If not literally, Harlem’s byways are streets paved in gold and lined by glory. The gold here is the collective cultural attainment of African Americans. Harlem’s glory? It’s an architectural heritage that’s borne witness to, and witnesses still, so much of our accomplishments.
Out and about on last Thursday evening, I started at a jazz jam session at Bill’s Place (148 West 133rd Street), a club that’s home to euphonious sounds. Established 20 years ago, back when this block attracted music lovers from Downtown as “Jungle Alley,” the same building was Monette’s Supper Club. Here, in 1937, 17-year-old Billie Holiday, filling in for a colleague, was heard by record producer John Hammond and a star was born.
Saxton was born near here in 1946. A devoté of Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, the brilliant saxophonist has performed with a host of greats, including Clark Terry, Nancy Wilson, and Carmen McRae. I first encountered him in the 1990s, with a trio, at the intimate and smokey St. Nicks Pub. After hearing him once play the wonderful song “Can’t Get Started,” it’s been my request ever after. Thursday night was no exception.
After an hour, too soon, I was off to the Renaissance New York Harlem Hotel, the deluxe accommodations towering above what remains of the historic Lowe’s Victoria Theater on 125th Street. I was there for the LoudTalks, part of David Bridgeforth Quarterly (DBQ) magazine’s signature conversation series, presented in partnership with Harlem Pride and Gilead.
Unfortunately, I missed the opening segment — a panel discussion exploring the intersection of mental wellness, sex culture, and identity in the Queer community. It featured noted psychologist Dr. Avery Carter M. Walker and star sex symbol Leryia Garçon, father of the House of Garçon. Fittingly, as with the program’s conclusion, both programs were ably guided by the journal’s (2011) founder, Indianapolis native Dave Bridgeforth.
What I could not miss was the program’s second half. Titled “Jussie Smollett: A Walk in the Park,” this compelling interaction was based on Smollett’s three-part video conversation with Dave Bridgeforth in his magazine’s current edition. Unapologetic, it was a sometimes almost visceral examination of the highly popular actor-singer’s identity, visibility, and survival, moving forward with assurance and success in the aftermath of personal struggle with scandal and shaming.
At 44, Smollett looks back on a phenomenal acting career, starting as a child in 1990. Appearances as a movie extra in “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990) and “New Jack City” (1991) were followed by his 1992 debut in “The Mighty Ducks.” As the lead in Patrik-Ian Polk’s pioneering LGBT-themed comedy-drama “The Skinny” (2012), Smollett emerged as the Black qQueer thirst-trap next door. Killing this role made for his (initially) graceful transition, portraying musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox network’s runaway hit series “Empire” (2015–2019).
Part of the rapt audience listening to Bill Saxton and his All Stars at Bill’s Place. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
With West Harlem Environmental Action’s Peggy Shepard. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
State Senator Cordelle Cleare extolls Bill Saxton’s place in Harlem’s fabled saga. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
Actor-singer Jesse Smollett. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
Publisher Dave Bridgeforth of DBQ magazine. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
Roni & Howl. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
More attractive young people at the Renaissance. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
Jerri Reid and Kaj Xander. (Michael Henry Adams photo) 
(Michael Henry Adams photo)
What accounts for tragedy that many insist is, at least in part, self-inflicted? In 2019, Smollett reported he’d been the victim of a homophobic attack. Police contended that he had staged the assault with two acquaintances. He was charged with filing a false police report; the charges were dropped after he completed community service and forfeited $10,000. In 2020, he was re-indicted, convicted, jailed, but ordered released after six days, in what to some resembled double jeopardy; in 2023, Smollett’s sentence was upheld on appeal. Happily, at last, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction in 2024 on the basis that he had fulfilled the plea agreement made in 2019.
Once aspiring to be a child preacher, Bridgeforth also started early-on, determined to make a difference. What started out as difficulty identifying notable Black queer public figures willing to appear on his magazine’s cover led to Bridgforth’s exclusive depiction there. This, he jokes, makes DBQ, the O-Magazine among the Black queer press.
I first became acquainted with Bridgeforth through my friendship with his godmother, Harlem’s Valerie Jo Bradley. Even before introducing us, she’d told me about his accomplishments, writing, editing, and producing a national magazine when so young (38) and for such a sustained time. She also told me how he’d impressed someone we each knew to be someone immensely difficult to impress: Dr. Maya Angelou!
Bridgeforth has retold the story. “While I was in college … my first year, I was in a writing class … I fell in love with poetry … I did not think that I could write poetry … my professor said that I was an awful writer … [then] I fly off … I am sitting in front of one of the greatest poetry writers that ever walked the planet Earth! And she called me a poet!”
It was fascinating listening as these young men, friends, discussed the ins and outs of modern love, among other topics. With young people evidently marrying, dating, and even having sex at lower rates than before, it was particularly interesting. I have heard young friends at parties speak of the paramount emphasis they put on fidelity in a love relationship. It has astounded me, how the same people who readily admit to using apps like Adam for Adam or Grindr, hoping to instantaneously identify strangers nearby to hook up with, profess to have so little tolerance or forgiveness for a lifetime partner’s mistake. Years of love, caring, and sharing seem not to matter that much.
Asked by Bridgeforth if he valued monogamy, at first I misunderstood Smollett’s response. “I’m quite greedy!” he said. I mistakenly first thought he was admitting he couldn’t possibly “settle” for a lifetime of one partner. Asking how he could stand the same man over and over again, like a singular meal repeated ad nauseam, a skeptical Bridgeforth heard what he said correctly. “Not the same ‘meal,’” said Smollett cheerily. “Perhaps the same ingredients, but combined and prepared, packaged and presented a thousand different ways. That’s part of our duty as lovers — to remain new and fresh to each other.”
Later, this prompted me to wonder if he and most others in attendance really that felt now, unlike the past, that infidelity was a dealbreaker, above all else. I hope it’s the ideal and that they are not so inflexible.
