September 16, 2015  

 

  

 

Walk down any Harlem street on an average day and you'll see just about everything--everything except intergenerational masses of neighbors carrying their favorite books, chanting reading-related slogans, handing out lists of "reads" about Harlem, and donating new and like-new reading materials for children in shelters. 

 

Well, this Saturday is no average day!

 

4th Annual Literacy Across Harlem March, Book Drive & Community Celebration Saturday, September 19, 2015 

12:00 p.m. (sharp!) to 3:00 p.m.

View the event flyer: click here.  

 

If your Harlem-based school (or after-school program), youth-development or civic organization, adult-education site, book/writing club, business, fraternity/sorority, faith-based institution, or other entity would like to demonstrate its commitment to literacy by participating as a team, please email [email protected].  

 

Event Schedule

12:00PM sharp -- Rally for reading! Begin at your choice of La Casa Azul Bookstore (143 E. 103rd St. between Park and Lexington Aves.) or Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center (1942 Amsterdam Ave. at 156th St.).    

 

Bring (1) a favorite book in order to #RockThoseReads--publicly display your reading pride and (2) at least one new or like-new children's book to donate to a family living in a Harlem-based shelter.

 

12:30PM -- March! Led by knowledgeable guides past reading-related sites of interest, including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and El Museo del Barrio, stop by three phenomenal community businesses--Cafe One, Astor Row Café, and East Harlem Cafe--for delicious samples.

 

2:00PM -- Arrive at Marcus Garvey Park's Richard Rodgers Amphitheater, in the heart of Harlem, for an interactive, family-friendly celebration of reading and writing, including an exciting bookmark-decorating project led by artists from The Laundromat Project!   

 

Tribute to Walter Dean Myers 

 

Each year, Total Equity Now dedicates the Literacy Across Harlem March to the memory of Walter Dean Myers, the brilliant children's book author who joined the ancestors last year. Myers, who grew up in Harlem, wanted to make sure that young people of color had opportunities to see themselves, their families, their communities, and their cultural and ethnic backgrounds reflected in literature.

 

Download a TEN-curated list of books about Harlem, including three by Brother Myers: click here. 

 

#RockThoseReads Partners

 

TEN is proud to team up once again with the amazing community-minded bookstores and cafe partners listed below. Like reading and writing, supporting local businesses helps strengthen our community!  

 

East Harlem

*La Casa Azul Bookstore (143 E. 103rd St. between Park and Lexington Aves.)

*East Harlem Cafe (1651 Lexington Ave. at 104th St.)

 

Central Harlem

*Astor Row Cafe (404 Lenox Ave. at 130th St.)

West Harlem

*Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center (1942 Amsterdam Ave. at 156th St.)