Bronx River Sankofa Virtual Tour

By Trent Love

Did you know that Grammy-award-winning artist Swizz Beatz went to Junior High School 135 in Pelham Parkway? Or that Madaha Kinsey Lamb established a local Mind Builders Creative Center in Norwood?

Click on the map above to go on a virtual tour, led by guide Morgan Powell, where more than 300 years of African-American and Caribbean life and culture are explored. This tour of both sides of the Bronx River reveals the borough’s treasures, hidden in plain sight, and significant contributions made by African Americans.

Here is a partial list of the people, places and events you will learn more about:

Congress of Racial Equality’s (C.O.R.E) role in a protest for civil rights at White Castle restaurant

Cadwallader Colden and the New York Manumission Society

Curator Keith Lloyd of New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Show

Valentine Varian House, residence of Bronx historian Lloyd Ultan

African Americans battle for freedom at Fort Negro at St. George’s Crescent, off the Grand Concourse

New York City Draft Riots occurred along Harlem Line on Gun Hill Road

Join the tour!