“Make quilts not condos,” says LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs in this second interview with the First Person Plural Reading Series. Read on for what gives her hope, what keeps her awake at night, and what she can tell about Harlem today when walking down Lenox Avenue. Diggs will be reading with Joey De Jesus, Tanya Domi, and Carolyn Ferrell this Sunday at Silvana, March 8th, at 6pm. Silvana is located at 300 W. 116th St near Frederick Douglass Blvd. Books sold by Word Up! Books. Admission is free. Please RSVP via Eventbrite here.  – SPL

It’s March 2020.  What gives you hope? 

That my plants will survive a stock market apocalypse. That I will finish my second book. That I will repair my childhood violin and gift it to the next generation of musical wonders.

What keeps you awake at night?

Mass vacancies. The number of homeless folk in NYC.  The second book I’ve yet to finish. Watching Westworld for the third time and catching all the Easter eggs.

What is meaningful action these days? What will tip the scales?

Kindness. Humanity. Though I don’t know if either will tip the scales. It’s just where I need to be right now.

Tell us about your Harlem today.

Where do you want me to start? Today it is raining as I walk from Lenox Ave to the Studio Museum of Harlem next door to Gavin Brown.  There’s a new cafe near there filled with the next wave of gentrifiers though I suspect they’ve yet to walk east of 5th Ave. The Dollar Store is packed and there’s a young woman purchasing hot dogs and frozen breakfast sandwiches in front of me. The 99 cents store across from the post office is gone and some new building is being built in its place. For the first time, I don’t mind Atlah’s latest signage. Most stores have sold out of hand sanitizers. The building where I live is being warehoused. I am the last person on my floor and one of five remaining. It is quiet but a discomforting quiet. So quiet, the puritanical arguments/contradictions towards white businesses vs black businesses in Harlem annoy me. Much so like the non-response of those Harlem representatives I’ve sought assistance from.  I stroll pass the new French cafe next to the barber shop on 115 and I worry that they may attempt to have Mo the Hot Dog man removed despite Mo being there for over 20 years.  I imagine my top blowing should that happen. While I may not be an eater of burgers or sweet sausages, I would defend him as if I were.  Fuck your croissants. Mo is family.

If you could whisper something to us as we sleep tonight, what would it be?

Housing is a human right. Make quilts not condos.