Upon hearing of the August 6 transition of Lloyd Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of Harlem Week, it was obvious obituaries would appear in all the major publications, as well as television and radio acknowledgements.
After having the pleasure of working with Lloyd and the Harlem Week Committee for over four decades, it was only fitting for me to discuss my thoughts and memories of the Chamber and of Lloyd — whose name was synonymous with Harlem for half a century.
The Harlem native built Harlem Week and the Chamber of Commerce from the inside out. He formed a family that existed for the betterment of Harlem and New York City. Once stepping into the office, then located at 310 Lenox Avenue, it was a necessity for men to remove their headwear or Lloyd would quickly assist in removing it, along with a friendly reminder: “it’s about respect.”
For me, the GHCC offices (then the Harlem Uptown Chamber of Commerce) at 310 Lenox Avenue served as my training ground, my Harlem HBCU (back then, the building also housed WWRL radio and the United Mutual Life Insurance Company, now it’s the address of the Red Rooster Restaurant). Like Charlie Parker or Ornette Coleman, there was only one Lloyd Williams. He led the organization similarly to Art Blakey’s or Horace Silver’s legendary bands, constantly bringing in bright young interns to work with elders, an intergenerational modality. It was an invaluable learning experience for everyone. Guidance and job training was given to interns in an environment that helped build character, integrity, and a sense of pride for self and the Harlem community.
I engaged my office elders as much as possible, soaking up their wisdom and knowledge from the likes of Ed Greenidge, Joe Roberts (whom Lloyd joked was the only black Republican in Harlem), Voza Rivers, Tony Rogers, Peggy Waddell, Freddie Crawford, Sr., Vivian Robinson along with her trusted assistant Mary Davis, and fashion guru Lois Alexander. At the same time, I was mentoring our young interns while under the tutelage of the renowned journalist and author Peter Bailey, who handled public relations for Harlem Week. His position was given to me, a few years later, when he relocated to Richmond, Virginia to teach at Howard University and Virginia Union University. Marko Nobles, a young college student, became my intern. Following my departure, Marko became the senior PR person, and he is now the second vice chairman. Just last week his twin daughters began their freshman year in college.
Winston Majette, also of a later generation, was the Chamber’s HBCU liaison and is currently the Chamber’s executive director. It is so rewarding to see these young men grow and prosper as they move the Chamber into the future. Other recent interns, like Howard University graduate Jason Ponterotto, have gone on to earn a degree from Columbia University School of Journalism and now freelance for this publication, as well as the New York Times.
A few days ago on Harlem Day, I stopped by the HW office that was a crazy hustle bustle, and ran into Wallace Jabaar, who informed me of his four grandchildren. I remember Wally as a HW intern, selling hot dogs alongside little Timmy, his brother Henry, Ade Williams (Lloyd’s son, now a father himself), and his cousin Barry.
Before the many walking tours and Harlem’s gentrification, the Chamber was pushing a big tourism initiative in the 1980s for which Lloyd accepted a meeting with the U.S. assistant secretary for travel and tourism in Washington, DC. Allan Maybe (our tourism person) and I accompanied him on Amtrak to Washington D.C. for the meeting. We each carried a big box filled with Harlem tourism guides. Those boxes were quite heavy and my primary goal was to just get there and unload those boxes. But to accompany Lloyd on such an important trip was definitely a confidence builder for me. But that’s what he did, gave us confidence to carry us through any situation.
Just a few months ago, during a late meeting at GHCC offices at 200A West 136th Street, as Lloyd spoke, some nodded in agreement. He noted, “Never show signs of agreeing or not when someone is speaking, it gives them the upper hand. Just listen.” He was a tough task master similar to James Brown leading his band, and there was no room for error or being late. And one thing for sure, like The Godfather of Soul said, “Poppa Don’t Take No Mess” Nope, Lloyd didn’t take NO mess!
It was an honor for me to work on two books with Lloyd, the first of which, “Forever Harlem,” also included such writers as Voza Rivers, producer and executive director of Roger Furman’s New Heritage Theatre; Herb Boyd, the renowned journalist and author of more than 20 books; Ade Williams; and noted numerologist Lloyd Strayhorn. We were in the midst of completing a second book, “Harlem’s Evolution,” co-written with the same collaborators along with Jared McCallister. I hope it will be finished and stand as part of Lloyd’s lasting legacy.
This month-long celebration that started out as Harlem Day in 1974 has blossomed for 51 years into this spectacular event, one of the largest in America. People like Stephanie Francis, Michelle Scott, and the legal mind of Charles Powell have been with HW since the beginning or a few years removed.
A new generation moved into our chairs at the conference table such as DB and Luther Isler, but we still return to work on HW. Barbara Burwell comes up from North Carolina and Andre Robinson comes in from Washington D.C. as HW’s stage manager. Where else can people work intermittently for over half a decade? As Sister Sledge so elegantly projected, “We Are Family,” or Sly and the Family Stone’s “Family Affair” — this family returns every year to work like a family reunion with a string of activities. Every year the question is the same, “how can we do better?”
I remember when Uptown Saturday Night and Harlem Day were featured on 125th Street (in front of the Harlem State Office Building); to performers, that stage became just as important as performing at the world-famous Apollo Theater. During those days performances usually finished by 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. and the sea of people that stretched from Lenox Avenue to Seventh Avenue never moved an inch. We were at the office the next day at 8 a.m. for the Harlem Day finale and Lloyd was right there with us. What’s most incredible is that from Harlem Day until his transition in the midst of Harlem Week, Lloyd never lost his enthusiasm.
“I learned so much from Lloyd and became friends with so many incredible people,” said Peggy Waddell. Lloyd made a point of introducing any office visitors to the staff, whether it was a police captain from the 32nd precinct, the president of CCNY, the honorable Charles Rangel, corporate sponsors, or Harry Belafonte.
In a world of infinite possibilities, I was fortunate to have crossed paths with Lloyd Williams, an incredible human being who was instrumental in igniting Harlem’s Second Renaissance and making this world a better place. You were the magnet that kept us all together. To say you will be missed is an understatement.