African American Studies Commons^™

Kef-Karma, Sheku, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Sheku Kef-Karma (aka Chosan) is a rapper who was born in Sierra Leone. When he was two years old, his family moved to London in search of better economic opportunities. His mother, a nurse by training, worked two jobs and frequently sent supplies and money back to her relatives in Sierra Leone while his father pursued a college education. Chosan was raised Christian, even though his father was Muslim. He was raised in a neighborhood with a large number of African families, and he was exposed to reggae, hip-hop, and the general ins and outs of African-immigrant London street culture …

Chappell, Aj And Minor, Robert, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Robert Minos and Andrew Chappell were former players on the famous Hilton White Basketball team; moreover, both grew up in the Forest Houses in the Bronx. The projects were seen as upward mobility, a community of hardworking families. Minor describes a sense of cohesion in these communities, which he contrasts to the modern perception and atmosphere of project housing.

Both men relate the story of the start of their basketball careers at the relative age of 11/12. Mr. Alley and Haley White were two mentors and coaches of the Hilton basketball program. Robert says this about the program, “I came …

Martinez, Danny Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Danny Martinez, aka BeatMann, is one of the original Bronx DJs. He is of Puerto Rican and Italian descent. He was born in 1965 and raised in the South Bronx alongside his brother (Freddie, born 1967) and sister. As young boys and pre-teens, the Martinez brothers began tagging throughout the Bronx, using spray paint to leave their names and artwork on trains, walls, buildings, etc. They stole the paint from various stores throughout the New York/New Jersey area. The neighborhood the boys grew up in was very diverse—Puerto Ricans, blacks, Italians, and Irish all lived together in that section of …

Attah-Mensah, Nana, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Nana Atta-Mensah

Interviewer: Dr. Jane Edwards

Date of Interview: May 16, 2007

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Nana Atta-Mensah migrated to the Bronx in 1979. He was from Ghana originally, then moved to Germany for 10 years, then moved back to Ghana and from there immigrated to the United States. When he initially moved to the Bronx he was working as a gas station attendant. In 2005, however, he went back to school at Lehman College and got degrees in Accounting and African American Studies. With these degrees, he now operates a small business on Gun Hill Road.

He also …

Fearon, Shirley, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Shirley Fearon was born on July 8, 1945 in Harlem. However, she spent her early years in the South Bronx on Brook Avenue. Her parents met in Harlem and then moved to the Bronx. Shortly after she was born, her parents split up and she and her mother moved to Williamsbridge with her grandparents. This neighborhood was mostly Italians, but all the children got along well. Her grandparents lived in a private home. She and her family attended New Bedford, which is part of St. Luke’s. This church was predominately black, with both people from the Caribbean and African-Americans.

She …

Rodriguez, Angel, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Angel Rodriguez (b. 1954) is a Puerto Rican musician, educator, historian, and grassroots cultural organizer. Born in Puerto Rico, he came to the Bronx twice: first at the age of 5, and then for good when he was 10 years old, along with his father, a Pentecostal minister, his mother, a day laborer, homemaker, and accomplished dancer, and several siblings. Angel always had a love for music, and he was especially inspired by the sound of traditional drums, which he first heard as a young boy. Initially Angel wanted to be a preacher like his father, but his father’s strict …

Williams, Veralyn, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Dr. Jane Edward interviewed Veralyn Williams on May 5, 2007. Veralyn was born in Sierra Leonie in 1985 right before war broke out in the country. Her parents thus immigrated to the United States, Harlem. After about a year of living in the Harlem, they moved to the Bronx and have lived there ever since.

