Harlem

a poem by Walter Dean Myers

pictures by Christopher Myers

Harlem by Walter Dean Myers is a beautiful, culturally authentic book published in 1997, before such phrases were ubiquitous for teachers. However, children of the late 90's (such as myself, this book is actually from my childhood collection) needed this representation of this neighborhood just as badly as children today. 

The novels triumphs in many areas but, for me, it is Myers's masterful use of time that is the standout. The time span of the poem is vast, from the arrival of people to Harlem from Waycross, Georgia and Trinidad amongst other places. However, Myers only brings up the past to demonstrate that it is the proud lineage of all people in Harlem and, he makes it seem, all people of color. He writes that Harlem is "a note/Handed down from Marcus to Malcolm to a brother/Too bad and too cool to give his name." The lineage is particularly poignant because of the lineage of the book itself; Christopher Myers is Walter Dean Myers's son. 

The book celebrates the diversity of Harlem, is honest about the challenges that the people of the neighborhood face and is peppered with the names of places and people that made the neighborhood what it is: "Langston," "Sugar Ray" and "Lenox Avenue." I would recommend this book to teachers and families in search of a text that takes pride in Black history and presents it, not as a tragic past, but as a beautiful inheritance. 

I could not find Myers reading the poem, but here is Diddy (or, in 1997 terms, Puff Daddy), reading it aloud.