Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America - Paperback Book on African American History & Culture | Perfect for History Buffs, Book Clubs & Cultural Studies

Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts has written an important book on a most important community...Harlem, NY. Long considered the cultural capitol of black America, Harlem in recent years has been undergoing yet another significant shift in its evolution. This evolution has been constant, and Rhodes-Pitts skillfully and insightfully notes each, from the founding of the village of Haarlem to it rapidly gentrifying present. What makes this book so compelling is that Rhodes-Pitts is not afraid to inject her own subjectivities into our understanding of the evolution of this community, pointing out how race and class have been ever present shapers of Harlem's fate and history. She places herself at the center of this evolving narrative by becoming a resident of this storied community herself. From the vantage point of community member she comes to see how increasingly Harlem's fate is being determined by an ever encroaching city bureaucracy in concert with real estate interests anxious to expand their gentrifying reach to upper Manhattan.This book will stand as the definitive one for those who want to know how Harlem, NY got to its present state of million dollar condos and multimillion dollar brownstones. Both the upside and the problematics of these recent developments are fully explored in these pages. This is an important book by an important new writer.