Harlem and The World Famous Apollo Theatre

Harlem is just around the corner from International House. The border between Riverside Heights, where the university lies, and Harlem is razor sharp, and the thoroughfares of Broadway (Riverside Heights) and Harlem (125th street) couldn't be more different. Broadway is full of delis and bookshops, and it gets more and more swank the further you head south towards the Upper West Side. 125th street is full of churches and discount department stores, and its heaving with life ... hawkers, people hanging around, a mobile dental clinic.

There have been big changes in Harlem since I was last there 10 years ago though. Back then I stuck out like a sore thumb with my whiteness. Its become a lot more mixed, racially. Back then I was nervous walking around, now 125th street hosts an H&M, and a Starbucks, and a Body Shop. How is that for normality: retail chains. One of my favourite vegetarian eateries is there too; you get a delicious mix of things in a paper cup for a couple of dollars and excellent fruit juices, advertised by the ailments they cure (so you order an extra large Rheuma or some freshly squeezed Impotency).

Bill Clinton's office is on 125th street. So is my social security office. I have one of these cards now, its printed on cheap card, there is some symbolism here somewhere, and in general a social security number seems more than anything else to function as a handy key for all kinds of other systems, from tax to the university.

Also on 125th street is the World Famous Apollo Theatre. The World Famous Apollo Theatre has an amateur night which launched stars like James Brown, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. I went to the World Famous Apollo Theatre last Wednesday with Catherijn, a law student from Amsterdam. People were pulled out of the audience and really pulled off a great act, although some of them ran. Luckily we were in the upstairs part. The audience really gets in on the act and cheers or yells people off the stage. The real contestants had all already won a couple of competitions, so there weren't enough really bad ones and too many that would really like to be Celine Dione, and in fact probably will be some day. Everyone can be a star: that is an American phenomenon, and those that don't make it don't loose the hope.