In 1920s Harlem, the “stroll” — a slow, deliberate procession of self-display — was meant to announce one’s arrival and presence within the community. Denied access to indoor space, Black New Yorkers turned city streets into stages, each outfit and gait a declaration of dignity in a city designed to deny it. What began as “defiant performances of freedom, dignity, self-worth, and cultural syncretism” over time became less a performance for the white gaze than a gift exchanged within the community.
Join us on the once-strolled streets of Harlem to trace the politics of dandyism, Black aesthetic modernism, and how walking, watching, and being seen could constitute a culture. Perhaps we may once again make the sidewalk sanctified ground…
Text: Monica L. Miller’s Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism and the Styling of Black Diasporic Identity
Date: Tuesday, September 29 at 7pm
Location: Harlem with Lindsee & Katie