via Wikimedia
Dwyer Cultural Center founder Cliff Frazier knew all too well the ways Harlem community members have benefited from the tireless work of his good friends, legendary actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.
But as neighborhood demographics shifted from Black predominance, he created a plan to make sure future residents knew just how important the pair was to the Harlem art scene.
Frazier petitioned city officials to rename intersecting streets at 123rd Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue after the pair.
On April 20th, 2019, he got his wish. To understand how awesome this development is, you have to know what their art and activism meant to Black people.
Before there was Beyoncé & Jay-Z, there was the philanthropic power couple Ossie & Ruby.
Their presence was strong throughout the Civil Rights movement - eulogizing Malcolm X after his assassination, raising money for the Black Panthers, and marching for housing and job equality.
The pair embodied Black love as a couple (both on screen/stage, and in their community), generously helped develop art programs and supported the work of the New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research In Black Culture archive.
They made the uplift and protection of Black heritage a lifelong priority.
This street renaming is a beautiful public acknowledgment to the individuals who helped build and preserve the Black culture that current Harlem residents enjoy today.