HARLEM WEEK AT 50: Two-week celebration kicks off Aug. 1; honorees include Dr. Hazel Dukes, Phylicia Rashad, Rev. Al Sharpton

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce kicks off Harlem Week on Aug. 1, celebrating Harlem's rich legacy and marking its 50th anniversary.

This year's Harlem Week, themed "Celebrating the Journey," includes a mix of live and virtual events honoring the arts, culture, and history of one of New York City's most historic neighborhoods for the next two weeks.

"You know, they say it's a Harlem state of mind. So whether we get it a day, if it's a week, if it's a month, if it's a moment, we're fortunate. We'll take it. God bless,” Lloyd Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, told Larry Mullins in an interview with 1010 WINS.

1010 WINS and WCBS 880 are official media partners of Harlem Week.

Harlem Week began as a one-day event in 1974, initiated by the late Hon. Percy Sutton. The goal was to revitalize the greater Harlem community, which was suffering from severe economic depression, according to a press release.

"Percy Sutton, who was then the president of the Borough of Manhattan, got a few of us together and said we need to do something to get Harlemites to recognize the greatness of their community,” Williams said. “And he was able to get Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Tito Puente, Max Roach, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and so many others to come together."

The festivities this year will begin with a breakfast at the iconic Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem at 8 a.m. on Aug. 1. “Sylvia Woods, as the matriarch, started about 60 years ago providing complimentary breakfast to the neighborhood as they went into August," Williams said.

Signature outdoor events will include the Percy Sutton Harlem 5K Run & Health Walk (Aug. 10), “A Great Day in Harlem” (Aug. 11), and “Summer In The City” (Aug. 17), culminating in HARLEM DAY on Aug. 18.

Harlem Week will also honor New York City icons such as activist Dr. Hazel Dukes, actress Phylicia Rashad, and civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton. Broadway luminaries like Ruben Santiago-Hudson, producer/director Kenny Leon, and actress Kara Young will also be celebrated, alongside tributes to the 50th Anniversary of WBLS-FM Radio.

“We do need to be concerned about the loss of the culture, the loss of the identity of the Harlem community,” Williams said. “Harlem is an international community made up of persons from Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean, and certainly from across the U.S.”

As Langston Hughes once said, "As goes Harlem, so goes Black America." This sentiment encapsulates the essence of HARLEM WEEK, according to Williams.

"What we do in Harlem resonates throughout the nation, throughout the world,” Williams said. “So we want to continue to make sure that Harlem becomes a beacon for the culture of our communities, the culture of our history and that's what we try to do.”