Educating Harlem
A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community

Chapter 7 Resources

Materials accompanying "HARYOU: An Apprenticeship for Young Leaders" by Ansley T. Erickson

Youth In the Ghetto and the Blueprint for Change (1963)

In 1963, HARYOU published Harlem Youth Report #5: Youth in the Ghetto, a comic book that was meant to communicate about its Harlem Associates program and recruit other participants. The comic describes HARYOU’s early years and the ways that it engaged youth in social science research, generating knowledge that contributed to the building of HARYOU and to the organization’s widely-circulated 1964 report on conditions in Harlem.

HARYOU comic book page

Page from HARYOU’s 1963 comic book. Credit: Sam Huger and Wm. Robinson, Harlem Youth Report #5: Youth in the Ghetto and the Blueprint for Change - The Voice of Harlem Youth Unlimited, reprinted in Cyril Tyson, Power and Politics in Central Harlem, 1962-1964 - The Harlem Experience (New York: Jay Street Press, 2004).

WNYC Interview with Kenneth Marshall (1965)

Kenneth Marshall was the research director of HARYOU. In this radio interview from 1965, he discusses the goals and programs of HARYOU-ACT and the needs of children and youth in Harlem. He also describes the publication of the HARYOU report.

Har-You Percussion Group (1969-1970)

These recordings were created by youth who participated in a HARYOU-ACT music program in 1969-1970.

“Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited” (2018)

A blog post from the New York City Municipal Archives discusses HARYOU and shares primary source documents from the New York Police Department Intelligence Division records. According to the post, the Intelligence Division conducted investigations on groups on the right and left of the political spectrum, including HARYOU. As a result, they kept flyers, pamphlets, and other documents that are digitized here.

Exhibits on Harlem Youth

These digital exhibits from the Harlem Education History Project explore various aspects of the life and education of Harlem youth. For exhibits that share youth writing, see “Youth Narratives from J.H.S. 43” and “Harlem! From the Writings of Local Harlem Students: 1963-1969.” For exhibits on other out of school programs and youth activities in 1960s and 1970s Harlem see “Wadleigh and the Block: 1960-1965,” “Courtney Brown and St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Harlem, NY,” and “School and Community in Harlem.”

Why Busing Failed: Race, Media, and the National Resistance to School Desegregation (2016)

Matthew Delmont’s book studies the battles over busing to show “how school officials, politicians, the courts, and the media gave precedence to the desires of white parents who opposed school desegregation over the civil rights of black students.” This website, a companion to the published book, includes research materials alongside arguments from the books. The page titled “Civil Rights Activism in the North” discusses activism in New York City that occurred during the time period of chapter 7.

Segregated by Design (2019)

Segregated by Design is an animated film based on Richard Rothstein’s book, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. It provides context for the unconstitutional federal, state, and local laws and policies that shaped Harlem in the mid-twentieth century.

Renewing Inequality

This website explores how the federal government perpetuated racial and spatial inequalities through public and private redevelopment. It maps urban renewal across the US in the 1950s and 1960s, depicting changes to Harlem during this period as residents were displaced by redevelopment.

Discussion Questions

  1. In this chapter, author Ansley Erickson writes that HARYOU “created an educational space that developed young people as agents in the advancement of their communities.” Have you experienced any formal or informal educational spaces that serve a similar purpose today? How does their approach to youth leadership and learning compare to HARYOU’s?

  2. Read Harlem Youth Report #5: Youth In the Ghetto and the Blueprint for Change, the comic book that HARYOU produced in 1963 to communicate about its youth researchers and recruit other participants. On the opening page, it lists five elements of HARYOU’s pledge to the community. Do you think that the programs described in chapter 7 and in the comic book met these goals? Why or why not? How do these goals resonate – or not – with your hopes for your community today?