Meet Craig
Craig has lived in Harlem for over 20 years, “When I first got to Harlem, I was… captured by the beauty of it all. My family's from Harlem, but I was raised in Washington Heights until I was ten.” His grandmother moved to Harlem in 1943, “She came from Salisbury, Maryland, and her mother before her came from Virginia. So… that typical south to north migration… I'm kind of like the most recent link in that chain.” He grew up on 114th, “Between Adam Clayton and Frederick Douglass, that was always a very lively block, very energetic… In [the] summer, they will cook out on the curb, you know, no permit, no anything. And there's a beauty to… park cookouts. My first cookout, one of my first cookouts was in… Morningside Park. So I have a lot of connectivity with that side of Harlem.”
His family is ingrained in the community, “My family tried to keep me off the street, but they were very known in the community. So I don't know if my mother walked around with my baby picture, but there'd literally be spaces in Harlem where I'd walk and they'd say, 'hey, you so and so’s son, your so and so's nephew.' And again, as a teenager, I did not appreciate it. I was… trying to make my own mark. I wanted people to know me for me… but again, as an adult, I do appreciate that I had that support, that connectivity, and that… safety net in Harlem. There's not too much I can do in Harlem that won't get back to someone. And that was a big kind of burden when I was younger. But it's family. It's community. So it felt good. So my whole family is… part of the heartbeat of Harlem I would say.” Craig’s aunt has had a large impact on him and helped him develop transferable skills as a professional, “My aunt, literally ten blocks down… would take us in every summer and she was actually my first source of employment. She's a realtor. She owns several buildings in Harlem. And she had me and my little cousins act as, like, the supers and managers of these buildings. So what that meant, essentially, was we had to clean up some of these buildings. And she would give us… a document saying, who's caught up on rent and who still has to pay. I think it was fake names, but still, it gave us… an introduction to the workforce. I was probably… twelve or 13.”
“When I first got to Harlem, I was… captured by the beauty of it all. My family’s from Harlem, but I was raised in Washington Heights until I was ten... [My grandmother] came from Salisbury, Maryland, and her mother before her came from Virginia. So… that typical south to north migration…”
Wanting to make his own path in Harlem he joined programs within the community, “I was a part of… Harlem Children's Zone… I went to TRUCE Academy. I took karate there… and I was a part of… loose mentorship programs until I turned about 15 and got associated with Minisink Townhouse on 142nd and Lenox… I'm a member of The Order of the Feather Fraternity. It's essentially a young men's mentoring program that follows a fraternal model… I joined that when I was 16, and that created further connectivity to the neighborhood.” Harlem and his family have provided his foundation as a person and a professional, “So presently I manage Corner Social… Prior to that, my aunt actually had her own lounge. She ran Cove Lounge. So I was general manager there for about five, six years. And of course… Order of the Feather Fraternity. That's my young men's mentoring group. I still give back service presently. I'm… the vice president. This is after years of holding different hats. I've been president, I've been dean of pledges. I've been stepmaster, drill sergeant, every single thing. So, absolutely, I think in my personal and professional life, that Harlem kind of upbringing supported what I do now.” His path through Harlem has helped guide him to where he is now, “I'm big on community, bringing people together, creating spaces for networking and safety. So through that and through my mentorship program, I used to do events, started very [haphazardly]. Then I got more kind of fine tuned. Started with… a cookout. And now I'm actually… a caterer and private chef… It started from me seeing a need. You know, hey, we have this event, but everyone's hungry. To me cooking and then learning how to be good at that.”
But above anything else, Craig describes himself as an artist, and although he did not make it his career it is still a large part of his life. He enjoys going to cafes in the community and sketching what he sees, “I'm in love with the architecture of Harlem. I think we feel very city, but there's enough space to breathe, so it's not… cluttered… It's lived in, but there's this beautiful balance of nature and city. So in a lot of my artworks, I draw that… dichotomy, like a rose that's growing through concrete or grass on a curb… I'm very inspired by Harlem because I feel like we combine those two very well. Probably haphazardly, probably by accident. Some of these buildings have lines going up the sides. It's probably a lack of caretaking, but it looks beautiful, and it inspires my art, definitely.”
“Harlem makes me feel like I always have a friend... Anywhere I walk, anywhere I go I’m never too far from support… That support, that connectivity, that’s what I love about Harlem… and I feel it’s absence when I leave.”
“I think Harlem gives me confidence, gives me backing, gives me strength because of my connective tissue to the people in Harlem…. My grandmother… used to host these… events… every week. She used to cook for the community… My mother, very well known. She's community oriented… I feel like when I leave Harlem, I feel it the most. Cause I feel like while I am still strong, I no longer have that connective tissue and no longer have that backing. Within Harlem, I feel close to every single level of person that could be here… I even identify with people not from Harlem because I was [them] at a point… I feel like Harlem gives me a resource to do what motivates me… I feel confident in cooking because I've cooked for this community before… I feel confident in leading because I've led young men in this community before.” Craig sees himself staying in Harlem long term, “Harlem makes me feel like I always have a friend... Anywhere I walk, anywhere I go I'm never too far from support… That support, that connectivity, that's what I love about Harlem… and I feel it's absence when I leave.” His story is ongoing and he looks forward to Harlem’s growth and his own growth as a chef and professional.
