Harlem Shuffle

After having lived in SOHA for about a year, I decided it was long past time to visit my good neighbor to the North. I had a perfect excuse, a new coworker at Tanenbaum, Heather, has moved up into Washington Heights and was excited to see the sights of Harlem as well. So one hot Saturday, off we went in our sneakers on the Lonely Planet Harlem walk.

We started off with lunch at Amy Ruth's. This soul food diner is known for its southern style, and its speciality, chicken and waffles. Heather had smothered chicken and I had fried. I have to say,t he chicken was incredible. The waffles were delicious. But I just don't know if I get them as a combo. Either one would have been meal enough. I was interested to find that this is very much an American tradition, and Wikipedia sites two probable origins:

1. Wells Super Club, who's official slogan is "Wells: Home of Chicken and Waffles since 1938," who during the Jazz Age served the combination late at night for patrons who wanted a dinner/breakfast meal.
2. It might have gone back to the 1800s, when recently freed slaves from the South migrated up North. Fried chicken with a breakfast bread comes from Southern rural traditions.

I prefer the first idea because it makes chicken and waffles a decidedly Harlem delicacy. After a large brunch, we went to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. There we went to their special exhibition called Stereotypes vs. Humantypes. The exhibit opened with cultural comparisons of stereotypes and caricatures of different groups; Irish as unmixable, Jews as sheenies, Chinese as cheap launderers, etc. It was interesting to see the roots of what have sadly become nationally held stereotypes about different groups. The exhibit then delved into the specially heinous stereotypes and caricatures held against African Americans. It questioned how Black and White Americans experiences and interpret these stereotypes in their lives. The exhibit compared racist memorabilia from the late 1800s and throughout the 1900s to actual photographs of African Americans during that time period. Although the collection was small, it is definitely worth seeing.

From there Heather and I walked West to the Harlem YMCA. My guidebook said we should ask to see their mural, which we did and they found fairly funny. Truly it's a simple painting on the wall of one of their rooms. Oh Lonely Planet, you've bested me again! We walked past the former sites of the Big Apple Jazz Club (perhaps where NY got its nickname) and Ed Small's Place (where Malcom Little, later X, waitered). From Jazz we went to church, passing by the Abyssinian Baptist Church which was formed in response to segregated services in 1808, and Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which played an important role in the Underground Railroad. We went past a lot of interesting places on the tour route which were sadly closed, like the Liberation Bookstore. We also went into the less-than-overwhelming Scarf Lady store (a bunch of scarves and church hats, go figure) and walked past Langston Hughes last home.

By far the best part of the tour was our walk down Striver's Row. These are two blocks of townhouses originally owned by Whites who fled when Blacks began moving into the area. The aspiring African American middle class moved in during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. These beautiful homes have alleys behind them where trash was originally, and still is, picked up so that the mains streets stay clear. I think all of NY should adopt such standards. And there are some cute reminders of days gone by.

Heather and I stopped on a stoop to rest and try to stop sweating for a bit. We got some "Catch the Flava" an icey version of ice cream in tropical flavors. We then went our separate ways for some shower and rest before meeting up again that evening. We went to Strictly Roots, a vegan Jamaican restaurant in Harlem, and Conan and Kylah, two of Heather's friends Joined us. The restaurant was across from the cleverly named Halal restaurant (pictured), "Mookie's No Pork on My Fork." Conan and Kylah has both been in the Peace Corp in Africa and shared some of their experiences. From their we walked around Morningside Park to the Hungarian Pastry Shop for a change of pace and then Suite, our local gay bar. I went to bed completely worn out.