Veralyn recalls a happy childhood. She lived in a multiethnic community. Though Veralyn was born in Sierra Leone, she says she is mostly connected to her American roots. Apart from the food her mother cooks and other indications of culture she experienced in her house, …

Hill, Lamar, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Mark Naison

INTERVIEWEE: Lamar Hill, aka LA Sunshine

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Lamarr Hill, aka LA Sunshine, is a Harlem-born rapper who was an important figure in the early New York hip-hop scene. He was a member of the Treacherous Three, an important old-school hip-hop group, along with Spoonie Gee and Kool Moe Dee. Hill grew up on 129^th Street in Harlem. His first exposure to music came at a very early age, as his mother and older brother were big fans of R&B, especially Al Green, Otis Redding, and the Temptations. His first formal public musical …

Mulraine, Edward, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

In this interview, the Reverend Edward Mulraine (b. 2/9/1969), pastor of a Baptist church in Mount Vernon New York, shares with the Bronx African American History Project his experiences growing up in the Bronx during the turbulent 1980s, as well as details of his work in the community as a high ranking official in the Williamsbridge office of the NAACP.

Born to a mother who immigrated to the Bronx from St. Thomas, Mulraine estimates that he lived in some fifteen different locations in the Bronx during the course of his childhood. Telling of his time in the Northeast Bronx, Mulraine …

Oluwasegun, Michael, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Michael is from Nigeria and at the time of the interview was a student at Fordham University. He was born in Nigeria and came to the states with an F-1 Visa to study. Michael chose Fordham because of his Jesuit roots back in Nigeria.

Michael talks a lot about his experience at Fordham University, he says the community has been welcoming to him and he can appreciate the Jesuit tradition of caring for the whole person. Michael has an apartment on Arthur Avenue. He has never had any problems with people in the Bronx. He visits an African restaurant named …

Stokes, Daphne, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Daphne Stokes is a parent coordinator at a Bronx high school. Her mother was from Alabama and came to the Bronx when she was a teenager and lived with her sisters. One of her sisters did domestic work and one other did not work. Her father was originally from Harlem. Her parents met in their teen years and once they were married moved to Quonset Huts on Lafayette Avenue. After that they moved to Bronx River Houses, where she was born in 1953. When the family moved to the Bronx River Houses, her father was working for the Veteran’s Hospital …

Silvers, Cleo Interview 2, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

In her second interview with the BAAHP, Cleo Silvers shifts her focus from her young life in Philadelphia to the beginnings of her activist life in New York City. Silvers’ first foray into the political life came with her involvement with the Lincoln Hospital takeovers in the South Bronx in the late 1960s. At just 19 or 20 years old, Silvers took a leading role in the occupation of the hospital, helping to form policy in the mental health field that would help transform one of the city’s worst hospitals. Treating only the poorest of South Bronx residents, Lincoln Hospital, …

Silvers, Cleo Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Cleo Silvers

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Lily Clarkson

Date of interview February 21, 2007

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Cleo Silvers comes from a very interesting background. She grew up in Elmwood, a suburb of Philadelphia, with both her paternal and maternal grandparents close by. Her ancestors on her father’s side were slaves and moved to Philadelphia from South Carolina with many former slaves. Her mother’s ancestors were free and assisted in the Underground Railroad.

Her mother had her when she was 18 and married her father who was 12 years older then her mother. Her father was the manager …

Rosario, Edward, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Edward Rosario grew up in the Hunt’s Point section of the Bronx. He and his family moved to the Bronx from east Harlem when Edward was very young. His family is originally from Puerto Rico and moved toNew Yorkin 1928. He essentially grew up without his father, who was a successful printer. Because of this, the family was on welfare.

The first building he remembers living, which was located between 156^th street and Dawson avenue, in was very well kept and clean. The neighborhood was mixed. PS 39, his grade school, was also mixed. He describes in detail a …

Capers, Valerie Interview 3, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Valerie Capers (b. 5/24/1935) is a concert pianist, composer, music educator, and jazz musician. Born in the Bronx, she lost her sight at a young age. Nevertheless, she attended the Juilliard School for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and was the first blind person to graduate from the school. She taught at the Manhattan School of Music for many years, and from 1987 to 1995, she was chair of the Department of Music and Art at Bronx Community College.

