Crystal Rand and Mae Hmo, minority students at Park East, a predominantly Hispanic high school in East Harlem. (Photo by Paolo Lorenzana)

In the cafeteria of Harlem Renaissance High School on East 128th Street, students at four tables chatter over snacks before their morning classes. But 16-year-old Brooke Dominguez, a junior, eats with her mother and baby sister. In a room where most students are African-Americans, Dominguez also has the lightest skin: a faint trace of mocha, like the froth on a café au lait.

Reflecting the primarily black population of Harlem, more than 50 percent of Harlem Renaissance’s 231 students are African-American; nearly all the rest are Hispanic. Just one percent identify as “other” and their experiences as a tiny minority in uptown schools go largely overlooked.

Dominguez is one of two students in the school who identify themselves as being of mixed race.

Tiffany Brand, Dominguez’s mother and the secretary of the school parents’ association, is Caucasian — rosy-cheeked with dove grey eyes and hair the color of a wheat field. She left her native Nebraska on a whim, following a college roommate to New York City, where she met Brooke’s father, who is African-American and Hispanic.

The family lived on the Upper West Side, then moved to the Bronx. It wasn’t until Dominguez entered the sixth grade, at Frederick Douglass Academy II on West 114th Street, that she felt alienated because of her race.

“I was the one with the lightest skin in the school,” says Dominguez. “There was a welcome assembly where the principal talked about the student population — how many blacks and Hispanics there were. Then they were talking about those who were something else. They used me as an example.”

“I was shocked,” Brand says about her daughter’s being singled out on her first day of middle school. “Why would you talk about that at an assembly? The principal was rambling, talking about the school’s ethnic roots and it’s like he was telling all other races, ‘You get out.’”

Dominguez soon became withdrawn at school. “They would try to pick on me,” she says. “I was quiet and more go with the flow. Those kids were crazy. I didn’t like anyone in that school.” Classmates invited her to “go to the staircase” and cut class, she recalls; some sixth graders also smoked and drank alcohol. Dominguez responded by spending most of her time with neighborhood friends and focusing on her schoolwork.

Not only did she become ostracized for her diligence, but also for her color. “When we took a class picture, they’d point out I was the lightest one,” Dominguez says. “She don’t belong here,” a classmate pointed out with amusement.

“I never worried about putting her in a predominantly black school because I was never prejudiced,” her mother says. “If Frederick Douglass saw what was happening, he’d be rolling in his grave. I took her out of that school.”

“I imagine that white students, like any small minority in a large majority, will feel many of the same things,” says Bill Crain, a developmental psychologist at City College of New York in Hamilton Heights. ”Emotionally, there would be some problems. They’ll feel isolation and feel different.”

Brooke Dominguez, whose mother is white and father is African-American, experienced discrimination at her predominantly black middle school

During forums at City College, where Crain, who is white, teaches classes that are mostly African-Americans, preference for the majority has been raised as an issue. “I’ve had white students complain that I wasn’t calling on them enough in class,” says Crain. “‘You’re just trying to favor the black kids,’” students would tell him.

“Those issues come up — favoritism,” Crain says. “All this occurs in the broader context in which whites have the power…I guess any minority feels more sensitive to discrimination.”

Minority students in high school may feel even more strain from racial tension. “In the teenage years, you’re worried about your identity,” Crain says. “I think it would be more acute and anxiety-producing for the teenager. There’s cliques — what clique are you going to get into if you’re a white kid?”

Despite the struggles, there can be benefits to being the ethnic odd one out in school. “They may feel different and odd for a while, but if they hang in there, they come out a mature, more advanced individual who has a broader perspective,” says Crain, who invokes a sociological study done decades ago by Robert Park. “His thesis was that those people who grow up in two different cultures become more intellectually and culturally sophisticated,” Crain said. “I would think that there could be some really positive effects to having two cultures.”

Perhaps reflecting the changing demographics of upper Manhattan, some schools are seeing a bit more ethnic and racial diversity. At Park East High School on East 105th Street, more than 60 percent of the 258 students are Hispanic and 30 percent are African-American. However,“this year, there are more nationalities,” says Xiomara Rodriguez, the parent coordinator. “There are two students that are Arabic and two Indians. We have four white students. Last year, there were just two.”

The unease a minority student experiences in a classroom where the faces — and culture — are unfamiliar can be temporary, Rodriguez says. “There are a few students that are assigned here by the district,” she says. “They come to the school with the mentality of transferring, but sometimes, they get used to the school and they change their minds and stay.”

Freshman Crystal Rand, for instance, was reluctant to enroll at Park East High after she completed middle school at a Catholic school in the Bronx. “I thought it wasn’t going to be the right school for me. I just felt scared,” says Rand, whose pale face and chestnut hair distinguish her in a hallway of darker students. “The school was kind of small for me. I wanted to be in a school that was big, where no one knew me.”

But the school’s size proved an advantage to Rand, especially with new ethnicities mottling the palette in recent years. “My old school was more Spanish but here, there’s a little more diversity,” says Rand, who considers two Asians and a Hispanic student her closest friends. “I remember when I first came to Harlem in summer camp, I was probably 10 years old at the time. It was kind of hard because people were still kind of racist. But here, everybody knows you for who you are — race and everything.”

David Deng, a Chinese-American student at Park East High (Photo by Paolo Lorenzana)

David Deng, 17, a senior who is Chinese, says: “Everyone saw me and, ‘Oh, it’s the Asian kid.’” He selected Park East High, after graduating from a middle school in Grammercy Park, because of its A grade from the Department of Education.

“My first friend here, who’s Dominican, came up to me on the second day and we’re best friends now,” he says. “Freshman year, I was the only Asian here. It went from being Puerto Rican, Dominican and black to more whites and Asians, like a normal high school in New York City.”

Smiling widely, Rand adds, “Since I’ve been here, I’ve gotten into hip-hop and all that. It’s influenced the way I speak. I speak with a bit more slang than I used to.”

Deng agrees. “I now know cultures of Dominicans and Puerto Ricans — what they do, eat, and all that fun stuff like rap and bachata, the Spanish dance music they’re always talking about.” As a result of his experience, entering one of the predominantly white colleges he applied to is less daunting. “I’ll get used to it,” he says. “Asians are still a minority but because of this school, I can make friends with every different race — people I wouldn’t even talk to when I was in middle school.”

Such people might include Shane De la Cruz, a dark-skinned Dominican senior, who wasn’t exposed to ethnicities other than black or Hispanic when he began high school at Park East. But by his senior year, his group of mostly Dominican friends now includes Deng. Other Asian students tend to cling toone another, De la Cruz said, ” but he isn’t how the other Asians are. He was talking, joking around. I’m the type of guy who’s always playing around so I started talking to him. I wouldn’t say we’re good friends but we’re friends.”

At Frederick Douglass Academy II, cultures are also converging. Two years ago, Owei Owusu-Afriyie replaced the principal in charge when Brooke Dominguez was the resident “white girl” amid an African-American majority.

“You know, there’s a reality for students and then there’s the adult perception of the students’ reality,” Afriyie says, told of the former student’s experience. “I may not perceive it, but that doesn’t mean that that’s not a tension that a child feels.”

But with a recent influx of West Africans and the emergence of new minorities among the school’s 419 students, Afriyie has given ethnic integration more emphasis. He introduced a buddy system for new students from different cultures and launched Summer Bridge, a three-week program to foster unity among incoming students.

“They build what we call a scholar identity,” he says. “It doesn’t mean you’re denying where you’re coming from, but you’re participating with others in the creation of another type of experience — what it means to be an FDA II scholar.

