Tag: wnyc

Jazz drummer Max Roach memorialized

WNYC News, August 25, 2007 Drummer Max Roach, who died last week, was one of the pioneers of modern jazz, and musicians and poets came out in force for his funeral Friday. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter reports.

At Newark funerals, “It’s sadness all over”

WNYC News, August 13, 2007 Newark police are seeking a fourth suspect in the execution style murders of three college-age young people on August 4th. Newark mayor Cory Booker announced the warrant for Rodolfo Godinez on Saturday morning at a brief press conference wedged between funerals. The victims were buried on Saturday after funerals at […]

Harlem Book Fair: The uptown book scene

WNYC News, July 21, 2007 The ninth edition of the Harlem Book Fair takes place today. Up to 70,000 visitors are expected on 135th Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues, along with 300 exhibitors from the spectrum of African-American publishing. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter checked in on the uptown book scene.

Governors Island design competition under way

WNYC News, June 20, 2007 What to do with Governors Island has been a running question for a decade, ever since the Coast Guard stopped using the 192-acre island off the tip of Manhattan. So far, efforts to develop the island have never gotten off the ground. Now a design competition is under way to […]

Young artists bring Langston Hughes’ home back to life

WNYC News, May 1, 2007 The poet Langston Hughes died of cancer 40 years ago this month. His work spanned the time from the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Power movement, and he is recognized as one of the great figures of American literature. But Hughes’s longtime home in Harlem hasn’t fared as well as […]

Hometown cricket fans

WNYC News, April 24, 2007 The Cricket World Cup is down to its final four. In the U.S, cricket is still obscure, and the Cup has only made news for a tragic incident early on. But for many expatriates and immigrants in New York, cricket is a way of life, and a connection to each […]

Hundreds grieve at funeral for Bronx fire victims

WNYC News, March 12, 2007 An emotional moment for a West African community today, as the ten victims of the deadly Bronx fire last Wednesday were remembered, prayed over, and laid to rest. Nine of those victims were children. The deaths have brought forth an outpouring of support from the Malian community, and from across the […]

New York’s Ghanaian community celebrates independence

WNYC News, March 6, 2007 Today, the West African nation of Ghana celebrates 50 years of independence. After a turbulent history, Ghana is now a democracy. There’s a large Ghanaian community in New York and the ties between New York and Ghana go all the way back to the birth of the US civil rights […]

Starrett City: The character of an unusual urban community

WNYC News, February 28, 2007 The proposed buyers of Brooklyn’s Starrett City have received nothing but bad press since putting up their $1.3 billion bid. Most of it has been directed at developer David Bistricer. The latest allegations – from the housing advocacy group Acorn – are that he refuses to rent apartments to people […]

On the street, a fashion classic is new again

WNYC News, February 8, 2007 It’s Fashion Week and on the runways models strut, celebrities gawk and the trends are set. But for some fashion conscious folks, there’s no substitute for the judgment of the streets. WNYC’s Siddhartha Mitter reports.

Multi-media work explores post-9/11 American identity

WNYC News, September 9, 2006 New York performance poet Sekou Sundiata has been compared to Langston Hughes and Marvin Gaye for his writing about Black America. But 9/11 left him confused about American identity. Out of that he’s built a multi-media work, a cycle of songs, poems and monologs, video and dance. Siddhartha Mitter reports.