Over the past several months, journalists working on Baruch’s student magazine, Dollars & Sense, attended events marking the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance, visited its cultural institutions and churches, knocked on doors, and tirelessly worked on building connections in, and knowledge about, the neighborhood.

They did a documentary on the i, Too Arts Collective, a non-profit organization, about its struggle to maintain its location in The Langston Hughes House.

They reported on musicians, music educators and performance artists who believe in the sounds of Harlem. They wrote about The Harlem Writers Guild, a legendary staple of the multigenerational Harlem literary community.

Listen to Kenneth Sousie’s podcast with artist Richard Gaines talk about Harlem, gentrification, and being an artist in the 1980s.

And they also set out to examine how Harlem is being affected by New York’s rapidly changing economy and demographics. With the spread of gentrification, we thought it would be important to tell the story of one long-time Harlemite’s fight against foreclosure, as well as a group of individuals who worry that “their” Harlem is slipping away.

Listen to Andre Beganski’s podcast, “Memories of Harlem” with Lifelong Harlem resident, Robin E. Dickens.

This package was conceived and developed by student journalists out of a love for both journalism and New York City, and as part of a mission to tell the Harlem story.

*Because New York City was hit severely by COVID-19. Dollars & Sense, along with Baruch College, shut down physical meetings. Over the next several weeks,  the students communicated virtually, edited and published this project from their respective homes.

**Text for this post is taken from the “About This Project” page from The Harlem Renaissance project.