The Heart of Harlem by Karen Kenney-Jones

In New York City; which is comprised of five boroughs, they say there are at least 8 million stories. In Harlem; only a mere section within the borough of Manhattan, there are at the very least, 8 million and 1. The thing that makes a Harlem story; any Harlem story so appealing are the voices; voices both past and present so rich just by virtue of the fact that they've been part of the very fabric and substance of real life and real people existing in an historical time and place like no other. It is the collective voice of a people having uniquely individual personas yet bonded by a common lens by which they view, through varying degrees their experiences and lives in the framework of a community so unlike any other. Harlem; the Mecca of Black America because of the vast number of Black inhabitants whose contributions both willingly and unwillingly has left a footprint in the annals of American history. A people who gave so much but received so little and yet they pressed on despite and because of it. Harlem, which continues to be comprised mainly of Black Americans who were born or migrated here, ultimately became one pulse, one soul. The authenticity of Living in such a place has been made valid by the way in which beauty and love somehow can coexist amidst pain and heartache; almost skillfully. To possess the natural ability to achieve this balance one has to be of a rare breed to say the least. In other words, only a soulful people could make some semblance of peace amongst wretchedness and make it seem almost effortless. It is this same strength of spirit that makes the heart and soul of Harlem legendary. The voice of Harlem will continue to be heard, if but only a whisper despite the winds of change.iv kno mee