Culture

Hip Hop Comes Home!

By SÍLE MOLONEY
Though most argue it hasn’t ever left, Hip Hop officially came home to 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Morris Heights section of The Bronx with a special free block party and concert, marking its 50th anniversary at its birthplace on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. Performers included KRS One, Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, The Sugar Hill Gang, Slick Rick, Talib Kweli of Black Starr, the Cold Crush Brothers, Chuck D, C.L. Smooth, Hakim Green, Wise Intelligent, Peter Gunz, and many more.

Fifth Annual 48-Hour Film Challenge “Wraps” in the Oval  

By SÍLE MOLONEY
That’s a wrap! Bronx Film 48 hosted its 5th Annual 48-Hour Film Challenge last month with the winning films announced during a special outdoor screening and presentation held in the Williamsbridge Oval in Norwood on Friday, Aug. 11.  

Documentary Film “1.5 Million” Deals with Illiteracy in The Bronx

By JOSÉ A. GIRALT
There was outrage in The Bronx when the last general-interest bookstore, Barnes & Noble, shut down permanently in 2017. Many Bronxites saw it as evidence that the borough is not viewed in a positive light and is forgotten when it comes to its intellectual curiosity. For filmmaker Gregory Hernandez, the turmoil gave him an idea to tell a story about illiteracy in the borough. The result is the film “1.5 Million: A Bronx Documentary” which, as preadvised, screened at the Pelham Parkway-Van Nest branch of the New York Public Library (NYPL) on Aug. 28.