Readers will note from my earlier posts that I really like Harlem. That makes this a hard post.
I think I was mugged. It’s open to interpretation, but I’d say I was.
By the Black Panthers. Yep, you may remember them.
They got me for the grand sum of $2. “Voluntarily” handed over…against my will…without explicit threat from them…but while I was surrounded by them….while they oh-so-nicely explained that I had taken their picture without permission…but it was okay if I was a reporter….but it wasn’t okay if I wasn’t…but I could make it right for a donation.
In my opinion: Black Panthers = Muggers.
In my opinion: I was extorted.
Here’s the $2 picture:
That’s them to the lower left. I was taking a picture of the crowd (I have about 20 other non-Panther crowd pictures which I’ll post some of in a separate Harlem post). This is a lousy picture. I wouldn’t have used it if one of their members hadn’t confronted me less that 3 seconds after I took the picture. It wasn’t any of the guys in the picture. Instead, some others had apparently been watching me (I was one of a few whites in that particular area) and came up behind me when I was taking the picture.
He was very “nice”, introducing himself as some sort of representative. There were about two or three others with him that I saw. He said, very nicely, that he noticed me taking pictures of the Panthers and they didn’t like having their picture taken. He said such pictures “get all around” and they don’t like that. However, if I was a representative of the media (and could prove it with a card); it would be okay. If not…he paused for a moment…I should make a donation. At that instant, a bucket appeared to my left.
I said I was taking a picture of the crowd. In fact, I had wanted the Panthers to be part of it, but I wasn’t going to say that. He repeated his statement about whether I was media or the possibility of a donation.
I was incredulous. I was being asked to put a value on….me/my safety/my photo. I was being terrorized.
I offerred “How about $2?” He said that would be fine. I guess Famous Ankles now has a proven worth at least two bucks.
His demeanor was very calm and unemotional. To his right was an attractive female member. Once again, very poker-faced. I always figured that muggers would be more emotional. I never saw the one with the bucket and I had a feeling I was being surrounded behind me. I know other people (non-Panthers) watched as I pulled out my wallet. I wonder at the idea of their thoughts about that. There were hundreds of people within 30 yards of me. There were cops at the end of the block (we were on 135th Street between Lenox Ave. and Frederick Douglass Blvd). They were a million miles away.
I handed over the $2. He said “thanks”. I walked on. I’m glad to have kept the camera, my wallet, and my safety. I regret the loss of Harlem as a favorite part of NYC. I guess I’ll keep my $1.285 million. Of course, that’d probably make the Panther scum happy.
I strove to regain my self-respect. I made sure I walked near the scum twice more before I left. They don’t own the streets. I didn’t take their picture, though.
-H
Famous Ankles 