Madison Square Park: ‘Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity’

Monument to José Julián Martí, Gathering Site of the 1917 Silent Parade, Former Site of the Colored Orphan Asylum, Madison Square Park

Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity is a collaborative initiative that brings together a multigenerational procession of people throughout New York City to envision how communities can gather as a collective force with a common purpose in turbulent times. Organized by Madison Square Park Conservancy in partnership with Harlem Art Park and conceived by artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity convenes participants to walk together from Harlem Art Park to Madison Square Park, tracing the steps of the past in order to build an inclusive future.

Across two mornings, seven stops along the route mark sites that were historically filled with agency, optimism, or trauma. Selected for their significance to New York City populations including Black, Cuban, and Cuban-American communities, each stop on the walk will be activated by poetry readings, culminating with an artmaking workshop and music performances.

Friday, September 20, from 9 AM to 2 PM: Second procession, which will include the following:

• Monument to José Julián Martí: The procession convenes at the south end of Central Park at this monument to the nineteenth-century Cuban writer, philosopher, and independence leader José Julián Martí, beginning with a reading of selected Martí writings by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Dr. Ada Ferrer.
• Gathering Site of the 1917 Silent Parade: This stop marks the site where ten thousand African Americans gathered on July 28, 1917 to protest racial violence, lynching, and discrimination by silently marching down Fifth Avenue from 55th Street to 23rd Street, setting the precedent for the peaceful demonstrations that would follow during the Civil Rights Movement. The stop includes a poetry reading by Patricia Spears Jones as well a moment of silence in tribute to the Silent Parade.
• Former Site of the Colored Orphan Asylum: A poetry reading by Major Jackson honors the site of the first orphanage for Black children in the United States, which was burned to the ground on July 13, 1863, as a result of the eruption of racist violence during the New York City draft riots.
• Madison Square Park: The procession concludes with poetry readings by Willie Perdomo and Haviland N.G. Whiting, a Carnegie Hall Citywide concert by acclaimed Afro-Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena, and a performance by distinguished musician Kamaal Malak.