- “Harlem’s Mart 125: The American Dream”
In 1986 New York City brought the street vendors of Harlem’s 125th Street inside at Mart 125, in an effort to offer them a legitimate venue or keep them under control, depending on who you ask.
By 2002, Harlem was changing, as epitomized by the arrival of Bill Clinton and Starbucks. Mart 125 had to go, but not without a fight.
Rachelle Salnave follows the history of Harlem from the disinvestment of the 60s to its postmillennial transformation in her 2007 documentary Harlem’s Mart 125: The American Dream.
It plays in the Sankofa Spirit Movies with a Mission monthly screening series, Sunday 4/11 at 2 p.m. at the DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl. It’s free.
Trailer after the jump.