The Last King of Harlem

'No anguish to equal your thwarted vermilions,?
Your blood-shaken, darkened eclipses,
Your garnet ferocity, deaf and dumb in the shadows,
Your hobbled, great king in the janitor's suit.
-King of Harlem, by Federico Garcia Lorca.

King David, the last King of Harlem, has seen Harlem change considerably throughout his life. The WWII and Korean War veteran, retired boxer and singer for many musical groups, including the Buddy Johnson Band, now sells CDs in...
more »

'No anguish to equal your thwarted vermilions,?
Your blood-shaken, darkened eclipses,
Your garnet ferocity, deaf and dumb in the shadows,
Your hobbled, great king in the janitor's suit.
-King of Harlem, by Federico Garcia Lorca.

King David, the last King of Harlem, has seen Harlem change considerably throughout his life. The WWII and Korean War veteran, retired boxer and singer for many musical groups, including the Buddy Johnson Band, now sells CDs in front of The Abyssinian Baptist Church, on Sundays. He's happy with the evolution of the neighborhood and the influx of white people.
To some Harlem may be living a second Renaissance. To others, the gentrification of the last classic Manhattan neighborhood means the end of an era.
« less