Valerie grew up in various places throughout the Wakefield section of the Bronx and further south in the Bronx, around 168 …

Foster, Gertrude, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Gertrude Foster, nee Seaton, was born on October 31, 1927 in Rome, NY. Her grandparents had immigrated to the US from the West Indies and married on US soil, so their descendents were American-born. Because her birth parents were frequently absent, she was raised in Brooklyn and the Bronx by black foster families throughout the Depression years. From 1940 on she lived in the South Bronx. Throughout her upbringing Gertrude had both positive and negative experiences with other races. Occasionally she was in the minority, and she had to deal with prejudice from Italian, Irish, and Polish Americans. However, she …

Burbridge, Richard And Doris Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWERS: Mark Naison

INTERVIEWEES: Richard and Doris Burbridge

SUMMARY BY: Andrew O’Connell

Richard and Doris Burbridge, a married couple now living in Queens but originally from the Morrisania section of the Bronx, discuss in this interview how their families came to arrive in the Bronx and their early experiences growing up in the borough. Mr. Burbridge begins by explaining that his father first came to New York from Mississippi in the 1920s in the first wave of the Great Migration. His mother, also from Mississippi originally, joined his father in New York City shortly after.

Mr. Burbridge’s father, a parking …

Colley, Joanne, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Joanne Colley was born on November 18, 1954 and grew up in the Segwick House projects on 174^th street and University Avenue. Her parents moved from Manhattan to the Bronx in 1952, when her older sister was born. Her mother was a stay at home mom and her father was a carpenter.

She spent most of her childhood playing games with her friends. She felt totally safe and carefree living in the projects and believes she had a wonderful childhood. When she was growing up, the population living in the Segwick projects were mostly Jewish and a “handful” of …

Capers, Valerie Interview 2, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Valeria Capers, session 2

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon, Dawn Russell

Date of Interview: January 18, 2007

Summarized by Alice Stryker

The interview resumes by talking about Valerie’s first gig at Kenny’s. She began working there in 1965 or 1966. She also mentions how inspired she was by the music of John Coltrane. Her brother Bobby played a big part in inspiring her to develop her skills as a jazz musician. One of his friends was Arthur Jenkins, who she calls Artie, who would come over and play for her. Les McCann also helped her develop an ear …

David, Patricia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewers: Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Interviewee: Patricia David

Summarized by Leigh Waterbury

Patricia David was born inBirmingham,Englandin 1959. Her parents were both born inDominicain the French West Indies and immigrated toEngland. After Patricia was born her father came alone to theUnited Statesand lived inQueens. He then became a superintendent of a building in theSouth Bronxand then Patricia and her siblings moved along with their mother into the ground floor apartment onTremont Avenue. Her mother basically took over superintendent duties so that her father could work to provide extra income. Many of the other apartments in the building were occupied …

Lake, Olivia, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

INTERVIEWER: Natasha Lightfoot, Mali Olatunji

INTERVIEWEE: Olivia Lake

SUMMARY BY: Patrick O’Donnell

Olivia Lake (aka “Mama Lake”) was born in Antigua in 1905. Her parents were cotton and cane farmers. She remembers little of her upbringing in Antigua, but she moved to Trinidad to live with her father when she was 18 years old, after the death of her grandmother. She worked as a servant in a household there and was married there. In 1931, she moved to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in order to join her mother. In the DR, Lake worked as a clothes washer. She …

Capers, Valerie Interview 1, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Valerie Capers

Interviewer: Dr. Mark Naison, Maxine Gordon, Dawn Russell

Date of Interview: December 14, 2006

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Valerie’s parents grew up in Harlem. Her maternal great grandmother came to Harlem from Virginia. After the couple was married they moved to the Bronx. She thinks that many newlyweds at the time would move from Harlem to the Bronx. When she was born, the family was living on 168^th street between Union and Prospect Avenue. While she was living there, she lost her sight. When she was young she lost her vision. She had pink eye that …

