Meet Mia

Mia has spent most of her life in Harlem. Her core memories as a person and as an artist are embedded in the community. Harlem School of the Arts is the first place she performed, “Harlem School of the Arts is such a magical, wonderful little place… We’re taught… you’re just furthering a legacy… That holds a lot of weight and you have to… carry that with the same kind of care and integrity that it deserves…”

She believes the essence of Harlem is found in the people, and growing up that sense of community was apparent. “...Like as a kid, you don’t always feel completely by yourself... We got on the trains by ourselves… moved around by ourselves, but you were never too far out of somebody’s sight... Like, ‘Yeah, that’s my aunt…’, ‘You mean your mother’s sister?’, ‘No, it’s my aunt. I know it’s not my mother’s sister but that’s my aunt and please don’t tell her that you just saw me.’...”

“I want everyone to experience a little bit of Harlem… and if I could be someone’s window into the neighborhood that I love so much then I think I did my job.”

Harlem is integral to her art as a musician, “I think it colors everything [I do]... I want everyone to experience a little bit of Harlem… and if I could be someone’s window into the neighborhood that I love so much then I think I did my job.” Walking around the neighborhood triggers memories that can inspire her or allow her to reminisce about the community she loves so much. She recalls, “…We used to buy bootleg CDs and [walk] down the block in our little name belts. Oh My Gosh, those tacky… name belts that I got around the corner. And my first name plate I got around the corner. Like stuff like that is all super… ingrained in you...”

“…We’re really loving and it’s a really special group of people that are from here and that live here... It’s a privilege… to be part of Harlem’s story… I want people to embrace the beauty of it and not just see it as a way to escape and find cheaper rent Uptown… I want you to come here and notice how [warm, friendly, talented, and fly] the people are… Move here for the [love, community, and the summer]… I’m always like… ‘Yo come to Harlem… right around July 4th and tell me you don’t have a good time… You start at one end of the park, by the time you get to the water you like, ‘Well, I got a date tomorrow. I ate… And I’m lit… I love Harlem…’”