Harlem’s ImageNation salutes Don Cornelius, tries to produce longest Soul Train line
Fake Afros, colorful pants and some slick dance moves were all on display at Marcus Garvey Park on Thursday, as Harlem residents attempted to break the world record for the longest Soul Train line in memory of Don Cornelius.
Hundreds of them, some decked out in the grooviest ’70s gear, filled the park for an evening of music, peace, love and soul.
It was all in celebration of ImageNation’s 10th annual Outdoors Festival, which is running all summer.
ImageNation is a Harlem-based music and arts organization dedicated to producing media by and about people of color. The group’s film series features documentaries from all corners of the world.
Before the event, Imagenation founder Moikgantsi Kgama was hopeful of breaking the record, achieved by Berkeley (Calif.) High School students and staff on Nov. 11, 2011, according to guinnessworldrecords.com.
“All I know is, we gotta break 211 to get in there,” she said.
They did that and then some.
The final count was 352 dancers, all of whom busted a move to popular hits of the’70s and ’80s.
There was a serious side to the event as well.
July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, and in memory of Cornelius’ death in February, due to suicide, renowned author Terrie Williams addressed the visibly anxious crowd prior to the record-breaking attempt.
“In a few words, we are dying.” she said. “We keep it all inside, it’s the silence that is killing us.”
After her brief remarks, the mood quickly turned festive as the audience lined up for the soul train. People of all ages and races moved down the line as the producer of the original Soul Train program, Aida Chapman Ayala, started the festivities.
Though there was no representative on hand from the Guinness World Book of Records, protocol dictates that an outside observer can verify the feat.
ImageNation will have to wait and see if the soul train will go down in history; whether it makes the annals or not, the effort made for an entertaining evening.
“It was fun as hell,” said Kevin Schneider a 27-year-old social studies teacher.
“Some of the grandmas, they were the best!” he added. “Biggest soul train line ever, such a blast with everyone getting down.”
Even out-of-towners were taking part. Endia Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student from Chicago who arrived in New York a little more than a week earlier, was surprised by the level of excitement, especially among the younger ones.
“It was so wonderful,” she said. “I was shocked to see a lot of the kids wanting to dance. I thought it would only be the older people.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/harlem-imagenation-salutes-don-cornelius-produce-longest-soul-train-line-article-1.1115037#ixzz20qK9rcK8