Black-Artists

High air pollution rates. Toxic waste plants. High temperatures. These are only some of the issues that West Harlem residents face as a result of the ever-worsening climate crisis, coupled with systemic neglect on the part of government officials, the New York City Housing Authority, and the disproportionate number of pollutant-producing entities in the area.

West Harlem is simultaneously a recognized site of rich history and culture as well as a neighborhood fighting to maintain its character. Residents have long clashed with developers and Columbia University to protect their neighborhood from gentrification and the loss of its historic integrity.

During the height of racial injustice protests across the country last September, a group of Columbia student-athletes decided to form the Columbia Black Student-Athlete Alliance. The BSAA aims to provide a space for members to come together, reach out to the community, and educate their peers about the challenges they face as Black student-athletes.

When Jean Bain got the call, he was sitting on a couch in his Morningside Heights apartment, unwinding after a Saturday afternoon basketball practice.

With Black History Month in full swing, many galleries showcasing Black art and culture are just steps away from Columbia’s campus. Harlem galleries that have reopened for in-person visitors are featuring pieces that tell stories often underrepresented in the art world. Many of the galleries that remain closed have expanded their online presence or transitioned to outdoor art exhibits and installations.

I was convinced that 2020 would be my last year alive after a pandemic-related housing loss led to seven relocations. Medical information was ever changing, little was discussed about how to move safely, and there were few places I could actually be safe as a Black trans person. Nearly a year later, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is underway, and data shows more than half of Black adults in the United States are hesitant to be vaccinated.

“You say you like to tan because it’s fun / But half the time you burn yourself; how is that fun?” Grace Victoria D’Haiti, BC ’21, asks in her song “Black Looks Better on Me.” The song is simultaneously a Black cultural anthem and a commentary on the phenomenon of “blackfishing,” which is when non-Black people pretend to be Black or alter their appearances to look ethnically Black.

Black Theatre Ensemble, like all theater groups on campus, has been faced with the difficult task of reimagining theater as a digital medium. Unlike other theater troupes, however, BTE is a unique, artistic social group on campus dedicated to celebrating Black art and culture.

On June 4, 1914, Columbia unveiled a statue of Thomas Jefferson in front of the Graduate School of Journalism. A gift “to the city” from Joseph Pulitzer—the namesake of the school and the esteemed prize in literary arts—the statue represented, to University President Nicholas Murray Butler, the perfect ideological and spatial complement to the statue of alumnus Alexander Hamilton, which was unveiled in 1908.