Rooks, Valerie, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Valerie Rooks, born on July 29, 1954, grew up in the Sedgwick Housing Projects of the Bronx. Her parents, Helen Eugenia Hagen and Robert Lee Dillard, raised in Connecticut and Georgia respectively, moved into the project in 1952. Rooks recalls spending summers with her father’s family in Savannah Georgia in her preteen years. The Dillards worked several jobs to support their five children. In addition to working for the post office, her father took on odd jobs including cab driving and mechanic work. Her mother too held various part-time positions such as working for the board of elections, the census …

Melendez, Benjamin, Bronx African American History Project, Mark Naison

Oral Histories

In this moving interview with the Bronx African American History Project, Benjamin Melendez, speaks with Dr. Mark Naison about his life, which has taken him from gang member to community organizer who now tries to educate young men and women about the dangers of the lifestyle that he once led.

Born in 1952 on the island of Puerto Rico, Melendez moved to New York when he was just eight months old, jumping from place to place in New York City before settling in the Bronx in 1964. Living on Stebbins Ave between 163^rd and 165^th streets in Morrisania, …

Lawrence, Rosalind, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Interviewee: Rosalind Lawrence

Interviewer: Dr. Brian Purnell

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Rosalind was born on November 26, 1956 in the Bronx. She grew up in the Sedgwick Houses. Her mother was born in Connecticut and her father was born in Georgia. Her parents moved from Prospect Avenue to the Sedgwick houses and saw it as moving up. The Sedgwick houses were originally for Veterans, and because her father was in the Korean War, they were able to move into the Sedgwick housing projects. They had a roomy 2 bed room apartment. Most of African Americans living in her building were …

Swerdlow, Marian, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Marian Swerdlow was born on November 8^th, 1949. Her mother was born in the Bronx, and her father’s family emigrated from Russia and lived on the Lower East Side. After marrying, they moved to a small house in Morrisania, at 3660 Park Avenue. Marian’s parents were active members of the communist party, although Marian herself did not find this out until she became involved in Vietnam protests and her parents informed her of their political inclinations.

Marian and her family lived as one of the only white families in their area, although Marian did not grow up with …

Byron, Cyril, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Dr. Cyril O. Byron was born atLincolnHospitalin theBronxonApril 15, 1920. His parents moved fromJamaicatoNew Yorkin the early 1900s. His father, who had been chief chef on Marcus Garvey’s ship, cooked for severalNew York Cityrestaurants and hotels, and founded Byron Caterers, one of theBronx’s largest black owned catering services. His mother did housework for prominentNew York Cityfamilies. Both were politically active, and his mother was a staunch follower of Marcus Garvey. His father was also superintendent for various buildings in which the family resided in theBronx, and Byron recalls doing much custodial work in the buildings with his brother.

In his …

Ford, Bernadette, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Inerviewee: Bernadette Jackson Ford

Interviewers: Dr. Mark Naison and Natasha Lightfoot

Date of interview July 28, 1006

Summarized by Alice Stryker

Bernadette begins the interview by talking about her parents coming to New York. Both grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and met when they were younger. Neither one of them said that they felt the sting of segregation, and were in New York when most of the civil rights activities were occurring in Birmingham. When they moved to New York, they moved to Harlem with her father’s cousins.

She is the oldest of three and was born in 1958. She …

Chappell, Marguerite, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Marguerite Chappell grew up in the Morrisania area of the Bronx. Her mother was from Atlanta Georgia, and her father was from South Carolina. Her parents moved to New York City for more work, like most other people, she says. They first moved to Brooklyn, and when the Forest Houses were completed, they moved to the Bronx. Her mother worked as an educator at P.S. 140 in the Bronx and she was also a paraprofessional. She describes her mother as one of a group of people who helped reshape the face of her neighborhood, and Marguerite saw her as an …

Schlitten, Don, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

No abstract provided.