Kevin McGruder

On Thursday, May 6, from 6:30-8 PM, MMPCIA welcomes Harlem scholar Kevin McGruder as its speaker for Mount Morris Talks! – a series of conversations between the community and leaders, news makers, authors and thinkers who live in the Harlem area.

Kevin McGruder’s involvement in the Harlem community has spanned a broad spectrum: as an entrepreneur in Harlem-themed businesses; in work for a non-profit providing arts education; in real estate development; and as an advocate for gay men of African descent.

He’s now looking forward to June, when he will receive his doctorate in history from the City University of New York. His dissertation, “Race and Real Estate: Interracial Conflict and Coexistence in Harlem, 1890-1920,” uses real estate transaction to explore the complexity of interracial interactions during the period when Harlem’s black population grew dramatically.

While quick to point out that 2010 is a very different time than 1910, McGruder sees some mirror images today as Harlem’s racial and ethnic makeup evolves. Regardless of the time period, one thing remains constant: Harlem is a unique and decidedly special place.

“Probably no other place in the country has the richness in terms of African-American history that we have here,” he says. “And there’s the rich architectural treasure – and that’s not by chance. It was developed to be a beautiful community.

“Even as Harlem declined and is now coming back, it’s been a place that many people feel a part of in ways that other black communities don’t really have.”

From 1990 to 1991, McGruder was owner/manager of the gift shop Home to Harlem. In 2000 he opened Harlemade Style Shop, formerly on Lenox Avenue and now at the Gospel Uptown Restaurant on Adam Clayton Powell. He’s also chairman of the board of  Harlem Textile Works, a nonprofit organization that provides arts education.

His previous positions include program director at Local Initiatives Support Corporation, director of real estate development and later chief operating officer with the Abyssinian Development Corporation, and executive director of Gay Men of African Descent, an education, advocacy and health services organization based in New York.

A native of Toledo, Ohio, McGruder has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University and an M.B.A. in real estate finance from Columbia Business School.

Please join MMPCIA and Kevin McGruder for Mount Morris Talks! Thursday, May 6, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at the Harlem Branch of the New York Public Library, Community Room 3rd floor, 9 West 124th Street.

MMPCIA is proud to sponsor this series and offers it free of charge to the community.