Word: abyssinian
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When the Rev. Calvin Butts III of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church was asked by CBS about the attack, he spoke of "the examples that our children are faced with." Such as? "We've had Presidents resign, foreign Prime Ministers resign in disgrace. We've had Oliver North lie publicly on television . . . And many of our youngsters, across racial lines, see that and then...
...Louis stayed at the Hotel Theresa (today an office building). Nor is Harlem what it may become in a looming decade of gentrification and white encroachment. But it is, at its best, a community that radiates warmth to outsiders who dare to embrace it. During Sunday service at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, Pastor Samuel Proctor greets white visitors (including chicken mogul Frank Perdue) to his congregation and asks if there are any from foreign lands. The roll call is impressive: a dozen countries, including the Netherlands. "The Netherlands!" booms Dr. Proctor. "That's where old Haarlem is. Well, friends, welcome...
...Harlem events are sacred to born-again visitors: Amateur Nights on Wednesdays and church on Sundays. Book a table for Sunday brunch at Sylvia's, Harlem's friendliest eatery. But first, for God's sake, go to the Abyssinian Baptist Church. The pioneer architect Charles W. Bolton designed the church as an amphitheater, and for good reason: its pastor was the spell-weaving Adam Clayton Powell Sr. His son won even more fame, first as a preacher there, then as Harlem's first black Congressman. The bold spirits of both men inform the place...
...Abyssinian congregation makes every timid white sojourner feel serenely at home. At the service's end, one parishioner approached a visitor, extended his hand and said, "Thank you for joining us. Won't you come again?" It is an invitation no "foreigner" could refuse, after a trip uptown that he began in fear and skepticism and ended by believing the unbelievable. "Harlem," he says, invoking Duke Ellington, "I love you madly...
...place does have crack houses, and whole blocks look postnuclear, but black Harlem is still a great place to visit. Beautiful old homes stand spiffily on Strivers' Row, the Apollo Theater percolates with Amateur Night every Wednesday, and churches like Abyssinian Baptist can renew the spirit of even the most jaded tourist...