Comments on: Harlem’s Soapbox Speakers

By: Marcella Jennings

Marcella Jennings — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:02:27 +0000

Thank you for this article, especially since the photo by the Smith brothers shows my husband ‘s and thousands of Blacks mentor, Mr. Carlos Alexander Cooks, then president of the Advance Division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Cooks formed the charter after Garvey’s deportation, but with his permission as he told Cooks to, ” keep on, keeping on”. My husband, now deceased joined him in 1962 as a member of the African Nationalist Pioneer Movement. They held massive Garvey Day parades, socials and built a building called the Marcus Garvey Memorial building that was a magnificent structure. It would be later razed and replaced bythe city for a hi rise. Cooks held the tenets of Garveyism, published The Street Speaker Magazine, and had a vibrant African Legion. Malcolm X was inspired by him and peppered his speeches with Cookisms. When he left the Nation of Islam he formed Muslim Mosque Inc. whose tenet was a muslim faith but African nationalist economic, social and fraternal institution.

By: Dr. Dorothy Headley Israel

Dr. Dorothy Headley Israel — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:23:24 +0000

Just read the article on Soapbox. My cousin Arthur Reed was a soap box speaker and the first to introduce Black dolls. I remember Adam Clayton Powell picketing Blumstein’s Department store to hire black staff. As a teenager, I could not try on hats, shoes or any article there.
Two years ago I wrote an article entitled “The Harlem I Knew.”
I now live in St. Augustine, Florida and both Blacks and whites can hardly believe the stories I tell about discrimination in New Yosrk in the 30′ and 40′s.
Blessings,
Dr Dee

By: Harlem History: “Speakers Corner” 135th Street And 8th Avenue |

Harlem History: “Speakers Corner” 135th Street And 8th Avenue | — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:16:09 +0000

[...] Source 40.807879 -73.945415 GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_bg", "ffffff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_border", "cccccc"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_text", "333333"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_link", "0060ff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_url", "df0000"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "entertainment"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "technology"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "medicine"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "harlem"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "history"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "hubert-julian"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "lafayette-theater"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "lester-walton"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "marcus-garvey"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "philip-randolph"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "sufi-abdul-hamid"); GA_googleFillSlot("wpcom_sharethrough"); Tell A Friend:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. This entry was posted in Harlem, History and tagged Hubert Julian, Lafayette Theater, Lester Walton, Marcus Garvey, Philip Randolph, Sufi Abdul Hamid. Bookmark the permalink. ← Harlem History: Twenty Two West (“22 West”) [...]

By: Hubert Julian in Harlem « Digital Harlem Blog

Hubert Julian in Harlem « Digital Harlem Blog — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:26:14 +0000

[...] to raise funds for equally ambitious flights kept him a public figure in Harlem. He joined the soapbox speakers who lined Harlem’s avenues: in 1925, while selling donated safety razors at the corner of [...]