Harlem (1917-2017) Public Space: Culture of Exclusion, Exclusion of Culture

Harlem, New York’s first major black residential and business center and birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance, finds itself an increasingly polarized environment in the midst of its most recent wave of disruption. Once recognized as the bastion of black American culture, the artistry produced in the crucible of struggle can be understood as a form of resistance and demonstrates the potential for excellence when cultural expression is given space to manifest. The artistry of the Harlem Renaissance was grown and nurtured in spaces where kinship bonds were formed, from shared experience, and the tenuous safety of a shared community. Over the course of a century, systemic political, economic, and educational inequities, engendered by pathologies of neoliberal proscription, have converged to create a new era in Harlem, one that is marked by spatial exclusions, cultural erasure, disenfranchisement, and relegation of a storied history to artifacts for consumption. Referencing concepts of kinship and reflecting on forums for communitas—spaces where people can exist together without strong hierarchy—this paper considers Harlem’s use of public space as an incubator for action and creation in the pursuit of happiness and freedom. Drawing upon the works of Michel de Certeau, bell hooks, Hannah Arendt, and Jane Jacobs, this thesis traces the changing character of Harlem’s polis, locating and examining public spaces of social interaction and creativity. It traces the sites of strengthening and nurture in Harlem, relying on bell hooks’s conception of “homeplace.” Employing a genealogical historical approach, this research revisits Renaissance Harlem’s public arts and art practices located within the historically black community. It considers performance and social practices in public space, such as street performance and