UPTOWNflavor

Those who weren’t attending the emergency board meeting concerning the Mount Morris murder last night were probably at the Schomburg for the symposium on the depiction of Black America. If you arrived at 6:45 or later you were out of luck as far as getting into the auditorium. The caterers ran out of cups, the auditorium was filled and the organizers were frantically trying to figure out what to do about the hordes of people still trying to get inside the center. Fortunately, those lucky enough to enter before the doors were closed could still view the exhibit on stereotypes.

Some attendees still made the best of the evening despite not being able to attend the symposium. The fantastic turn out is an indication that the Schomburg and their organizers might want to consider offering these types of forums more often. If anyone was able to attend, please email your thoughts about the panel discussion to info@uptownflavor.com.

Excerpt from WNYC:

NEW YORK, NY June 27, 2007 —It was standing room only at the Schomburg Center in Harlem last night for a symposium on the perception of Black America.REPORTER: Vanessa Sparks, of Queens, was stuck outside because the event was sold out. But she said that was a good thing, because it shows people care.

SPARKS: I hope everyone is put on notice no matter who it is. You are not going to just blatantly disrespect us and we are just going to allow you to do it.

REPORTER: Symposium panelists included educators, musicians and journalists who encouraged the attendees to get more directly involved in politics.

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