Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 22, 1990 TAG: 9006220184
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
On the second day of Mandela's arduous visit to the United States, thousands of Harlemites welcomed him with cheers and his freedom salute - arm raised, fist clenched - as he and his wife, Winnie, rode through the streets.
It was a day of African-American celebration, which began with a rousing and dramatic interfaith service in the Gothic eminence of Upper Manhattan's Riverside Church and ended with a rock concert and rally for 50,000 in Yankee Stadium.
Thousands of Harlemites - and a huge security force of New York police - began gathering before noon along one of Harlem's main arteries, Lenox Avenue.
Along the avenue, Bob Vereen, 48, an insurance agent, was passing out 300 posters of Mandela.
"He's sending out a positive message," Vereen said. "The end of apartheid in his country will have an impact on issues we're facing in this country, and that's good for all of us."
In Sylvia's, one of Harlem's best-known restaurants, owner Sylvia Woods was especially busy. The restaurant was packed with diners - Woods calls them all her "babies" - prepared to string out her Southern-cooked meals as long as she would let them.
Meanwhile, her chefs were preparing a special meal for 300 to 400 people at Yankee Stadium - those in Mandela's entourage, the staff of the rally organizers and all of the musicians who would be performing there.
Further north on Lenox Avenue is the home of the guardian of Harlem's memories: the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Howard Dodson, chief of the 64-year-old institution, could recall only one celebration in Harlem's history that might have rivaled Thursday's. It was the return in 1918 of the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment, known as "Harlem's Own," from fighting in World War I.
Thursday, Mandela clearly became Harlem's own too, said John McLaren, a college instructor in writing who was waiting for Mandela's appearance: "He represents an African lineage - a great warrior, a hero who is magnificent in every way."
At Riverside Church, several thousand communicants and religious leaders, from all sections of New York cultural mosaic, cheered as the Mandelas were escorted along the center aisle to the joyous thrumming of African bongo drums and a Christian hymn.
In spite of the fatigue he has shown during his 14-nation tour, Mandela joined in the swaying rhythm, as did his wife and Jesse Jackson, who has shown up at most of the African nationalist's engagements in the United States.
Mandela had come to seek help - financial and political - for his African National Congress's struggle against apartheid. And help he got: a $200,000 check from the National Council of Churches and a commitment from church leaders and New York Mayor David Dinkins to "keep the pressure on" Pretoria.
The 71-year-old black leader, released last February after 27 years in political imprisonment, praised America's religious communities for their longtime support.
by CNB