“A lot of times, the students’ interactions with cultures is via TV, not face to face,” he points out. “The whole idea of coming to school is to learn about other people and interact with people of different cultures. That’s one thing we’ve been working on — having more celebrations of diversity in this school.”

Afriyie speculates that technology has made students more sophisticated about classmates outside their own ethnicities. “It’s the Facebook culture,” he says. “Social media closes the gap of what children are liking in other countries and what children are liking here. They have a common entry point that’s helping bridge culture.”

As gentrification increases uptown, the integration of minorities into predominantly black or Hispanic schools is likely to increase cultural interplay.

“There are more white people coming in,” says Yvette McKenzie, the parent coordinator at Frederick Douglass Academy in West Harlem. “This location is predominantly black until recently. People have come to our school because it’s a safe place. We don’t have metal detectors or bars on the windows. We also have AP classes in the ninth grade so, of course, parents like their kids to come here.”

Afriyie agrees. “The neighborhood’s changing,” he says. “You’re having a lot of different things that are going to change the ethnic makeup of the school. I think that’s only going to be a good thing.”

During a National Dance Institute class at PS 189, Arthur Fredric demonstrates a new move to students.

Darwyn, 10, just wants to dance. “I like the rhythm and how we move our bodies,” he says after clapping, jumping and shuffling his way through a National Dance Institute class at P.S. 189 in Washington Heights.

The small auditorium where three institute instructors teach Darwyn and his classmates once a week fills with the sounds of drum beats, snaps and squeaking sneakers as the group runs through exercises, warmups and dance routines.

For 35 years such auditoriums were the closest connection to a home base for the National Dance Institute, which provides arts education to students primarily through a free in-school dance program.

Since 1976, the institute has reached more than 2 million students and expanded to 11 associate programs across the country, as well as many others around the world. Jacques d’Amboise, a former principal dancer and choreographer for the New York City Ballet, started the institute in an effort to offer free dance education to children who didn’t get much exposure to the arts.

While the in-school classes continue, the National Dance Institute for the first time has its own permanent headquarters. The 18,000-square-foot center — between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass boulevards on 147th Street — has two art galleries, staff offices, a terrace and four studios, one of which converts to a performance space seating about 175 people.

The institute’s new home doesn’t represent much of a departure from those school auditoriums; the building itself was once P.S. 90, abandoned since the 1970s but now once more filled with excited chatter of eager students.

Originally built in the early 1900s and completely gutted, according to artistic director Ellen Weinstein, the center features gleaming white walls bedecked with bright artwork given or lent by local artists, as well as wood floors specially suited for dancers.

“When the children come in for dance classes, they’re going to sit in the halls and be surrounded by great art,” d’Amboise says. The center helps the institute expand its reach to cover a broader arts spectrum.

“It’s been a dream for most of our 35 years,” Weinstein says. “Especially in the last 10. It had become increasingly difficult to function.”

The institute had rented or borrowed space, something that became more difficult as it grew. D’Amboise remembers struggling to find places to rehearse and perform. “The programs take place in schools during school hours,” d’Amboise says. “To do more advanced programs we needed a place.”

Weinstein echoes: “We were like gypsies. We were running out of available space, and we weren’t able to do things in a planned way because we weren’t in control of our space.”

Administrators believe the center also ensures its future. “We’re here; this is our home,” Weinstein says. “For us and for our funders, we’re not going anywhere. It’s not going to dissolve.”

Their concern was perhaps intensified  by the reality that d’Amboise — an active teacher at 77 years old — has passed traditional retirement age.  He represents the heart of the National Dance Institute, but administrators wanted to ensure that the institute would endure long after he leaves.

After years of searching for a proper location, P.S. 90 came to executives’ attention. The institute spent $11.5 million to pay for the building and its renovation. George Soros’ Open Society Foundations provided a lead gift of $5 million, supplemented by board members and other donors. “I think the stars aligned,” says Kathy Landau, the institute’s executive director.

The institute purchased the building in November 2010. Renovation, begun in December, was completed under budget and ahead of schedule, and the institute moved into the center in August 2011 and opened officially in October.

“Now we’re down to the choices part,” Landau says. “Do we buy the curtains and the tracks? What are the most important things now?”

The organization’s leaders now must grapple with determining how to preserve the original mission of the National Dance Institute after such a fundamental change.  “Rather than letting the building change the mission and purpose of the programming, it was created to support the mission,” Landau says.

In-school classes remain free and the spotlight of the institute’s programming. After-school and weekend classes, as well as special events, take place at the center. The institute has added three new partner schools in Harlem, Weinstein says, “allowing us to double and triple the number of children we’re reaching.”

To make its programming available to students who don’t attend one of the 31 partner schools and to allow for more advanced instruction, the institute also offers after-school classes at the center for a fee, a departure from its traditional policy of free instruction.

Darwyn just wants to dance. He and his fourth-grade peers, whose last names the institute withheld as a condition of the interviews, are unaware of any changes; for them, the classes are simply the road to the final performance they watched last year and enthusiastically await this year.

“I’m excited because my parents are going to see me dance,” says Jordany, 9, who moments earlier was eagerly jumping up and down, striking poses onstage.

The institute reaches about 5,000 elementary school students each week — up from around 4,000 before the center was built. In some cases, institute classes are the only arts or physical education students will receive. Darwyn and Jordany’s class of about 25 is led by master teacher Arthur Fredric, co-teacher and institute alumnus Dufftin Garcia and musician Tim Harrison. This three-teacher formula is standard.

Institute teachers are encouraged to change the configuration of the room periodically, shifting where they stand and which way students face so that no front line develops. This tactic gives all students a chance to be in the lead and allows the instructors to easily spot any struggling dancers.

“Another teacher might just say, ‘Let’s keep going and going,’ but here they’re really following along,” Fredric says. “We’re really taking our time with the kids.”

A move is repeated as many times as necessary until every student feels comfortable. Although many of the students would likely look out of place in a professional dance class, here their various heights and body types are irrelevant; all are eventually able to execute the moves with ease and style.

Fredric occasionally selects students to serve as “assistant directors” who decide whether a sequence is up to par, rendering the students active participants in determining the class’s success. When Nicolette, 9, adds a clap above her head to one of the moves, Fredric likes the change so much that he has her teach it to the rest of the class. She shyly complies — but smiles at each subsequent reference to “The Nicolette.”

“The movement is accessible to all,” Weinstein says. “We’re doing things they can all achieve — and they do.” Harrison wanders the room with a drum, adjusting his beat to fit each sequence, sometimes moving to the piano. Fredric and Garcia remind the students that they’ll eventually be executing these moves in front of an audience; in response, they all shriek.

Weinstein describes the end-of-year performances at each school as a rite of passage. The event creates a ripple effect, Fredric says. “You change the whole community,” he says. “The kids come to see the show in kindergarten and then there’s anticipation for it. They want to do it themselves.”

Some become so enthusiastic that they move on to advanced institute programs, like the SWAT Team — “scholarships for the willing, achieving and talented.” SWAT Dancers chosen from the in-school classes receive free training outside school hours and perform at the Event of the Year, which also features dancers from the advanced Celebration Team.

Most of these students won’t pursue arts careers, but to institute administrators, that might be the point. “You take mathematics in school and it doesn’t mean you have to be a physicist, but everyone should take it because it’s beautiful and great,” d’Amboise says. “Everybody should take dancing and music but it doesn’t mean you have to do it as a career. You should take it because it’s part of being a human being.”

