A Harlem street will receive its new name, James Brown Way, in honor of the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown. The renaming of 126th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Frederick Douglass will take place this Saturday, November 22nd.
After a six-year endeavor, Jacob Morris, a Harlem historian and scholar, says he feels happy that the long-awaited honor is finally coming to life.
“I didn’t want to put the sign up until we could do a ceremony that’s of James Brown stature and would do justice to what a giant he was,” Morris told the Daily News.
The Reverend Al Sharpton will be the keynote speaker at the naming ceremony and some of Brown’s relatives will be in attendance including his daughter, Deanna Brown Thomas.
James Brown’s performances at the Apollo Theater were pivotal to his rise to fame. Brown passed away in 2006 at the age of 73 and at his funeral, his body rested in a 24-karat gold coffin at the historic Harlem music hall. A sea of fans blanketed 125th Street to celebrate the life of James Brown.
Brown Thomas told the New York Daily News, “It [the Apollo] is where the eyes of the world came to watch my father. If he was here he’d be thanking God for people loving him enough to put his name on that street.”
The ceremony will begin at 1 P.M. and will be followed by a 2 P.M. screening of “James Brown: The Man, The Music & The Message” at the National Black Theatre.
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