1970: Alma and Charlie with their son Steve Rangel.
Primary day in New York was yet another occasion to experience history. In glorious Harlem, such occurrences are hardly unusual. But saying this, I hasten to add the distinction between history perceived, past proceedings we forget at our peril and History, with a capital-H, momentous events felt as they unfold and happen.
“When I was down beside the seaA wooden spade they gave to meTo dig the sandy shore.My holes were empty like a cup.In every hole the sea came upTill it could come no more”
Along Harlem's Paris-inspired boulevards.
Designed by Neville & Bagge, 114 West 116th Street was built ca. 1909.
Pictured hosting a double birthday celebration, with bespectacled millionaire Leonard Hanna, actress Edna Thompson in a chic hat, and other friends, stands elegant singer Jimmy Daniels. His Jimmie Daniels' Nightclub at 114 West 116th Street, was a venue the New Yorker described as the "model of dignity and respectability" by "Harlem standards." Daniels owned and operated the Harlem supper club, which he left to go into the army, from 1939 to 1942.
Jimmy Daniels in a high hat with his lover Keneth Macpherson out on the town in Harlem with their friend and Jimmy's landlord, Lloyd Thomas, actress Edna Thomas' husband.
Jimmy Daniels and Wallace Thurman shared a room as borders at 1890 Seventh Avenue on the north-west corner of 115th Street, in a cooperative unit owned by Edna and Lloyd Thomas. Edna Thomas' white lesbian lover, English aristocrat Olivia Wyndham, who also lived here, is seen with in the picture above, with Edna, at the center. Jimmy is on the left, while Llyod sits on the right, with Blanche Dunn on his lap.
As a four-year-old, how I delighted on those too-infrequent occasions when mom would read to me. She’d adopt an exaggerated, childish voice and a sing-song delivery which today, I would easily find fault with, but which, then, I adored.
A Child’s Garden of Verse, by Robert Lewis Stevenson, exquisitely illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith, was among my favorite books. The soaring sensation captured by The Swing was palpable. Recalling the laughter of “less-well-brought-up” playmates, the cruel injustice of Bed in Summer, was keenly felt:
“…And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?”
But, By the Sea-side, so evocative of the ability life offers for discovery, so that on any Harlem street, no matter where one digs one’s hole, it is still possible, a thousand times a day, to come face-to-face with history. That’s history perceived, past proceedings we forget at our peril.
President Barack Obama’s victory as the first African American President of the United States, celebrated with all of Harlem, so it seemed, gathering in jubilation on the plaza before the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building, on 125thStreet, was big-H History, History as it unfolds and happens. More subdued and local, so were the victory festivities for veteran Representative Charles Bernard Rangel, held at Sylvia’s Restaurant.
Primary day began like every other work day, at work. Only, going to lunch, first I made sure to stop to help my friend Ron, who has lost a leg, to go to vote. We lunched on Broadway, at Tanto Dulce Café, an intimate spot with a Spanish name but fare that’s mostly Italian.
Not unlike a host of new cooperative and condo apartment buildings Uptown, it’s hard to imagine a place like this, serving wild mushroom quiche, focaccia, iced cappuccino, and chocolate-almond torte, prior to Rangel’s securing Empowerment Zone funding for Harlem.
Of course this is equally true of all the spate of new eateries which have come and closed and come again. Harlem Tavern, a friendly place which a friend describes as, “our Dinosaur Barbecue ”, was my post-work destination. Along the way, I first distributed the last of the palm cards I had, urging people to go vote. It was wonderfully encouraging, the number of people who said they had voted already and for Congressman Rangel. There were a few notable exceptions as well.
“Vote? Hell no! Only if they was giving me some money to pay my bills would that mess make a difference to me!,”
exclaimed one young man bitterly.
How sad it is that so many people fail to appreciate the profound impact an abstract-seeming thing like an election really has. Back in the days of Representative Adam Powell, Jr. and even 42 years ago, when Congressman Rangel replaced him, more people had a better sense of the implication of their vote. Even now, the racism and bias that prevented black Harlem from having congressional representation until 1944, persist.
