It was great to learn that B. Smith's dockside restaurant was not planning to close! One had heard rumors that due to racist complaints and raised rent, the end was eminent! Looking radiantly lovely Ms. Smith said, "No. It's at our place in the city that there's a dispute, but I'm a fighter!"
Thank goodness! Romantically perched on the water B. Smith's is a perfect setting for the annual Diversity Affluence Brunch that presents awards to civic minded luminaries who embrace diversity and promote inclusiveness in society. It's in Sag Harbor, just beyond the Hamptons and offers aspiring African Americans much more than a community in close proximity to summer houses of America's white leaders. Sheltered from rough seas and storms alike, the public beach in the harbor there, is deemed to be superior to almost all the area's private and discriminatory stretches of exclusive shoreline.
Minard LaFever’s First Presbyterian Church, familiarly known as Sag Harbor’s Old Whaler’s Church, is an Egyptian-Greek revival masterpiece from 1844; How wonderful it would be to be rich enough to restore its lost telescoped steeple destroyed during the Hurricane of 1938.
Almost certainly a stop on the Underground Railroad, St. David’s African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which still exists on Eastville Avenue, was established in 1839 by African Americans.
Mr. E. T. Williams and his lovely wife Lyn, who was born and reared in Baltimore, agree that Sag Harbor's beach and its venerable black heritage hold great appeal. They reside in a compound of several acres, focused on a remolded and extended shingled house from the 1850s, once owned by a black sea captain who hunted sperm-whales for their oily flesh, that was rendered to light lamps.
Auldlyn and E. T. Williams
"Apart from slaves at work on Dutch farms, there were black sailors here early on, whose skill had been learned in Africa. Many were free men by the time of the Revolution and some became prosperous owners of property. ", Williams says.
Intermarriage between blacks and local Native Americans was not uncommon. My late Harlem friend, Harold Dolly, in the 1950's, on first encountering Shinnecocks and Montauks descended from such unions, wryly dubed them, "Lenox Avenue Indians".
A century ago black professionals first started converting old sailor's cottages into holiday homes in which to spend summer by the seaside. It was with this background in mind, that Harlem's Dr. Binga Dismond formed the Azure Rest development, just after the Second World War. Vertner Tandy, New York State's first licenced African American architect, collaborated with him; and he designed several modern houses on the water for their friends from the city. They've mostly been long-altered and several are now owned by whites." Earl Graves, the publisher, who purchased Harlem's Dr. Walter Ivey Delph's modernist Tandy house , transformed it beyond recognition.
As with Oak Bluffs, one ought not to imagine that Sag Harbor was ever a solidly black community. No, fewer than 10 % of the towns residents are black. Instead, both places are white resorts with historic black enclaves which endure as a testament that the excellence and integration extolled by Diversity Affluence is a worthwhile goal that's achievable.
Moet-Hennessy USA VP Noel Hankin, Gwen Hankin and Jacques-Philippe Piverger.
Third Annual Diversity Affluence Brunch honoree Marc Morial, former New Orleans Mayor and CEO of National Urban League. Impeccably outfitted, Mr. Morial explained how even his suit was an act of defiance, as in the south of his youth, only white aristocrats wore such finery.
Journalist Michelle Miller Morial.
Master Mason Morial and his sister Miss Margeaux Morial .
Third Annual Diversity Affluence Brunch honoree Laurence Boschetto, chief executive officer-president, Draftfcb.
Third Annual Diversity Affluence Brunch honoree Ms. Donna Byrd, publisher The Root.com.
It comes as no surprise to learn that stylish Jenke Ahmed Tailly
is Beyonce's Creative Director!
Ms. Barbara Bolden
Journalist Audrey J. Bernard of the New York Beacon.
Lola West, The Queen of Sag Habor and Quay Witlock.
Sherry Bronfman, Reginald Van Lee and Carl Nelson.
Busie Matsiko Andan, Jemima Andan, Gordon Andan, Susan Taylor, Liz Ngonzi wearing a splendid necklace, Kenny Frimpong, Sherry Bronfman and Carl Nelson.
Khephra Burns and his brilliant wife Essence Magazine Emerita Susan Taylor!
Keisha Vaughn the distingué Chief Diversity Officer of Draftfcb!
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