During his first two years at Colgate, Naledi Semela ’10 lived in the Harlem Renaissance Center (HRC). Yet he didn’t fully connect the residence’s theme to its history and culture until he took the recent Harlem Renaissance Tour.
“There were portraits and artworks on the walls,” said Samela, an art and art history major, “but they felt like relics, or like they were there for aesthetic reasons. Visiting the landmarks and hearing about the people helped us fill in the gaps.”
On the 21-hour whirlwind tour, Samela and 50 other students and administrators visited sites significant to the Harlem Renaissance period, including the Abyssinian Baptist Church, which was founded in opposition to racially segregated seating in houses of worship; the home of Madame C.J. Walker, the nation’s first African-American woman millionaire and entrepreneur; and the Apollo Theater, where nearly every American jazz great made their debut.
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| About 50 students and staff members visited the Apollo Theater and other historical sites in Harlem as part of a recent trip. (Photo by Lorenzo Ciniglio) |
Before the trip, students attended a day of Harlem Renaissance lectures. Keenan Grenell, vice president and dean of diversity, explored the prosperous tradition of entrepreneurship in Harlem; Michael Coyle, professor of English, looked at the powerful poetry of the period; and Mel Watkins ’62, NEH Professor in the humanities and author, discussed the rise of assertive satire and literary humor.
“The workshop topics helped us build connections to the significant sites and people of Harlem,” said Shevorne Martin ’08, ALANA Cultural Center outreach/programming coordinator, who led the trip.
“We learned not only the significance of the Harlem Renaissance period, but also its importance to Colgate — especially in terms of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. ’30 — one of our most well-known graduates,” she said.
Fast-forward to today: the presence on the trip of Yasmin Mannan ’12 made the Colgate-Harlem connection even more real. Her father, Mujib Mannan, is a musician and director of the Harlem Jazz Festival, and he too was mentioned several times during the tour.