Harlem’s Jewels

This piece is the second of its kind. A multi-media work that incorporates metal, paint, and other materials. It represents my father’s side of the family and their origins. My father was born in Harlem in 1928. I’m not sure about his father’s ancestry but I was told that his mother was from Venezuela. As a child I found myself drawn to Caribbean and Afro-Latino culture. My mother attributed it to this part of my heritage and Caribbean roots from her side of the family. When I connected with the Dawsons in 2021 I started asking about the Venezuelan heritage and found out that it wasn’t so simple. Venezuela was part of it but also Puerto Rico, and maybe Costa Rica. Through Ancestry, we were able to find census records that confirmed that she immigrated from Puerto Rico. This year I got some confirmation that there is a Venezuelan connection. I visited the Schomburg Center this summer hoping that I could get some insight into trends in Afro-Latino immigration to New York City in the early 1900’s. I’ve always been curious about the circumstances that brought her there. I have been reading about the movements of black people around the Caribbean and South America.

This piece is inspired by a map of Harlem that I found at the Schomburg. It was an Urban League map depicting the population people of African descent in Harlem. It is shown as a concentration of black city blocks towards the top right portion of the map. I thought about where my father might have been born 4 years later. Harlem is one of those places like a small country that has such an influential culture. The gold and the precious stones represent all of the brilliance that came out of that part of the city. It didn’t come out of great conditions. Looking at the map one can see that people were packed into that area.
I added even more grit and texture to this painting to represent the city. Sometimes while working on it I felt that it was a real place. I want my work to feel like it is a place or that it’s from a particular place.