Famed actor and liberal political activist Danny Glover will help Harlem celebrate its extraordinary cultural and artistic heritage when the sixth annual Harlem Arts Advocacy Week kicks off on today.  Check below for more details on the events!
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The “Lethal Weapon” star, who doubles as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador in his spare time, will tell an audience at City College’s Aaron Davis Hall how the arts can bolster communities of color in New York and around the globe.

Glover’s 10 a.m. speech launched a seven-day series of free arts events that runs from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 — and includes film screenings, poetry readings, walking tours, museum exhibits, hip-hop concerts, dance recitals, even a New Orleans-style jazz parade.

One highlight is an Oct. 2 screening at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of excerpts from the film “The Savoy King,” about the Savoy Ballroom, one of the first places in America where blacks and whites could dance together.

“Harlem has fantastic arts organizations and fantastic artists with fantastic reputations,” said Michael Unthank, the former executive director of the Harlem Arts Alliance, the nonprofit that’s sponsoring Advocacy Week.

“This is an effort to increase their resources, their visibility and the involvement of their community — and to push and promote the cultural life of Harlem.”

Unfortunately, harsh economic times, marked by a recession that doesn’t want to go away, is the backdrop to Advocacy Week as uptown artists and world-class cultural groups battle to maintain funding and stay afloat.

“It’s being held to shine the light on the treasures in our midst, and to help (arts organizations and artists) secure and sustain the crucial resources needed to continue their missions,” said Voza Rivers, chairman of the Harlem Arts Alliance.

The week-long cultural celebration, expected to draw more than 1,000 people each day, will cost only $50,000 because so many organizations are waiving fees, providing pro bono services or donating free performances, organizers say.

Grant funding from the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts is making the ambitious arts-fest events possible.

Complete information and a detailed schedule of events is available on the website of the Harlem Arts Alliance, at www.harlemaa.org.

Source: NY Daily News