Phillip Bulgar, 44, is a lifelong resident of Harlem and a familiar face to those who frequent the Manna’s Restaurant location at 125th St. and Frederick Douglass Blvd., where he is assistant manager. But along with serving up some of the best soul food Harlem has to offer, he never lets his customers leave without giving them his opinion on social issues. “I’m a family man, but I do a lot for my community,” said the father of two, speaking of the various causes he fights and advocates for, including Pan-African issues, education and the environment.
Born and raised in Harlem, Bulgar said he grew up during the neighborhood’s dimmest hours in the 1970s, riddled with crime and drugs. Whenever he would take trips to down-town Manhattan via city bus, he saw a distinct difference between life below 110th Street. “At that time, the drug of choice in Harlem was heroin and I saw a lot of things that have stayed with me even today as adult,” he said. “I saw the effects that drugs were having on Harlem, but you would never see that down-town. There was no urban blight. I was distinctly aware that there were two different worlds.” Seeing the deterioration of Harlem back then inspired his need to be an activist, but a revelation came to him after reading Alex Haley’s “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” Bulgar was given the book by a neighborhood elder when he was 17. “When I read about Malcolm’s life, his words spoke to me in such a way that I still live by today. In this day and age, I try to live my life by doing some of the things he did for my people,” he said. But today, one of the key causes he is fighting for is the gentrification of his beloved neighborhood. The ongoing development of new buildings and the destruction of small businesses have Bulgar fighting to save what he calls a “village.” He said that, while he can visibly see the changes, he is bothered by the displacement of lifelong residents and small businesses. “I see what’s going on in Harlem and it hurts me,” he said. “It really hits me personally because I don’t know if I will be able to afford where I live in the next few years. Where were these business people and developers when Harlem was crying out for help? Gentrification is a horrible thing and it tears the soul out of our communities.” Bulgar continues to participate in all aspects of activism that he can throughout Harlem. He said that while a renaissance is good, people shouldn’t be forced out. He continues to fight for fairness in his neighborhood and enjoys carrying on conversations with customers at Manna’s, keeping patrons informed about the changes. “You can choose to be one of two things. You can choose to be free or be a slave, and I choose freedom,” he said. “Freedom is not too much a physical state as it is mental.”