The photo on the left is a 1989 photo and the one on the right is present day. This is the place where Malcolm X was killed February 21 , 1965. I was 5 then. But 13 years later I was in the place on the left in 1978 for a hip-hop party. We use to go there for a couple of dollars back then and break dance ,smoke weed (yes I smoked weed) and drink beer (legal age was 18 then) with my friends from Harlem. I knew it was the place that our Black shinning Price was assassinated in. I could feel the history. A few years later the place fell in to disrepair. Note the place is surrounded by the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. So in 1992, Columbia University began the process of demolishing the Audubon Ballroom and replacing it with the Audubon Business and Technology Center, a university-related biotechnology research park that is a public-private partnership between Columbia University Medical Center and the New York state and city governments. Historic preservation groups unsuccessfully sued to prevent its demolition,and a group of Columbia students occupied Hamilton Hall on campus in protest. Eventually, the University reached a compromise with local community groups. Under the agreement, the University restored a portion of the original façade of the Audubon Ballroom and built a museum inside to honor Malcolm X. In 2005 the University announced the opening of the museum. Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center. Now in my opinion the place should have been preserved totally in memory of Malcolm X. The same people that bought and owned the Apollo , should have done the same for the Audubon. Which is off of Audubon Avenue. Back in 1992 Oprah , Spike Lee , Russell Simmons , Bill Cosby and other deemed successful blacks should have stepped in. The façade is what it is a façade. We have to do for our selves and stop these things from happening. Oh and by the way guess who threw the parties back in 1978 as a CCNY student and made all of the money? You got it Russell Simmons , yes I saw him in the house back then. He has been a crook , excuse me a Hustler off of our culture a long time.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Feb 2014 18:23:07 +0000
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