Today’s Harlem tour was extremely eye opening to the rich culture that we are living amongst. We focused on Harlem during the 1920’s and 30’s, the prime of the Harlem Renaissance. After the mechanization of the south around seventy percent of the South’s African American population migrated to the north settling in major cities, namely Harlem. We walked around viewing the different landmarks such as the research library focusing on African American culture, the YMCA, churches, tenements which housed the lower class, the first ever desegregated upscale hotel, the remains of former night clubs and theaters, the first desegregated townhouses for the wealthy, the Apollo theatre, and of course City College, “poor man’s Harvard.” Jazz, folk art, dancing, and acting really defined Harlem during this time. It was very cool to see the home of the Harlem Globe Trotters, where every game began and ended with a dance.  We walked the walk of Langston Hughes when he first came to this great city. We stood in front of the theatre were world class acts such as the Jackson Five and Stevie Wonder first performed, rubbing that bark from the tree of hope for good luck. The rich culture of Harlem’s past and present was inescapable.