"There are two types of Harlem; an historical Harlem and a modern Harlem"

The historical Harlem can only be imagined through stories narrated by grandparents of children who face a brand new century. As children of the 90's play in the streets that Malcolm X once walked, minority guardians sit on the porches of deteriorated brownstones and tenements with rising rent. What remains of historical Harlem can be found behind boarded up windows and inside of novels located in Schaumburg library. The historical Harlem also consisted of businesses, which were owned by Blacks and Hispanics involved in the community. However, the modern Harlem is a combination of big corporations and less community based shops. Is this change of historical and a modern Harlem positive or negative for the Harlem environment, and how do the people within the communities feel about this change?

The Harlemlive street team went to 125th street in Harlem and interviewed people at random to get their opinion on the change taking place in Harlem neighborhoods. Young and old citizens were interviewed to see if there was any contrast in opinions between the two generations.

Sikhulu Shange is in his early 60's and has been working in the Record Shack Inc. on 125th for over thirty years. Shange has lived in Harlem for all of his life and firmly disagrees with the industrialization of 125th street. Shange believes that the new corporations that have moved into Harlem are taking business away from the community shops. " Corporate America is moving into Harlem and dislocating all of the local businesses and because of this there are hardly any Black owned businesses in Harlem. It is terrible, the youth will grow up without any Black store owning role models," said Shange. Many citizens who were raised in the "historical Harlem" are infuriated with the new renovations, beginning with the construction of the entertainment complex on 125th Street. In addition, Shange predicts that what is known as the new Harlem, is a complete take over by downtown Manhattan. "In downtown Manhattan there is no more space so they have to find a new place to industrialize, which is Harlem," said Shange.

On the other hand, many teens that were interviewed believed that Harlem will benefit from industrialization. The Teens that were in favor of industrialization feel that the recent interest of big corporations in Harlem will bring more people to Harlem. " The industrialization of Harlem will make the area more diverse and allow Manhattan to live up to its reputation of being a melting pot for all cultures and races to unite," said John who is a nineteen year old native of Harlem.

Mike Sutton believes that Harlem is definitely benefiting from the new industries emerging in his community. Sutton has been living in Harlem for his whole life and he feels that the neighborhood is heading in the right direction. Although Sutton firmly stated that Harlem is a great neighborhood and is becoming even better, he still stated that if he was handed one million dollars now he would move to California and leave his so called beloved home. Although Sutton declared that Harlem was a good neighborhood, he is not loyal to Harlem.

The old generation and the new generation drastically vary in their opinions. The older generations refuses to accept changes in their community. However, the younger generation is in favor of change and would like to see Harlem undergo change. Its hard to adapt to change after becoming used to a certain way of life, but the younger generation has not been exposed to those things for the same amount of time; thereby lessening their loyalty and passion about maintaining their traditional and conventional Harlem. Neither side is correct or incorrect in their opinions. However, there is no way of stopping the industrialization of Harlem and whether the change is for the best or the worst. The young generation and the old generation must adapt and modify their lives to keep up with the changes.