Black History Month 4
Zora Neale Hurston – Spunk
2月は黒人歴史月間です。
フォークロア作家のゾラ・ニール・ハーストンを紹介したいと思います。ラングストン・ヒューズと共に、ハーレム・ルネッサンスの中心的存在のゾラはとても個性的な女性でした。まず、生い立ちがユニークなのです。フロリダはオーランドの近く、アメリカで初の黒人自治区、イートンヴィルという町でゾラは育ちました。127年も前、1891生まれですが、古さを感じさせないのです。父親は選挙で2回当選し、市長を務めた有力者です。町の役場や工場、パン屋さんなどに勤める人たちも全員黒人という環境で自由を謳歌していたのが、のちに民話を元に黒人たちの日常をテーマにした作品をたくさん世に発表した作家、ゾラ・ニール・ハーストンです。
オフ・ブロードウェイ作品、「スパンク」
Ruby Dee 1922-2014
Actress Ruby Dee died on Wednesday at her home in New Rochelle, surrounded by all her children and ground children. She was 91 years old.
She achieved her breakout role in 1959 opposite Sidney Poitier in the Broadway drama, “A Raisin in the Sun” . . . roles they reprised two years later on film.
A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by a then 29 year-old black woman Lorraine Hansberry to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director (Lloyd Richards) on Broadway.
Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee
Born in Cleveland she considered herself a native New Yorker as she was raised in Harlem.
Her career as an actress paralleled her work as an activist, often done with husband of 57 years Ossie Davis at her side until his death in 2005. She and Davis were close friends with both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, whose eulogy Davis gave in 1965 — two years after Dee delivered a stirring reading at King’s March on Washington.
After her husband’s death, Ruby carried on, winning an Oscar nomination for her role in the 2007 film, “American Gangster.”
Broadway theaters dimmed their lights briefly Friday night to honor the memory of one of their best.
Important collaboration was OFF screen, where they were life-long leaders of the civil rights movement, including the 1963 march on Washington.
Amy Ruth’s where you go if you want REAL soul food
NY’s best Chicken & Waffles!
You should try Amy Ruth’s famous chicken and waffles (The Rev. Al Sharpton) for branch. It comes with a generous piece of really crispy and moist fried chicken and a big waffle. The chicken combined with the flavor of 100% pure maple syrup and waffles is heavenly.
Amy Ruth’s
113 W 116th St
(between 7th Ave & St Nicholas Ave)
New York, NY 10026
(212) 280-8779
Who Invented Chicken & Waffles?
The origin of “Chicken & Waffles” is a bit sketchy and distorted, to say the least. Stories of Thomas Jefferson, the Pennsylvania Dutch and Southern slaves have all contributed to the mystery and lore of the beginnings of chicken & waffles. Although many lay claim to having invented and inspired this combination, there are some facts about the history of chicken & waffles that are undeniable.
Harlem Renaissance
First and foremost, chicken & waffles gained notoriety during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s-40’s. It was during this era that an explosion of artistic creativity was taking place. Harlem, New York became the mecca of music, visual art, dance and most genres of creative forms of expressions. Artists of all types and all walks of life were making their way to Harlem to “make it” and lay claim to their piece of the artistic world at that time.
With the Harlem music scene quickly becoming the place to be, it was not uncommon for the concerts and parties at that time to last until the late hours of the evening and early morning. It was this phenomenon that caused several restaurants in the area to stay open late to accommodate the bands and party-goers after the shows and parties.
Wells Supper Club in Harlem
One restaurant specifically, a family-owned establishment known as Wells Supper Club, began to offer late night food services. Wells was already known for its great Southern-inspired menu and had been a cornerstone of the Harlem food scene from the beginning.
Wells Supper Club offered breakfast, lunch and dinner. With dinner service typically ending around 11pm – 12 am, Wells would often have fried chicken leftover from the dinner service. Seeing an opportunity to boost sales and reduce food waste, Wells started offering a late night/early morning menu featuring their savory fried chicken paired with a deliciously sweet waffle. The combination quickly became a hit and inspired other restaurants to offer the pairing as well. Suffice it to say that THIS was the beginning of the chicken & waffles popularity that we experience to this very day.
DJ Alamo Spinning @ The Corner Social
Corner Social quickly became the new “in” spot as the newest addition to Harlem’s Lenox Avenue Restaurant Row, and now the “social-izing” has reached a fever pitch with DJ Alamo spinning on Saturday nights.
Located across the avenue from Sylvia’s at the corner of West 126th Street, the vibrant restaurant/lounge opened on March 17, 2012 to protests of possible copyright infringement from the nearby Lenox Lounge. Rather than begin a legal fight, owner Anahi Angelone did not hesitate to change the name, and Corner Social has been constantly packed with a new sidewalk café doubling its capacity.
Corner Social is continuing the revitalization of Central Harlem, and along with Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster and Chez Lucienne, it is a new cornerstone of the Neo Harlem Renaissance!
(Ken Simmons)
The Corner Social
321 Lenox Avenue, Harlem, N.Y. MAP
(212)510-8552
http://www.cornersocialnyc.com/
harlem2nippon.com 