Last year’s Event of the Year focused on the intersection of science and the arts; one routine explored the properties of DNA. “Now every kid in that class can tell you how DNA replicates,” Weinstein says. “It’s more than just reading it in a book.”

To her, the idea is simply to promote student achievement. “I’m equally proud of the people who go on to college and become doctors and lawyers,” she says. “The goal is not to train professional dancers; this isn’t a conservatory. We just want to make sure every child has a success.”

Some students have gone on to careers in the arts, however. One dancer has performed with Beyonce and another with Madonna. A student recently appeared on the television show “Glee.” Garcia was a National Dance Institute student who started a boy’s ballet class and eventually got a call from d’Amboise to teach with the institute. “We give students tools,” Weinstein says. “It’s about rigor, discipline, joy.”

The institute’s particular brand of education seems to have an effect on the fourth graders at P.S. 189. At one point Fredric assures them, “You guys are good.” One of the boys yells back in response, “Good, not great!”

This desire to never settle has helped the institute reach this milestone. “We built the physical space,” Landau says. “Now what we’re building is a legacy.”

For more information on the National Dance Institute’s move click here.

Arthur Fredric instructs students at PS 189 during one of the National Dance Institute's classes at the school.

For the National Dance Institute, which opened its first headquarters in Harlem this fall, the easy part was deciding to acquire a home. What came before and after proved more complicated.

The Institute, founded 35 years ago, had been searching for a permanent location for a decade. It teaches dance and other arts to more than 40,000 public elementary school students annually, primarily through free in-school classes but also in after-school and weekend lessons. As borrowing space from schools and arts institutions around the city became increasingly difficult, the institute decided to put down roots on West 147th Street between Adam Clayton Powell and Frederick Douglass Boulevards.

It has transformed P.S. 90, a school abandoned since the 1970s, into what founder Jacques d’Amboise describes as “a communication center for the arts,” with four studios, two art galleries and a convertible performance venue. “They took an enormous abandoned space and brought life to it,” says Lloyd A. Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, of which the National Dance Institute is a member.

The institute launched a $20 million capital campaign to purchase the school, including $11.5 million for the building and subsequent renovation and another $8.5 million to sustain operating expenses. George Soros’s Open Society Foundations contributed $5 million in what d’Amboise calls “a moment of generous madness,” while board members and other donors provided much of the rest, though the institute remains $6.25 million from its goal. The institute was able to purchase the building outright and has no mortgage.

Its $3.8 million annual budget comes largely from foundations (40 percent) and from its annual spring gala (25 percent); government grants, corporate and personal donations provide the remainder.

But with its new location, the program hopes to increase corporate fundraising. “Now that we have a physical space, it will make forming collaborations with the corporate sector easier, because we do have four walls and the ability to have signage and recognition and host events,” says Michele O’Mara, director of development.

The renovated school provides potential donors with a compelling reason to contribute, she adds. “We can bring them downstairs and they can immediately see the children dancing and see firsthand the experience these children have,” O’Mara says. “Seeing is believing; it’s truly a sight to behold.”

John Sheehy, the director of development and marketing for The 52nd Street Project — a nonprofit that develops and produces new plays with children in Hell’s Kitchen and acquired its own center in 1996 — attests to this benefit. “The challenges of fundraising are constant and ongoing, but we have found an advantage in establishing a new home,” he writes in an e-mail. “We have taken the opportunity to gain wider exposure for The 52nd Street Project in the press and in the community. This has in turn opened up new relationships with funders. So while it is an enormous undertaking to establish your own place, and the attendant expansion in expenses can be daunting, it can be an enormous opportunity for growth.”

As the National Dance Institute adjusts to its new home, it will also try to engage with the Harlem community. “We just arrived here in October,” O’Mara says. “We’re all just settling in and getting to know one another, but we very much want to be part of the neighborhood and partner with not only the residents but the businesses here as well.”

The business community has already started to benefit, Williams says. “Of course they’re bringing visitors and employees, so the fact is that naturally the center has a broad economic impact on the surrounding landscape for the businesses that now have a strong infusion of economic capital,” he says. The institute employs nearly 50 full and part-time teachers and administrators, but Williams estimates that it brings hundreds of people to the neighborhood daily.

Its eventual impact remains to be seen, however. In the future, for instance, the institute could rent out space in its new home, but such plans remain unclear.

“This is going to be a year of firsts for us,” O’Mara says.  Along with its evolving programs, “We’re very hopeful the new space will change the fundraising landscape for the organization a bit as well,” she says.

For more information on the National Dance Institute’s move click here.

The fashion show at the Alhambra's 2011 Bridal Expo showcased wedding dresses by local designers. (Photo by Roland Hyde)

From traditional white dresses to gold, green and everything in between, the fashion show at Alhambra Ballroom’s Bridal Expo had something for everyone. Audience members gasped simultaneously at a halter-style African print wedding dress. The patchwork fabric, similar to a quilt, fused black, gold and a rich blue.

“We don’t always have to wear white, ladies; custom Afro-centric designs are in,” wedding coordinator DiAnne Henderson told the brides-to-be, their families and friends. This year’s expo, at the Alhambra on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard and 125th Street, drew 25 vendors and about 100 guests.

DJ Mario came equipped with a turntable, music and a fitness trainer. As he blared First Choice’s “Love Thang” from the speakers, the trainer led women in the Wobble, then the Cha Cha slide — both popular line dances at African-American weddings.

“Dancing is a great way to lose a couple of pounds before the big day, ladies,” Henderson said as she encouraged everyone to join in. “We are Harlemites, we are in Harlem. This is how we get down!”

The U.S. wedding industry generates about $40 billion a year. According to the 2011 American Wedding Survey, the average wedding in the United States costs about $26,500. A 2011 survey by the bridal website The Knot found that in Manhattan, the average cost jumps to $70,730.

Uptown entrepreneurs are working to grow a Harlem wedding industry. In 2006, Amber Saunders-Nobles started A’Marie Weddings, a wedding planning service. She’s seen her clientele incorporate people of different races and financial backgrounds. “The biggest wedding I’ve done in Harlem was around $60,000,” she said. “We did the reception on a cruise around city.”

Henderson believes Harlem has the potential to thrive in the city’s wedding industry. “Harlem is often overlooked as a destination to have a city wedding,” she said. She helped launch the Bridal Expo and Fashion Show four years ago to spotlight local vendors and help uptown brides make their wedding dreams come true.

“Everyone can’t have a $40,000 or $50,000 wedding so we try to work with the person’s pockets,” said Henderson, who says her average wedding costs around $12,000. “I have the chance to speak with people and encourage them.”

For 17 years, she has worked exclusively with the family who owns the Alhambra Ballroom, where she says she’s done more than 200 weddings. “For someone else that may not be a lot,” she said, “but for me that is part-time work.” By day she’s a director at Harlem’s St. Nicholas Senior Center;  on weekends she runs her event planning service, My Eye Is on You, at the Alhambra.

“There aren’t enough wedding expos,” Henderson said. “Afro-American designers that are known in the Harlem area do not have enough exposure. I think that we as Afro-Americans in Harlem should try to be more involved in helping one another.”

It has been a challenging effort. In 2006, Nidelka Mayers was the first person to put the Harlem weddings on the map, she says, when she created the Harlem Weddings bridal show and guide, showcasing local wedding-related businesses. The Harlem Weddings Bridal Show ran for three years but was canceled in 2010.

In 2008, Saunders-Nobles held a bridal show at the Apollo Theater, where she advised Harlem brides how to save during the recession (and provided literature on breast cancer).

