Weak African American Leadership in New York, Responsible For the Gentrification of Harlem

The following statement was made in the July, 1911buy the property. The church or charitable
edition of Harlem Home News, a real estateorganization would obtain federally guaranteed 203(k)
publication for Harlem at the time.mortgages to buy the property. The church or
The Negro invasion must be vigilantly fought, foughtcharitable organization would then default on the
until it is permanently checked, or the invaders will"guaranteed" mortgage. The church or charitable
slowly but surely drive the whites out of Harlem.organization would receive a kickback from the seller
One hundred years later, the script has now been- the original buyer.
flipped. Today's headline would read:In the aftermath of the defaults of these loans,
The Caucasian invasion must be vigilantly fought,these building were left to further deteriorate; even
fought until it is permanently checked, or the invadersthough many of them were currently being occupied
will slowly, but surely, drive the African American outby tenants. This selfish act of greed caused harm to
of Harlem.the people of Harlem and to the residential real
Harlem became an African American communityestate market in Harlem as well. This period of
beginning in the early 1900's. It started with the GreatHarlem history explains why approximately 90%-95%
Migration - a period where over a million and halfof African Americans in Central Harlem rent and not
African Americans migrated from the southern statesown their homes.
to the northern states. This migration wasStrong, Intelligent, Fearless and Scrupulous Leadership
precipitated by African American's desire to escapeThis would not have happened if Harlem had strong,
the oppression of Jim Crow laws and the promise ofintelligent, fearless and scrupulous leadership. The
better employment opportunities up north.gentrification of Harlem would not be happening
By the 1920's Black Americans had formed atoday if Harlem had strong, intelligent, fearless and
significant middle class community in many northernscrupulous leadership. Today, these properties are in
cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago andthe hands of greedy developers who are hell-bent in
Detroit. However, Harlem - New York, was the placetheir endeavor to gentrify Harlem. The disheartening
where African American cultural, political and socialaspect of this is that the current leadership in Harlem
consciousness manifested itself on a grand scale. Thisappears unwilling or unable to do anything about it.
period of African American development is commonlyWhat Harlem needs right now is a blast from the
known as the "Harlem Renaissance". This period ofpast in regards to African American leadership. Harlem
development came to a crashing halt with the arrivalneeds to rekindle the spirit of the Black leaders of
of the "Great Depression".the past; leaders who stood up for black people
Today's Harlem bears hardly any resemblance of theregardless of the price to be paid. We sorely miss
"Harlem Renaissance" era. Black Americans in Harlemleaders like, Malcolm X, Hubert Harrison, Huey P.
today wield little, if any, political and/or economicNewton, Bobby Seale, Stokely Carmichael aka
influence. This predicament has grown worse in the(Kwame Ture), Angela Davis, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
past two to three decades, due primarily to weakAdam Clayton Powell Jr.
African American leadership in Harlem. The absenceToo many of today's African American leaders
of strong, intelligent, and fearless leadership thatpreach individualism. Individualism teaches our children
functions with a high level of integrity is the primaryto go for self; it teaches that "You" can be anything
reason why African Americans have no say in the"You" want to be. Preaching individualism plays right
future growth and development of Harlem.into the hands of the enemy; those who wish to limit
This lack of strong, intelligent and fearless leadershipor control the political and economic influence of
was clearly demonstrated by what happened inAfrican Americans.
Harlem during the 1990's. In the early 90's, the City ofThe problem with individualism is that it breeds
New York created a program that offered to sell cityselfishness. Selfishness is the antithesis of Unity.
owned property in Harlem to the residents of Harlem"Divide and Conquer" is a tried and true strategy. If
at below market value. This was a great opportunityAfrican Americans want to improve their quality of
for African Americans to actually have somelife in America, then we must be willing to come
ownership of Harlem.together for the common good of African Americans
What happened next is indicative of ineffective and- the descendants of African slaves. To further make
corrupt leadership. Buyers of these properties had nomy point I will end this article with a few quotations
intention of making Harlem black-owned. Theirfrom true Black leaders.
intention was to make a profit in a most"You cannot look at the success of black people by
unscrupulous manner.seeing who is on the front of Ebony magazine or by
These buyers; mostly African American, wouldlooking at Oprah. When you consider that only 1
become involved in a scheme to basically defraudpercent of all business revenue comes from
New York City and the Federal Government as wellblack-owned businesses, you have to ask yourself if
as the people of Harlem.this class disparity is the kind of society we want." --
Here is how the game was played.Elaine Brown, Author and Former Black Panther Party
The original buyer of the property would find aleader
church or other charitable organization to purchase"Careful study of the modern black freedom struggle
the property from them, at or above true marketoffers support for the more optimistic belief that
value. The church or charitable organization wasn'tparticipants in a mass movement can develop their
concerned about the above market price of theuntapped capabilities and collectively improve their
property because they weren't using their money tolives.