, it provides a textured overview of one of the world's most famous neighborhoods.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Harlem, the symbolic capital of black America, engenders many complex and sometimes contradictory images. From the black literary and cultural renaissance of the 1920s to the upper-middle-class enclave of Sugar Hill, where the likes of Duke Ellington and W. E. B. Dubois lived, this Harlem produced Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, and Claude McKay. But there was a political Harlem of Adam Clayton Powell Jr and Percy Sutton; a militant Harlem of Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey; and a tragic Harlem, where junkies live only for the next drug fix. Boyd skillfully blends these perspectives with numerous others in a collection of fiction and essays by noted as well as lesser-known writers into a coherent whole that reflects upon the dramatic forces and players helping to shape Harlem and its centrality in America's culture and consciousness. From the renaissance to its fall from grace, Harlem has reflected crosscurrents in American culture. This anthology will draw readers interested in Harlem's past and concerns about its future as it is revitalized and gentrified. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (May 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400046815
• ISBN-13: 978-1400046812
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #412,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Herb Boyd is a journalist, activist, teacher, and has authored or edited 22 books, including his most recent one, Civil Rights: Yesterday & Today. His book Baldwin's Harlem, a biography of James Baldwin, was a finalist for a 2009 NAACP Image Award. In 1995, with Robert Allen, he was a recipient of an American Book Award for Brotherman--The Odyssey of Black Men in America, an anthology. We Shall Overcome, a media-fusion book with narration by the late Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, is used in classrooms all over the world, as is his Autobiography of a People and The Harlem Reader. His articles can be found in such publications as The Black Scholar, The Final Call, the Amsterdam News, Cineaste, Downbeat, and The Network Journal, among others.
Among the highlights of his remarkable journalistic career was an invitation to fly on Air Force One with President Obama, whom he has interviewed on several occasions.
Over the last decade or so, Boyd has scripted several documentaries, including several with Keith Beauchamp on cold cases of martyrs from the civil rights era that were shown on Biography Channel and TV One. With filmmaker Eddie Harris, he was the writer on three documentaries--Trek to the Holy Land, Cri de Coeur (Cry from the Heart), and Slap the Donkey, that tracks the Rev. Al Sharpton's presidential bid in 2004. The latter film was recently selected to be screened at the Montreal Film Festival in 2010. Boyd is also a frequent guest on national television and radio shows, as well as a keynote speaker at many functions sponsored by noted community and college organizations, where his commentaries on African American culture and politics have earned him an increasingly large audience and popularity. For more than forty years, he has taught at institutions of higher learning. Currently, he teaches at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx and at City College New York, and is also a national and international correspondent for Free Speech TV.org, a media company that specializes in Internet television.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational and Educational, November 5, 2006

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Trilogy Poetry Review "Joseph S. Spence, Sr.,... (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Harlem Reader: A Celebration of New York's Most Famous Neighborhood, from the Renaissance Years to the 21st Century (Paperback)

The Harlem Reader is a must read for anyone who would like to acquire more knowledge about Harlem. It has a revelation about the struggles of African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance period after the migration from the South to the North.

This book stirs the soul and heightens one's perspective concerning the various viewpoints from a variety of authors. The contribution of their writings from essays to short stories for inclusion in the book is very enlightening and educational.

Harlem is not only touched upon during the Harlem Renaissance years; the writings also touched upon the present and anticipated future activities in Harlem. It shows the current state of economic development and the mistreatment of those who are not financially wealthy, or in the upper income class. It also highlights the lives of those who are financially wealthy.

The writings of great writers such as Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Dubois, Weldon Johnson, and Claude McKay will touch the soul. Also included are national liberators such as Marcus Garvey, Rev. Al Sharpton, Malcolm X, Reverend Adam Clayton Powell and others, just to name a few.

The essence of this book is straight from the heart of Harlem. It was a pleasure for me to learn from its golden pages. This book is truly educational and inspirational. Herb Boyd has highlighted the soul of Harlem in an uplifting manner for all to learn about and enjoy.

Recommended Reading: A Trilogy of Poetry, Prose and Thoughts for the Mind, Body and Soul, and Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent starting point, August 7, 2006

By 

Mr. Kurt O. Richards - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Harlem Reader: A Celebration of New York's Most Famous Neighborhood, from the Renaissance Years to the 21st Century (Paperback)

I am new to Harlem, completely - took a new job in a brownstone on 122nd just east of Lenox - and wanted to get some background on this neighborhood which I knew had a very complex history. This book gave me a good broad cross-section of context to start with. It is NOT centered on the Harlem Renaissance, the topic of many other books, but has short pieces and excerpts covering mostly the span AFTER that period to the near past. It really piqued my interest to search out and read other books on the history and especially the architecture of this amazingly rich neighborhood.