“It cost thousands of dollars,” said Saunders-Nobles, who paid most expo costs out of her own pocket.  It lasted one year, but she plans to resuscitate it next year.  “We constantly have new vendors who want to do it again,” she said.

“Getting sponsors for these events is not easy,” agreed Henderson, who recruited five sponsors for the Bridal Expo this year. She said she sold about 50 tickets at $10 each and is not sure yet if the event turned a profit.

“Cassandra, for example, trusted me enough to bring her things,” Henderson said. “She gave me her free time and no one got paid.”

Afro-centric inspired wedding gown by Cassandra Bromfield. (Photo by Roland Hyde)

Cassandra Bromfield, a Brooklyn wedding and evening gown designer, wants to tap into the Harlem wedding market. “The bridal show is a good option for people to find me,” said Bromfield, who specializes in Afro-centric wedding gowns and fielded many questions about her patchwork gown.

Harriette Cole, author of “Jumping the Broom: The African-American Wedding Planner,” believes that with the right marketing and promotion, Harlem can become a wedding destination.

“I imagine that Harlem can become even more of a player in the world of weddings, thanks to more restaurants being developed and additional event spaces that have opened,” said Cole, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1988 and seen it “blossom into a thriving diverse community.”

Saunders-Nobles talks in terms of hidden gems and jewels in Harlem, for those who know where they are.

“The good thing about being a wedding planner is you have the creative eye to look into a space and say ‘This might work for this purpose, but it could also work for a wedding,’” she said. “When you think of the all the events that come with a wedding — the bridal shower, the brunch — there are so many restaurants that are hip places opening up.”

Harlem already offers multiple venues and options for weddings of all sizes and budgets.

Sylvia’s, the famous Lenox Avenue soul food restaurant, specializes in catering, with free space for wedding parties under 45 guests and or $500 an hour for more than 50. Special event coordinator Jacqueline Gaines estimates the restaurant hosts about 30 weddings a year.

Riverside Church, on the border between Harlem and Morningside Heights, holds anywhere from 65 to 75 weddings year. The main sanctuary rents for $3,500 and the most popular space, The Assembly Hall, for $3,200. But wedding coordinator Angela Gregory says few Harlem couples marry there. “I would love to see more local couples,” she said.

The Alhambra Ballroom, which opened in 2003, specializes in wedding receptions. Its wedding package includes a Rolls Royce limousine, a cake and five hours’ ballroom use for 125 guests for $12,350.

“That is one of the most reasonable venues in Manhattan,” said Sanders-Nobles. She married this past May at Bethel Gospel Assembly on East 120th Street and held a reception for 175 family members and friends at the Alhambra.

Other popular spaces include Melba’s Restaurant at Eighth and Manhattan avenues, the Dwyer Cultural Center on 123rd Street between St. Nicholas Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard and, in West Harlem, the Harlem School of the Arts. “A lot of people don’t know about this space and they have wonderful things to offer,” said Saunders-Nobles, including a theater and a courtyard garden.

“I would love to have my wedding in Harlem,” said Franshara Hunter, a bride-to-be who lives in the Bronx. She traveled down to Harlem for the expo and said, ”I see some really nice stuff here.”

Even with a successful bridal show, business has been slow in Harlem. Photographer Chad Pennington of Sobitart Photography says he’s shot just two Harlem weddings this year; most of his work is downtown. But when he gets to shoot in “Harlem USA,” as he calls it, he has a blast. “In Harlem you always get something different,” he said.

Karen Eatmon Harrigan, who goes by the name DJ Passion, began her career in Harlem. She deejays for $550 an event but charges $100 more for weddings.

“Weddings usually have a little more involvement working with the bride. I do consultation with them and go over the music,” she said.  She has taken part in the wedding expos since they began, yet only works twice a year in Harlem.

Princess Jenkins, who owns The Brownstone boutique on East 125th Street, said she will continue to participate in the expo. “Anyone who comes to us is looking for something nontraditional. We do about five weddings a year and many mothers of the bride,” Jenkins said. “I continue to participate in the expo because we are very interested to show our brand.”

“If you do want to get married in Harlem the businesses and professionals are here,” said Saunders-Nobles, who says she understand why vendors may find it difficult to reach clients. “You have to be resourceful because there isn’t a Great Bridal Expo like in Times Square with 40,000 brides. That is great, but there is never something permanent in Harlem.”

Despite the odds, Henderson says she’s planning another Alhambra expo for April. She wants to continue to showcase local vendors and teach brides. “All of my work comes from the heart,” she said.

“That is why I love Harlem weddings,” said Saunder-Nobles, “because we have a passion not just  for our business, but for our people.”

b condoms currently sell two products online: the Classic and the Platinum. (Photo by Paul Smith)

The image of a marching band jitters across the screen to a hip-hop soundtrack. Black and white footage of Morehouse College is interspersed with shots of trendy young African-Americans watching a football game. The dancing photos stop and a slogan appears: “b healthy. b proud.”

The YouTube clip, directed by George Twopointoh – noted for his work with singer Janelle Monáe – documents a recent college tour sponsored by b condoms, a Harlem startup.

The b condoms elevator pitch takes some explaining. As the self-proclaimed “only minority-owned socially responsible condom company in the world,” b manufactures contraceptives and reinvested 20 percent of its first-year profits in HIV/AIDS community programs. “It would be easy if it was just a condom company and I was only dealing with retailers and working on profit margins,” says co-founder Elkhair Balla. “It’s bigger than that.”

Since its inception last year, b has begun selling to major institutions, including Harvard University, and local health organizations. The company has hosted panel discussions at high schools, encouraging teenagers to get tested. Yet the ambitious project had humble beginnings. Its headquarters are on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard between a hair salon and a hat boutique.

Balla and co-founder Jason Panda, dressed in dapper pinstriped shirts fastened with cufflinks, are sitting around the conference table in their office on a recent Friday afternoon. They’re planning to start selling in stores early next year and are researching retailers. “We want to make sure we pick the right partner that will represent a socially-responsible brand and highlight our message,” Balla says.

B currently sells products only online, with three packs of Classic condoms costing $15 or $18 for Platinum XL, wrapped in metallic packaging. “We’re priced at the same level as competitors,” says Balla, “and in some cases a little higher. Part of it is psyche. You don’t want to be known as the discount condom.”

They argue that their social cause distinguishes their brand in a competitive market. “Trojan, Durex, LifeStyles,” said Panda, tapping figures into his iPhone calculator, “they don’t fund campaigns on the scale we do.”

In fact, UK manufacturer Durex donated over 200,000 condoms to the International AIDS Conference; Sir Richard’s, a Colorado company, donates one condom to a developing country for every one purchased.

But Panda says, “There hasn’t really been a condom company to bring all the collective pieces together under one umbrella.” The pieces he has in mind combine educational outreach with strategic marketing. “We fund a lot of prevention and awareness initiatives,” he says.

Before life as a social entrepreneur, Panda was a disillusioned attorney specializing in pharmaceutical patent law and “top-shelf miserable” despite a six-figure salary. “I wanted to do something more community-focused, something bigger than arguing about the difference between ‘and’ and ‘or’ in a patent,” he said.

He sought inspiration from his mother, who runs a Massachusetts treatment facility for drug addicts and alcoholics. “Nonprofits can buy boxes of thousands of condoms,” he said, “but why isn’t any of that money reinvested into communities to create change at a grass roots level? That simple concept sparked something.”

After recruiting Balla, a Sudanese former investment banker and friend from Morehouse College, Panda began ordering samples for manufacture in Malaysia, from the same factory that produces condoms for the U.N. The packaged condoms are shipped in batches, often by the thousands, to a warehouse in the Bronx.

