Harlem residents gathered on Aug. 10 as the 51st annual Harlem Week continued with its first outdoor event: A Great Day in Harlem. The event was hosted at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial Park in Manhattan and featured live musical performances and vendors throughout the day.
The outdoor celebration hosted a number of performances, ranging from gospel to of African and Caribbean performances.
The Caribbean Cultural Center and African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) was also part of the Afribembé Festival. Their performances aimed to connect the audience with their diasporic roots and celebrate Black roots.
“We want to make sure that we represented different groups throughout the diaspora and showed that, just like in a constellation, that we’re all interconnected just in terms of our roots and ancestry from the motherland Africa,” said Sabine Blaizin, deputy director of the CCCADI, in speaking about the importance of being able to share the stage with Harlem at the event.
Esmeralda Moran photos
Moko Jumbies wave their costumes as they pass attendees. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Moko Jumbies continue their performance on stage. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Attendees watch as hosts speak. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Attendees watch first Afribembé performance. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Attendees watch Afribembé performance. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Audience 
Attendees sit in the shade. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Attendees wait for next performance. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Attendees gather around entrance of A Great Day. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Attendees purchase commemorative Harlem Week shirt. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran) 
Attendees walk through vendor tents. (Credit: Esmeralda Moran)
Harlem Week co-founder William “Tony” Rogers reflected on the history of the week and how it has flourished since its initial conception in 1974. “It started out as a day in 1974, so as we started adding on, and other people were looking for other things that they wanted to do, we understood that the media was looking at us, and this is a way for us to promote the positive aspects of the Harlem community,” said Rogers.
Multiple guests made the stage, including Voza Rivers, who co-founded Harlem Week with Rogers and Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce President Lloyd Williams. She spoke to guests as they celebrated. Taking the stage shortly after was Assemblymember Jordan Wright, one of the younger members in the assembly, with his father Keith L.T. Wright joining him.
Despite Williams’s death last week, Rogers and other Harlem Week organizers have found newfound hope in the future of the festival.
“It’s a good feeling,” said Rogers. “I feel comfortable knowing the work that we’ve done, no matter whether no one knows when their time comes. It could be 20 years from now, it could be in a couple of hours. You’d never know, but I feel comfortable that people now are in the position to continue.”