Yet very few people realize that just as it is in many places in the south, the Voting Rights Act is still in force in New York. It’s meant to empower historically disenfranchised minorities. How cynical and manipulative was it was then, ‘to empower’ African Americans and Latinos, by drawing up a district, that pits us, one group against the other. Fortunately, the diverse coalition that Rangel’s exemplary record of service has long benefited, came through.
Seven-and-a-half years ago, one result of the skewed presidential race that saw George Walker Bush ‘re-elected’, was Congressman Rangel’s failure to gain the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee. It seemed such an arbitrary and capricious thing, a disappointment for Rangel, that had consequences for Harlem too.
Wanting to write a note commiserating with my congressman, I had one of those ‘ah-ha’ moments. The New York Times-sponsored apartments-and-unpaid-taxes-stink had yet to happen. The sudden revelation that occurred to me, came from contrasting Rangel’s record with President Bush’s. A valorous, decorated war hero, whose bravery in Korea nearly cost his life, a rags-to-riches success, a Harlem booster seeking improved health-care, education, housing and employment opportunities, a statesman for the equal rights of all, a proponent for peace, who has called for a universal draft, a Roman Catholic, whose intervention has saved extraordinary Harlem churches from destruction: that’s who Charlie Rangel is. Should not he, rather than someone who avoided war, someone who did so little. be a better choice as our president and the leader of the free world?
I told the Congressman as much, prompting a nice letter of thanks. I ended with something he must understand all too well, observing how, 'in a just world, someone with your long, distinguished record, might have years ago been a viable choice for president, but America's racism makes this impossible.'
The limitations faced by none-white, non-religious, gay or women political leaders prior to President Obama's election, is still real enough now. Like so many people I know, the notion of a black president seemed to be an impossibility we never expected to see change in our lifetime.
The combination of new possibilities awaiting and an understandable desire to eclipse the disgrace of censure with ever greater accomplishments, certainly fueled Congressman Rangle's determination to gain yet another term. Moreover, just wishing to work effectively to keep all one has already accomplished from being undone, has to be one hell of a motivator, as well. For his four opponents, and a number of constituents who have seemingly grown tired of Rangel, just being someone else was enough to merit their efforts to unseat him. Not one of the four ever noted some accomplishment, or articulated any vision, to cause me to consider one of them as a serious alternative.
But just as important, the thing that drove my support of the Congressman was the unfairness of his treatment. To me, it's many of those he has most greatly aided pursuing policy that encourages new investment in Harlem, accompanied by displacement and gentrification. Powerful forces like the Times, bankers and real estate interests, betraying loyal support, have turned on him. Finding Rangel no longer useful, under the proverbial bus he went.
Leaving lobster night at Harlem Tavern, proceeding up Lenox Avenue-Malcolm X Boulevard, past Chez Lucienne, outside and inside the Rooster, and Corner Social, the joints were jumping. Yet one could tell at some distance, that further along there was a dynamic scene going on as well. Hanging out with well-wishers at an old-school local joint, our second congressman was poised to overcome adversity to triumph. An excited crowd, brilliant lights, numerous news vans and police, all indicated that Charlie Rangel would surely win. At Sylvia's Restaurant an important moment in History, with a capital-H, was unfolding in Harlem once again.
Dear Michael,
I came across your blog whilst looking for photographs of Olivia Wyndham and Edna Thomas for our forthcoming auction catalogue. I work for Sotheby's auction house in London and we have been desperately trying to find a photo of the pair together. I was wondering where you got the fantastic image of them sat at the dinner table that you have on your blog as we would love to be able to use it if we can find the original source.
I would be hugely grateful for any pointers you can give.
Thank you,
Lettie Grumbar
Posted by: Lettie Grumbar | 04/25/2014 at 12:03 PM