an inside look at harlem tourism

By Sheila Evans

Tour Guides caution tourists: "Please turn off cell phones, and DO NOT take photos."  They also request that visitors not talk or move about during prayer or the reading of scripture.   Sometimes these requests are ignored because a tourist is overly anxious or mistakenly on the wrong bus with a guide who does not speak their language.  With a tour guide, there is a measure of control but enforcement is still difficult if there is a language barrier.

Tourists showing up at church without a guide is a growing area of concern.  Tourists going to churches on their own sometimes don't have a clue about appropriate behavior in a black church.  Some are inappropriately dressed wearing shorts or clothing better suited to a night club.  They sometimes get up to leave if things are not to their liking with no regard for what is happening.   This behavior and more is unacceptable on organized tours.  We have to face the reality that, just as we can't screen all of the bad out of the world, we can't screen it out of tourism either.

Tour guides often fight against stereotypes because our media tends to show only the best of some cultures, while showing mainly the worst of others.  Harlem for many years was depicted as crime ridden and poverty stricken.  Many of our foreign visitors still come to Harlem expecting to see a slum and are often shocked and surprised by what they find.  A visit to Harlem illustrates that with film much depends upon who has the camera, who funded the project, who is editing, who is telling the story and why.  It's always a matter of perspective. Lawrence Graham's book "Our Kind of People" which focuses on America's black elite and its history is a total departure from what is generally seen world wide as the "African American experience."   I know, because I often poll my international groups asking, "How many have ever heard of America's black elite or the Harlem Renaissance?" Rarely does a hand go up, but if I ask how many have seen the film "Big Mama's House?" there's  a  big response. Comedy is fine but a balance is essential.  Fortunately Spike Lee and other filmmakers are providing a much needed balanced perspective.   Perhaps soon foreign visitors will come with a well founded understanding of black culture.  Even some of our domestic groups come with negative notions about America's premier black neighborhood.   Tourism helps destroy some of these myths.  A tour of Harlem is enlightening and can make a world of difference.

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During the height of the Harlem Renaissance (1919-1929), Harlem was one of the hottest tourist attractions in New York City. Everyone tried to make it uptown to see the dazzling black city within the city.  Amid this Golden Age of Harlem young black entrepreneurs, professionals, writers, actors, dancers, painters, and musicians among others created America's first black intelligentsia all living within a small radius. A visit to Harlem was a must... and jazz music was a magnet for tourists.

After the stock market crashed in 1929, Harlem was first hit and some say hardest hit by the Great Depression that followed.  When prohibition ended the tables turned. Gangsters who no longer needed Harlem to sell illegal alcohol generated bad press about the area to keep tourists spending money in the higher rent districts downtown.  Harlem was cut from the tourism circuit and its dollars.  Understanding that Tourism is a top industry world wide and certainly among the top industries in New York, the cut was deep. Soon poverty moved in and tourists were warned not to go above 96th Street.

Today, the pendulum has swung back up to Harlem. Tourists are once again clamoring to get uptown during what some are calling Harlem's second Renaissance.  For those living in Harlem, real-estate seems to be the focus of this Renaissance, yet tourism is definitely in the mix.

How did tourists become interested in Harlem again? One theory points to Franco the Great, the artist who in the late 1970s and early 1980s began painting beautiful murals on the store front gates along 125th Street aka Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.    Apparently city tour guides began making early Sunday morning visits to see Franco's art before the shops opened.  Noticing large numbers of church goers dressed in their “Sunday best” generated curiosity and the Sunday church tours were born. Once again black music, the sound track to America, became a magnet for tourism in Harlem. Only this time...it's 'church music' with the pull.   Franco and his work are still on 125th street and tour buses visit the neighborhood daily.

How tourism came back to Harlem can be debated and could lead to another article, the point is...it's happening.  In 2006, 44 million visitors came to New York City and left 24 billion dollars. According to the New York Sun on January 14, 2008 those figures were up by 5% and climbing.  Tourism is definitely a major economic player and it's important that some of those dollars make it uptown to Harlem.

The Sunday Church Tours have grown very popular and controversial.  Many Harlem residents are skeptical, while others embrace tourism.  There are negative feelings about tour groups leaving church services before sermons begin.  A frequent comment is “They only come to church for the music.” We must consider that many tourists do not speak English and thus can not understand a sermon. Not understanding what is being said makes it pointless to stay.  The tendency then is to become merely a spectator which is rude in a church. Church is not theater, participation is key.  Understanding English (or whatever language a sermon is delivered in) is fundamental.  Music on the other hand is universal.  Everyone understands music which is why musicals are more popular than straight plays on Broadway.  English language proficiency is not required to enjoy music or be spiritually touched by it.  Also note that once a sermon begins, it's insulting to a Pastor to leave and it's disruptive to the congregation. So the best thing is for tour groups to visit churches with a guide.  The best time to visit is during the 'Praise and Worship' portion of the service.  Finally, it is best to leave BEFORE the sermon begins.   Taking people to church is a wonderful blessing.  Some people feel they are forever changed by the experience.  I once had a CEO from Paris on a private church tour who vowed never to visit New York City again without going to church in Harlem.  GOD should always be the supreme reason for visiting any church and that we must not forget.

Known as the neighborhood of churches, Harlem has 400 plus churches. Of that number approximately 10 percent participate in tourism programs.  It helps to know in advance if 50 people or more are planning to visit your church.   Donations are also part of the tour.   Tourism helps some churches to grow, but many with large congregations do not have seating capacity for tourists.  Other churches have other reasons for not being part of the tourism agenda and still others participate on their own terms.  Abyssinian Baptist Church for example welcomes tourists, but makes sure their members are seated before tourists are invited in.  Everyone is welcome in Harlem churches, but ultimately logistics, time and space determine how many tourists may enter the doors to worship on a given Sunday.