Listening to Harlem oral history collection, 2021

Biographical Note

The Listening to Harlem and Rethinking Community Engagement project was arranged and conducted between 2020 and 2021. The project team included members from three Columbia University units: kecia hayes of Double Discovery Center, Claudia Rincon and Geraldine Downey of the Center for Justice, and Amy Starecheski and Francine Spang-Willis of the Oral History Master of Arts program. The project received a grant through a Provost-initiative titled Addressing Racism: A Call to Action for Higher Education. Interviewers included high school and college students. The project goal was to publicly articulate a community-led vision for how Columbia University could do real work to challenge white supremacy. The team strove to present and analyze interviews in a way that would be compelling to decision-makers at Columbia University and useful for Harlem residents demanding change from the university

Scope and Contents

The Listening to Harlem oral history collection contains eight interviews with residents of Harlem, New York City. Across all interviews, narrators share their perspectives about Columbia University's engagement with the Harlem community to help combat the negative consequences of racism in employment, healthcare, housing, and business. They also shares their perspectives on how Columbia University can make improvements moving forward. Key themes addressed are power and control, equity, communication, accountability, and responsibility. Narrators include students, an educator, a nurse, and leaders in business and nonprofit organizations

Subjects

• Columbia University.
• Community and college--United States.
• Discrimination in employment--United States.
• Discrimination in housing--United States.
• Discrimination in medical care--United States.
• Harlem (New York, N.Y.)--History.
• Harlem (New York, N.Y.)--Race relations.
• Harlem (New York, N.Y.)--Social conditions.
• Interviews.
• Oral histories (literary works)
• Racism--United States.

Access Conditions

Copyrights are held by the interviewees. The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York hold non-exclusive licenses to enable library activities