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.

Participation is free and please register below on the date and event of your choosing. Please click here to view and sign the release form for this event. We recommend that all participants read in advance and be prepared to sign it at the event or bring a signed copy.

Saturday, September 7, from 9 AM to 12:30 PM: First procession, which will include the following:

• Harlem Art Park: The procession convenes with welcome remarks by Campos-Pons and leadership from Harlem Art Park and Madison Square Park Conservancy, a poetry reading by Richard Blanco, and a performance by neighborhood musicians.
• Dos Alas (Two Wings) Mural: A stop at this forty-foot mural representing revolutionaries Ernesto Che Guevara and Pedro Albizu Campos includes a poetry reading by Marina Ortiz.
• El Museo del Barrio: The procession concludes with a poetry reading by ten-year-old Kayden Hern and an artmaking workshop including the creation of puppets, flags, and signs to be used for the procession on September 20. With participation by Zenan Calero and Rubén Darío Salazar, Puppeteers, Teatro Guiñol Nacional (National Puppet Theater Company) of Cuba.

Participants are asked to wear blue, yellow, or white on September 7.

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.

Participants are asked to wear white on September 20.

Please note that registration for this event is now closed.

PROJECT INFORMATION

Debbie Quinones, Friends of Harlem Art Park, is project collaborator and consultant. Campos-Pons’s project is organized by Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Artistic Director and Martin Friedman Chief Curator at Madison Square Park Conservancy; Tom Reidy, Director of Art Operations at Madison Square Park Conservancy; and Tasha Naula, Public Programs Manager, Madison Square Park Conservancy; and Tiera Ndlovu, Curatorial Manager, Madison Square Park Conservancy. Yah Jeffries is the Senior Art Department Manager. Holly Leicht is the Conservancy’s Executive Director

MADISON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY

Since 2004, Madison Square Park Conservancy has commissioned and presented premier projects by visionary artists ranging in practice and media. This year, the art program celebrates its twentieth anniversary with innovative exhibitions, a comprehensive publication, scholarly and exultant programs, and outreach to new communities.

Madison Square Park Conservancy is responsible for raising 100 percent of the funds necessary to operate the park, including its dynamic public art program, vibrant horticulture, maintenance, sanitation, security, and free cultural programs for park visitors.