Margaret Porter Troupe & husband Quincy Troupe launch MMPCIA's new Mount Morris Talks.

On Tuesday, May 12 from 6:30 to 8 PM, MMPCIA launches a series of conversations between the community and leaders, news makers, artists, authors and thinkers who live in the Harlem area.

Some 70 or 80 years ago, the Harlem Renaissance gained worldwide acclaim as the African American cultural and intellectual life began to flourish in NYC.

Today, the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association is reviving those traditions in Mount Morris Talks. This 21st century take on the salons of the past is a series of monthly conversations that give members of the community a chance to hear from the leaders, news makers, artists, authors and thinkers who now call Harlem home and even share some stories of their own.

Says Patricia Eaton, founder of MMPCIA and organizer of the program, “We have such a wealth of talent in our neighborhood and that has been a secret too well-kept. This is a special opportunity for those among us who are willing to share their stories, their experience and their insights. I am confident that Mount Morris Talks will enrich everyone who participates as well as provide invaluable role models for our young people.”

Please join MMPCIA and Quincy Troupe and Margaret Porter Troupe for the launch of Mount Morris Talks, May 12, 2009 from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at the Harlem Branch of the New York Public Library, 9 West 124th Street.

Quincy Troupe is the author of 17 books including The New York Times bestseller, Miles: The Autobiography of Miles Davis.  He also co-authored The Pursuit of Happyness with self-made millionaire Chris Garden, the poignant memoir that became an acclaimed motion picture starring Will Smith. Quincy ran the Black Roots Festival at the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center, was California’s first official Poet Laureate and is now retired from his professorship at the University of California at San Diego.

Margaret Porter Troupe has combined a varied career in advertising, publishing and public relations with an abiding love of the arts. She hosts a literary salon in the historic Graham Court apartments and is the executive director of Harlem Textile Works, an arts education program in Hamilton Heights.

MMPCIA is sponsoring the series and offering it free of charge to the community.