A year ago, Panda sat in his Harlem apartment making cold calls with Balla. “We’d get somebody on the phone, put our little suits on and get our couple of samples,” Panda recalls. Both 32, they christened themselves Subway Salesmen, riding the train from Brooklyn to the Bronx, pitching their new products.

They struck up an early partnership with the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, a nonprofit working with religious leaders to raise awareness of sexually transmitted disease among African-Americans.

Harlem Coordinator Leatrice Wactor, who has shared an office with b condoms since summer, invites Panda and Balla to speak in churches. “It’s refreshing to see two black heterosexual men discuss HIV,” she says. Young African-Americans, she thinks, “feel more comfortable talking about condom use” with their peers.

For Balla, the firm’s marketing director, rebranding the condom is crucial. The name b was his idea. “You can be anything you want to be so long as you do it in a safe, responsible way,” he says. “Our slogan is ‘b cool. b safe. b yourself.’” He adds, “You don’t have to sell sex. Sex sells itself.”

Financially, Balla says he has “no concern” over the venture, which he and Panda have self-funded with a third investor, Ashanti Johnson. He wouldn’t disclose the initial investment, but says that the company is already profitable and paying five salaries.

Last month, Balla celebrated the company’s anniversary with a World AIDS Day cocktail reception at Nectar on Frederick Douglas Boulevard. Panda was off speaking at a Georgia health care conference. Balla paced about the candlelit wine bar, taking pictures of the hors d’oeuvres platter on his iPhone. “I’ve got to tweet stuff,” he said, sharing the images with b’s 1500 Twitter followers.

Elkhair Balla, co-founder, at b condoms' World AIDS Day reception in Harlem. (Photo by Paul Smith)

Peter Kim, part of the crowd, responded to an ad on ideaslist.org and joined the team as a summer intern. Now, at 24, he’s strategic partnership director. “Students like the packaging,” he said, “but in addition, our socially responsible message really resonates with them.”

Kim finds the prospect of working for a startup exciting, even if his job provokes various reactions from friends. “A lot of people confuse it with condominiums,” he said, shaking his head. “I say, ‘It’s a different kind of high rise.’”

Rep. Charles Rangel, 81, at the September unveiling of a portrait celebrating his previous chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee. (Photo courtesy of Rep. Rangel's office)

Rep.Charles Rangel, an enduring Harlem institution at 81, won’t be yielding his Congressional seat anytime soon, it appears. A high-profile Rangel fundraiser last month at a Washington, D.C., restaurant reportedly raised around $50,000, with major Democratic Party figures out in force.

And in an email to his campaign’s mailing list earlier this month, Rangel made clear that he plans to “fight like hell for the privilege of serving again” in the 15th Congressional District. This is his 40th year as a member of the House of Representatives and his 20th Congressional term.

“Charlie’s definitely running again,” confirmed Bob Liff, a Rangel spokesman. “He always campaigns like he never takes anything for granted,” and next year’s primary and general elections will be no different.

The latest available Federal Election Commission filings show that Rangel’s main campaign committee, Rangel for Congress, received $652,485 in contributions this year and has $338,054 in net available funds. From July 1 to September 30 alone, his committee raised $345,946.

In last year’s primary, despite a highly publicized House censure for ethics violations, Rangel easily outpaced the next most popular Democratic candidate, former Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, 26,101 votes to 11,834.

“What happens in Washington isn’t always reflected in the people’s districts,” said Liff. “On the substance of the job, Charlie Rangel hasn’t lost anything. I challenge you to find another district where a Congressman has had more impact on the lives of people on the street, and really on virtually every block.”

In fact, Liff argued, the 2010 censure might have bolstered Rangel’s support. “Last year we had, in some ways, a better turnout, as there was a sense among people in New York that Charlie was being unfairly treated,” he said. Liff argued that Rangel’s transgressions were “merely rules violations, without any corruption or personal gain involved.”

Last year, in a field of five Democratic opponents, Rangel still drew over 50 per cent of the vote in the Democratic primary. He then defeated Republican Michael Faulkner by a landslide in the general election, with 80 percent of the vote.

But upcoming elections may bring another unpredictable shift for Rangel and others, as a state taskforce redraws Senate, Assembly, and Congressional district lines. Electoral redistricting, which takes place every decade, could reflect the significant demographic changes in Rangel’s district, specifically its growing Hispanic majority. According to the Census, the district is currently 46 percent Hispanic, 26 percent African-American and 21 percent Caucasian.

Pundits of all stripes have speculated for some time about who might eventually replace Rangel when he does step down or lose at the polls. He may be warily eyeing one potential challenger, experienced Washington political operative Clyde Williams, as evidenced by some nameless sniping in a December 6 campaign email. Another possible challenger, Vince Morgan, has received local press attention as a vocal critic of problems with Columbia’s Manhattanville development.

The candidate considered closest to a natural Rangel successor, and most likely to win his endorsement eventually, is Assemblyman Keith Wright. Liff noted that Rangel has a “lot of respect” for Wright.

“People are positioning themselves for when Rangel moves on,” said one Democrat familiar with Rangel’s work. “He’s been there for 40 years, and everyone has had to wait; now you have three generations waiting there, who want that seat.”

Read interviews with each of these likely contenders – Clyde Williams, Vincent Morgan and Assemblyman Keith Wright – all likely to play a key role in Harlem politics next year.

Assemblyman Keith Wright, pictured here at his district office in Harlem's 125th Street State Office building, has long been an active player in Manhattan politics. (Photo by Nat Rudarakanchana)

Assemblyman Keith Wright, first elected to the New York State Assembly in 1992, has often been portrayed as Rangel’s favorite to inherit his seat, when Rangel resigns from the House of Representatives or declines to seek re-election. Wright, however, is coy about his plans.

“I would look at running, sure,” said Wright casually in an interview at his district office, deep within the towering Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office on 125th Street. “I would show some real interest.”

Asked about potential competitors in 2014, the 56-year-old Wright said he had “no idea.” What about State Sen. Bill Perkins, widely considered a key competitor in that scenario? “He’s a fine senator,” was all Wright would say. “I have not discussed this with him.”

Wright’s district office, cluttered but warm, is dominated by photos of historic Harlem politicos and tokens of constituent gratitude, reflecting his longtime involvement in neighborhood politics. The state building itself is a politically-wired hub, housing Rangel, Perkins, and City Councilwoman Inez Dickens.

Wright, chair of the Assembly’s labor committee, formerly led the influential Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus. Throughout his career he has worked on issues involving small businesses, affordable housing, youth and the working class.

“Listen, we’re a district that needs a lot of help,” Wright observed, “whether it’s in education, economic development, healthcare, or housing – you name it.”

Though the Assemblyman spends a good deal of his time in Albany, many constituents are familiar with him. Born and raised in Harlem, he currently lives in the Riverton Houses, the large mid-income development on 135th Street and Fifth Avenue, in the very apartment he grew up in.

Last February, after the State Supreme Court ordered that Riverton Houses be sold because of a massive default by its former owner, Wright announced that he planned on “involving various State and City agencies to ensure that tenant needs are being properly addressed.”

“Of course I have a very special closeness to the property,” said Wright, once the complex’s tenant association president. “I think it’s an anchor in the neighborhood, but certainly it doesn’t make me work any harder or any less because I live there. I work just as hard for other properties in peril.” He explained that he felt wary of the sale happening too soon and to the wrong people.

