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[00:00.40] In the 1970s, a lack of community investment resulted in a large number of people leaving Harlem, a well-known New York City neighborhood in northern Manhattan.

[00:14.21] Nearly 50,000 people, about a third of the area’s population, left to escape violence, crime and poor living conditions.

[00:24.04] Among those who left was LeeSandra Moore’s mother who moved to the state of Virginia.

[00:30.94] “It was a scary time,” said Moore, now 52 and still living in Harlem.

[00:37.85] “I couldn’t blame her for that.”

[00:40.24] Those who stayed were mostly poor, Black families.

[00:44.22] They lived through unrest that followed the 1964 killing of an unarmed Black teenager and the killings of Black leader Malcolm X in 1965 and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

[01:00.17] News reports described Harlem as a “sinking ship.”

[01:04.41] Percy Sutton was president of the local Manhattan government at the time.

[01:09.72] As the city’s highest-ranking Black official, he knew Harlem needed a lift and started a festival called Harlem Day in 1974.

[01:21.15] Sutton called up elected officials.

[01:23.54] He gathered actors, like Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, entertainers, including Tito Puente and Max Roach, and the poet Maya Angelou to celebrate the first Harlem Day.

[01:36.82] It honored Harlem's history and shows how the neighborhood became known as "Black Mecca” or the center of Black arts, culture and businesses.

[01:47.97] “It was such a successful day,” said Lloyd Williams — one of Harlem Day’s co-founders and the current president of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce — that it became a week-long yearly event called Harlem Week.

[02:03.91] This year, Harlem Week celebrated its 50th anniversary with 18 days filled with free programming.

[02:15.07] The celebration included food, Broadway performances, an Apollo Hour, and a tribute to entertainer Harry Belafonte.

[02:20.91] It offered financial education and career training, and for children, back-to-school backpacks.

[02:30.47] One important part of Harlem Week was an effort to deal with Harlem's long-standing health crises.

[02:37.65] Medical volunteers checked blood pressure and tested for cancer and diabetes.

[02:53.85] People learned about drug use, HIV/AIDS and healthy aging.

[02:55.18] Rev.

[02:56.24] Al Sharpton leads the National Action Network in Harlem.

[02:56.77] He said, "Harlem Week has been the constant line through the last 50 years of America's most historic Black neighborhood."

[03:03.94] Organizers and people say Harlem Week has brought new life to the area.

[03:10.32] The once-deserted neighborhood is now home to restored buildings, new businesses, and immigrants.

[03:18.29] The streets are filled with jazz, reggae, R&B, and gospel music traditions.

[03:24.93] Moore, the Harlem native whose mother moved to Virginia, watched as big national stores moved in.

[03:32.89] Sometimes they took the place of local shops and made rents go up.

[03:38.20] "Some of that is okay, but what about the small business where you can get that great sandwich?" she asked.

[03:45.64] Moore wants people to eat less fast food, so she teaches healthy eating and cooking to young local students.

[03:53.61] At Harlem Week, Moore represented GirlTrek, a national movement of Black women supporting health through walking.

[04:02.11] She said, "I feel like I should have left a long time ago, but something about Harlem draws me back to it."

[04:09.55] Moore continued, "Harlem is my beginning.

[04:12.74] Harlem is my future.

[04:14.60] Harlem is a huge part of what makes me who I am."