Some think Wright’s grassroots activism and strong Harlem roots make him a frontrunner for Rangel’s seat one day. “People know Wright and he’s very well-liked,” observed Basil Smikle, a political strategist and adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. “There’s a natural progression from Assemblyman to frontrunner for Congress, should Rangel step down sometime.

“Those prospects would look good for him – he has a lot more credibility and gravitas than others like Williams and Morgan,” Smikle added. His own bid for Perkins’ senate seat in 2010 was backed by Wright’s Democratic club, known as the Frederick Samuel Democratic Club.

Wright had considerable political experience before becoming an elected official, having worked for former Mayor David Dinkins during his tenure as Manhattan borough president.

“Working with Dave Dinkins was probably the most important job I had in so many ways, because it reintroduced me to my community,” he said. “You really don’t know a community unless you walk the streets, and that’s where I started walking the streets.”

Wright ran for Manhattan borough president himself in 2005, but lost the Democratic nomination to current incumbent Scott Stringer, whom he describes as a “great” borough president.  Eight other candidates ran in that hotly contested primary, with Wright receiving 8,078 votes to Stringer’s 40,226.

He said he learned a lot in that race, which allowed him to establish relationships with key political players throughout Manhattan. “It gave me a chance to get into Chinatown, Gramercy Park, Inwood, Chelsea, you name the neighborhood,” he said. “I formed some great friendships and alliances.”

That campaign led, in Wright’s view, to his becoming chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party in 2009, a position with some influence on official party nominations of Civil Court and Supreme Court judges. “It’s probably the most important position that a person could serve in without anyone knowing about it,” he said. “It’s the position no one knows about.”

Responding to criticism of those nominations from the Daily News, Wright defended the transparency and fairness of the process, commenting that “no one can dispute the quality and caliber of the judges that we have nominated.”

As for two other potential Rangel-replacers, Clyde Williams and Vincent Morgan, Wright said he knew Williams had “done some work, helping a couple of businesses in Harlem” but that otherwise,”I don’t know what other kinds of public service he has participated in. I have nothing bad to say about Clyde, but quite honestly, if you’re running against Rangel, you really need to have more grassroots experience.”

Much the same could be said of Morgan, he said. “In Congress, seniority is what really makes the difference. Would people want a person that’s been in Congress for 40 years, or someone who’s just kind of a neophyte?”

In contrast, though he himself has no Congressional seniority, “Wright has a lot of clout and sizeable influence,” said Smikle. “When people ask what he’s done and what he can do, he will have that narrative all ready.”

Read more about political players Vincent Morgan, Clyde Williams and Charles Rangel in this special Congressional 2012 report.

Education

Tufts University, BA in Political Science and History

Rutgers University, Degree in Law

Past Career Highlights

Director of Uptown Office, Manhattan Borough President’s office (1986 – 1990)

Assistant Director of Government Relations, New York City Transit Authority (1990 – 1992)

Assemblyman, New York State 70^th Assembly District (1992 – present)

Family Politics

Wright’s father was the late New York Supreme Court Justice Bruce Wright, a controversial city judge.

Campaign Finances

According to New York State Board of Elections filings, the Friends of Keith Wright, his main campaign committee for Assembly, raised $101,747 between November 1, 2008 and November 1, 2010. Wright was last elected in November 2010.

Recent Controversies

The New York Daily News recently criticized Wright for making the process of nominating Manhattan judges more opaque and questionable, by not publicly disclosing the names of panelists who recommend candidates as in previous years. The newspaper also noted that Wright’s administrator attended interviews and asked questions, a role previously served by a non-political administrator.

There are also recent claims from the New York Daily News concerning minor campaign rule violations by judicial candidates Wright backed.  “The Daily News doesn’t know what they’re talking about. First of all they wrote fiction. But that’s never stopped them before,” Wright responded. “They were upset that some judges didn’t file financial disclosures.” But Wright said the judges had filed them, “so they didn’t know what they were talking about.”

Vincent Morgan, a Congressional candidate for upper Manhattan, makes his political pitch in an interview at the trendy Harlem Tavern. (Photo by Nat Rudarakanchana)

Vincent Morgan arrives at the fashionable Harlem Tavern on 116th Street and Frederick Douglass, sharply dressed in a suit and tie, to make his case that he symbolizes a fresh type of Harlem politician.

Morgan, 42, expects to run again next year for New York’s 15th Congressional seat, which primarily covers Harlem, Inwood, Washington Heights and the Upper West Side. He challenged incumbent Charles Rangel in last year’s Democratic primary, but placed last of five candidates.

Still, Morgan isn’t worried. It’s more important that he “actually saw through, from beginning, middle, and end, a campaign,” says Morgan, a former community banker. “I talked to a lot of people and I think I laid the foundation to be the strongest candidate against Charlie Rangel in 2012.

“I know the street, and I know the issues,” he continues. “I’m looking forward to 2012 because I think people are ready for a change, and they’re ready for a change from someone who’s been here and raised their kids here.”

Born and raised in Chicago, Morgan moved to Harlem in 2000. Later, as chairman of the 125th Street Business Improvement District, managing aspects of upper Manhattan’s chief commercial artery, Morgan became familiar with residents, businesspeople and property owners.

Most recently, as a community banker at TD Bank, Morgan says he directed $25 million in direct investment in upper Manhattan to meet the bank’s Commercial Reinvestment Act obligations. The sum includes small business loans, grants to local nonprofits and about $20 million in commercial loans, often to construction developments with affordable housing components.

Morgan identifies “economic empowerment” –including creating jobs and establishing a class of local entrepreneurs — as his top campaign issue; he also emphasizes education, public safety and socially responsible development.

As a former employee of both the 125th Street Business Improvement District and the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corp., two influential uptown business groups, Morgan has strong local business ties. At both organizations, he worked closely with local business owners.

“I can read financial documents,” he says. “I know how to structure a deal.” While he pays respects to elder statesmen like Rangel, he also insists that “times have changed” and that it’s “time to progress.”

Morgan got his first taste of politics in 2001, when he worked for Rangel’s office as a special assistant. He describes Rangel as “old school: many elements of his personality are larger than life. He’s a very, very skilled politician.”

Morgan will invest $50,000 of his own money in his campaign, he says, and claims to have raised about $15,000 in the most recent quarter. But his profile page on the website of ActBlue, a nonprofit Democratic political committee listed on his official campaign website as the only online way to contribute, shows only $700 raised from four contributors for the current election cycle.

He need not officially report all contributions, however, until the Federal Election Commissions filing deadline of January 31.

His latest official campaign finance filings, for July 1 to September 30, report only a single contribution of $24,220, from Morgan himself, along with campaign expenditures of $6670. His campaign committee, Morgan for Congress, has raised no money this year.

Morgan says his target is to raise $500,000 by summer, but adds that fundraising isn’t everything in this race, where Rangel is expected to outspend everyone.

“If you think you can win this race by just buying it, then you forget who lives in this district,” Morgan says. “These people expect to be talked to, and money can only take you so far.”

In recent weeks, Morgan has drawn press coverage as a vocal critic of the West Harlem Local Development Corporation, currently under investigation by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Morgan has criticized the group as lacking accountability and proper organization and documentation.

Morgan himself started a business partnership in April 2004 in Chicago, called South Parkway Venture Group LLC, which eventually faced “involuntary dissolution.”  A company usually faces involuntary dissolution for fraud, or for failing to maintain itself and register annual reports.

Morgan explains that he allowed the state to dissolve this partnership, set up specifically for a personal real estate purchase, after which it was no longer needed. He doesn’t find the incident noteworthy or improper.

Basil Smikle, a political strategist and adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, says of Morgan: “He represents a younger generation. He’s very smart, has a great sense of the community and has spent a good amount of time raising his family in Harlem.”

When Smikle ran unsuccessfully against State Sen. Bill Perkins in last year’s Democratic primary, he campaigned with Morgan, who got a “great reception,” he said. “He’s got some great relationships in the neighborhood.”

Morgan, however, only received 1210 votes in last year’s Democratic primary, of 52,602 votes cast. Nonetheless, he remains optimistic about 2012.

Read more about political players Keith Wright, Clyde Williams and Charles Rangel in this special Congressional 2012 report.

Education

Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, Masters in Public Administration

University of Illinois at Chicago, BS in Management

Career Highlights

Community banker, TD Bank (2006 – 2011)

Chairman, 125th Street Business Improvement District (2009 – 2011)

Marketing director, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (2004 – 2006)

Special assistant, NY 15th Congressional District Office (2001 – 2004)

Current Employment 

Morgan resigned from TD Bank in March 2010 to focus on his Congressional campaign.

Campaign Finances

Morgan’s treasurer Reynaldo Snyden received a warning letter from the Federal Election Commission in April for failing to file a campaign finance report by the January 31 deadline. Ultimately no fine was levied. However, Morgan’s campaign committee Morgan for Congress has received at least three warning letters for improper filing.

Recent Controversies

Morgan has criticized the organization which distributes community funds connected to Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus expansion. “There needs to be more transparency on the expenditures and verification that those expenditures went to something tangible,” he says. “We shined a light on something important at a stage where we can correct it before any more money is outlaid.”

Clyde Williams sits in front of Katrina Parris Flowers, a small Harlem florist he aided while working for the Clinton Foundation. (Photo by Nat Rudarakanchana)

No stranger to Washington, or to the White House, Clyde Williams has worked for both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as a domestic policy advisor and as political director of the influential Democratic National Committee, respectively.

In an initial meeting at Lenox Avenue’s stylish Italian restaurant Settepani, where he often takes guests and associates, Williams, who is 49, carefully outlined his likely 2012 bid for a seat in New York’s 15th Congressional District.

He sounded modestly optimistic about outpacing Rep. Charles Rangel in the primary, but insisted on defining the race in terms of district issues,  not personalities.

He emphasized education, unemployment and job training, and added that he had a “great deal of experience” working on economic issues in government.

“The issues that are most important to a community like northern Manhattan – and I want to be clear that the district is not just Harlem, it’s northern Manhattan  – are economic issues, the same issues that impact people all across our country,” said Williams in a subsequent telephone interview.

“I’ve seen first-hand, up close and personal, how good government can work and how government can actually do nothing,” he commented. “It’s extremely important that you pay attention to economic issues, because if you figure out how to move the ball on those issues, you can impact the community in a profound way.”

Born and raised in Washington, Williams first moved to Harlem in 2001 to work with the Clinton Foundation. He also ran the Harlem Speaker Series, which invited figures like former President Clinton, then-Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Congressman Charles Rangel, to speak in Harlem.

Though previously he split his time between Washington and New York, since June Williams has moved to Harlem full-time.

Williams has reportedly raised around $50,000 for his race, according to a recent article in the New York Times. He declined to confirm the figure, saying only that “people will find out how much money I’ve raised when I have to file my disclosure form” with the Federal Election Commission.

He acknowledged, however, that previous reports about his fundraising have captured figures in “the right ball park” for his early, exploratory campaign activities.

According to Federal Election Commission filings, Williams officially registered the Clyde Williams for Congress Exploratory Committee on November 9, allowing him to raise funds for a possible race. The committee, headed by Williams’ longtime friend Samuel Ginsberg, has not yet submitted official campaign finance reports and isn’t required to until January 31.

Williams also refused to comment on a poll he commissioned to assess his chances in the race against Rangel; he hired Whitman Insight Strategies, a firm often associated with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The New York Daily News has reported on the poll’s results, which showed that only 35 percent of those surveyed would vote for Rangel in the key Democratic primary. The sample was made up of 600 district residents likely to vote in the key Democratic primary.

In fundraising, he said, he would “cast a wide net…You definitely reach out to people you have some relationship with, but you have to go beyond that, too. We’ll see what happens.”

Williams’ ties to Harlem are fairly strong. Although he only moved to the neighborhood in 2001, Williams led the Harlem Small Business Initiative under the Clinton Foundation, which has offices on 125th Street. The program helped small local businesses with accounting, computing and other administrative tasks by providing expertise and mentors.

One business it aided is Settepani itself, where staff greeted Williams with respect. Williams deflected questions about how much work he has done in the community, however, saying instead that people can learn about his work by asking those affected by it.

Williams is also listed as the CEO of CEMK Inc., primarily a management consulting firm, according to official New York Department of State records. Opened in April 2005, the firm is currently defunct: Williams says he shut it down after he moved back to Washington in 2008, though it “still exists on paper.”

Williams and his campaign treasurer Ginsberg are also mentioned in a contract between Dicon Technologies LLC and SpongeTechReid. SpongeTechReid acquired Dicon for $2.35 million in July 2009, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Williams explained that he and four friends originally bought Dicon Technologies, which manufactures sponges in Savannah, Georgia, but eventually decided to sell the company as the national economy worsened. He declined to say how the $2.35m was split between the five company directors, or how much he initially invested in the firm.

SpongeTechReid CEO Michael Metter was later convicted in August 2010 for massive business fraud, after the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the firm, which soon declared bankruptcy. “Dicon Technologies was a company we bought. It was a company based in China – we brought the company back to America and created 125 manufacturing jobs,” Williams said. “Just as friends, we bought a business.” He added that he had no inkling of SpongeTechReid’s corporate malfeasance.

Sources familiar with the uptown political scene felt unsure about Williams’ chances next year. “He’s a serious candidate with good credentials, but he has to come up with a compelling narrative for voters in the district,” said Basil Smikle, a political strategist and adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

“His biggest issue is getting voters to know who he is, and really understanding the workings of the neighborhood. He’s got to get to know all the tenant leaders, community leaders and clergy leaders, and that takes time.”

Read more about political players Vincent Morgan, Keith Wright and Charles Rangel in this special Congressional 2012 report.

Education

Howard University, BA in Political Science

Past Career Highlights

National Political Director of the Democratic National Committee (2009 –2011)

Vice President for State and Local Government Affairs at the Center for American Progress (2004 – 2005)

Domestic Policy Advisor to the Clinton Foundation (2001 – 2005)

Current Employment Status

Williams has resigned from full-time employment to focus more fully on his likely 2012 campaign.

Family Politics

Mona Sutphen, deputy chief of staff for Barack Obama from 2008 to 2011, is Williams’ wife. Sutphen and Williams met in the White House.

Recent Controversies

Williams recently commissioned a poll, costing $25,000 to $30,000, by Whitman Insight Strategies, to assess his chances in the upcoming race against incumbent Charles Rangel, according to The New York Daily News. In an email sent to his campaign mailing list, Rangel urged Williams to release the findings, but Williams has declined to disclose the poll’s results or cost. The Daily News reports the findings as encouraging for Williams, however.

Jabir Elamin searches employment websites at the Department of Labor in Harlem (Photo by Lucy Pawle)

Sitting in the waiting room on the fourth floor of the New York Department of Human Resources in Harlem, Mozel Williams, 77, is applying for food stamps for the first time in her life. “I was always able to provide for myself. This is the first time I’ve had to apply for anything,” she says, her eyes watering. Pulling a handkerchief from her pocket, she takes off her glasses and wipes away tears.

A short African-American woman in an oversized black coat, Harlem native Williams retired from housekeeping in 2004 after 32 years, but the cost of living means she needs a job again. The $930 Social Security payment she receives each month has become increasingly inadequate. “The rent I’m paying overrides anything coming in. It’s over $1,000,” she says.

But eight months of job-hunting has proved unsuccessful, which is why Williams is here. “I need help badly,” she says.

Her problems are not unusual. Around 2.2 million Americans over 55 are unemployed, double the number in 2007. That represents 15.7 percent of total unemployment, according to October data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. New York City currently has 8.8 percent unemployment.

While recent layoffs account for the majority of unemployed seniors, re-entrants into the workforce have also risen substantially and account for almost a quarter, according to an October 2010 Congressional Research Service analysis.

Older workers aren’t targeted in layoffs; in fact they are often the last to go, says Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. “Employers typically lay off people with the least seniority, which is more typically the younger people,” he says.

But the rise in job-hunting seniors is pushing up their unemployment rate. In some cases, debt has forced their return to work. Thirty percent of unemployed seniors have more credit card debt than retirement savings and 41 percent have as much, according to a November 2010 report from the Sloan Center on Aging and Work at Boston College.

Williams needs to work because of the rising cost of living. Her rent is “cleaning me out of everything,” she says, increasing $150 a month this year. Health costs and rising food prices concern her too.

Such issues are familiar to staffers at Single Stop, an anti-poverty program with two Harlem centers; it launched an initiative this year specifically targeting the elderly. “There’s a disparity between the flat-lining of Social Security income and the skyrocketing medical expenses,” says communications director Grace Lichtenstein. Single Stop monitors seniors’ poverty rate, which this year jumped from 9 to 16.1 percent when the Census Bureau began including medical expenses and other costs.

Older unemployed workers not only give up things that they want, but things that they need, says Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University. “They are particularly hurt by giving up on health care,” he says, “and they also cut back on food and other essentials.”

Jabir Elamin, 59, walks into the Labor Department on West 125^th Street early on a Monday morning. He got laid off in 2008, so he’s there three times a week to use the Internet for job-hunting “You’ve got to be proactive,” he says.

But the job fairs advertised on the department’s website have passed and Elamin has already applied for the one suitable position he finds. “No one ever got back in touch with me,” he says. But he writes down the contact details again anyway.

While seniors may not be the first fired, they are often the last hired. They take nine weeks longer to find work than younger competitors, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics, their searches averaging just over a year.

“There’s a lot of ageism out there,” says Maria Serrano, program director of the Senior Employment Program at the New York City Department of Aging. “There’s enormous competition with the younger workers, workers from other parts of America, and from all over the world now.”

Baker agrees. “It’s formally illegal to discriminate against people on age but people do it,” he says. “I’d be surprised if an employer was more likely to pick a man in his 50s.”

This isn’t news to Elamin. “I’ve found discrimination against my age on a daily basis,” he claims, “but I think it’s very foolish.” A licensed real-estate broker for 21 years, among many other jobs, he feels his age should count in his favor. “Experience is just as important as education and will sometimes take you further,” he says.

Serrano says technology presents the biggest barrier for older job-seekers. “Many of the seniors are not conditioned with the computer skills that are necessary,” she says. “We trying to help people to do the cross-over, but it’s a challenge.” The program had 1,200 participants last year and applicants have increased significantly since 2008. But this year brought 25 percent cuts in federal funding, “slowing us down a little bit,” Serrano says diplomatically.

These government programs are simply inadequate, however, for the problems seniors now face, says Van Horn. “Many are designed for short and shallow recessions. This is neither,” he says.

Elamin enrolled in the department’s program for four months, doing computer training while earning $7.50 an hour, 12 hours a week. But he has doubts about its usefulness. “I learned things that I hadn’t known before, but it didn’t get me a job,” he says. He blames employers who are “insensitive to the needs and to the values that the elderly can bring to the table,” not the Department of Aging.

Baker shares Elamin’s skepticism. “There just aren’t enough jobs,” he says.  “So far as these programs can give workers skills, that’s good, but it’s just shuffling musical chairs.”

A lack of Internet access compounds the problem for many job-hunting seniors.  Neither Williams nor Elamin has a computer, so they’re forced to go to the Labor Department office. But seniors’ job-searching skills are less sophisticated than younger workers’, says Van Horn. “Their use of social networking and Internet job-searching words is much lower,” he says.

Elamin uses the Internet regularly, however, to little avail. Wearing a three-piece brown suit with matching suede shoes and a trilby hat, and carrying a briefcase, he certainly looks ready for the office. “I am always prepared,” he says. “Always looking for an opportunity.”

He organizes his day with military discipline. “I wake up at 5:30 every morning,” he says. “I start out by researching jobs on the Internet, then I make face-to-face contacts with prospective employers. I spend the other part of my day researching about starting my own enterprise.”

Jabir Elamin notes the contact details of a prospective employer (Photo by Lucy Pawle)

Many unsuccessful job seekers end up living with family in multi-generational apartments. Elamin lived with his mother before she had a stroke. Megan Sergi, Single Stop’s uptown director, says this can put a further strain on seniors. “Sometimes their Social Security is the sole provider for paying the rent or supporting the grandchild,” she explains.

For some the strain proves too much. “I’ve seen people as old as 75 trying to find work,” Elamin says. “It’s outrageous and absurd. They shouldn’t have to be looking for it!”

Williams clearly feels the same. “Do you think I should be working at this age?” she simply asks, raising her eyebrow.

Older workers’ horizons are shorter, Van Horn adds, and “the financial and psychological blows they’re taking at that age are harder to recover from. When you’re in your 20s or 30s you’ve got your whole life still ahead.”

What Elamin misses most about his old life is the recreation he could afford. “I used to buy books every week and had quite an extensive library. I can’t do that now,” he says. “I used to love going to shows and concerts but I don’t do that any more either.”

Unsurprisingly, 35 percent of the city’s seniors say their single biggest concern is finances and employment, according to an AARP 2010 survey. Elamin isn’t destitute – he’s better off than many — but his fruitless search for work has had a clear emotional impact.

“It’s frustrating and it’s humiliating because I’ve worked all my life. When this happens and you’re not working it affects you, emotionally and spiritually,” he says. “Because you can’t function properly.”

With the unemployment rate uptown usually double the city’s average, the horizon looks grim for people like Elamin, lacking a college degree, or Williams, without even a high-school diploma.

“The unemployment rate by education is huge,” Baker says. He says their best bet is restaurants and retail, two expanding low-skilled sectors that offer just above the minimum wage. But, he acknowledges “it’s going to be very, very hard for those people.”

Nevertheless, Elamin feels optimistic. “I’m going to be in sales as an independent contractor,” he says confidently.

By setting out as an entrepreneur, he may be wise. The 1.5 million jobs being created a year only accommodate those entering the workforce. “It doesn’t help with the enormous backlog of those who are already unemployed,” Baker says.

Weeks earlier, Elamin was displaying the contents of his briefcase filled with bottles of perfume and stacks of make-up. “I’m thinking about the retail selling of cosmetics and selling them on the Internet,” he said. “I’m also thinking of starting a consulting business.”

Now he says he will probably join an existing “telecommunications energy service company” as an independent representative.   “I’ve got a meeting in December and I expect I’ll be working with them early in the new year,” he says.

But today, after an hour at the Labor Department, he gives up. He’s searched four websites for work without any luck and leaves before his allotted time is up. “It’s like searching for gold,” he says. But he’ll be back later this week, just in case.