Students see Harlem through fresh eyes
A century after photographer James Van Der Zee began capturing images of the Harlem Renaissance, a group of San Jose State University student journalists — along with high school students from New York — set out last fall to take a fresh look at the historic neighborhood.
Some of the results of their digital storytelling project, which included video interviews with Harlem shopkeepers, is on display as “Harlem Reimagined,” a new exhibition at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Main Library in downtown San Jose through March 31.
“I wanted them to walk the same avenues that he did,” said San Jose State professor D. Michael Cheers, who organized the trip with Steve Zbadia, principal of Satellite Academy, an alternative high school in Manhattan.
The SJSU photojournalists — Payje Redmond, Savannah Harding, Lovetta Jackson and Franchesca Natividad — were joined by alum Jennifer Gonzalez, Larry Jackson of San Jose's Boyton High School and students from Satellite and James Baldwin High in New York. Their photos depict the changing face of Harlem, where African-American culture holds on in the face of growing gentrification.
A dozen students from Satellite, joined by Zbadia and other adult chaperons, traveled to San Jose from New York for an opening reception at the library Thursday night. The students were awestruck to see their photos collected together with historical items in the second-floor of the Jennifer and Philip DiNapoli Gallery.
“It's come full circle from last October to see them installed here,” said Jelani Dixon, one of the New York students. The photos are shown without credits, but Dixon said, “That makes it better because it shows that it was a collective effort.”
REMEMBERING JOE O’KANE »
In today's era of media overload — when anyone with a phone can become a video sensation — it might be difficult to recognize the lengths that Joe O'Kane went to bring film, TV and video projects to San Jose. O'Kane, who died in his sleep unexpectedly Jan. 17, ran the San Jose Film & Video Commission for the Convention and Visitors Bureau from 1978 to 2002.
“Producers, directors and location managers from around the world reached out to the San Jose Film Commis-
sion regarding the unique locations Joe promoted and requests that often ranged from the laughable to the bizarre,” his brother, Sean O’Kane, recalled. “But he tried his darnedest to accommodate these requests. It might be as simple as, ‘We need an outdoor cafe. But we need it on a street in a thoroughfare with the sun setting behind it and with a vacant lot across the street.’ “
And in one particular case, O’Kane’s work got San Jose credit it didn’t necessarily deserve when director James Cameron was scouting locations for “Terminator 2.” He found five buildings in San Jose and one in Fremont that were suitable. The Fremont location was chosen, and even though it wasn’t in Santa Clara County, his brother said that Joe continued to help the crew.
“Consequently, the credits cite San Jose as a filming location even though no photography was done there,” Sean O’Kane said.
Friends and family will gather March 17 — Joe’s choice for a true Irish wake — at the San Jose home of his sister, Teresa O’Kane, to celebrate his life.
BONUS NIGHT WITH THE BARD »
It’ll a quick turnaround for the ShakesBEERience players who just performed a stage reading of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” last month. The casual company, led by Buck Hill Productions’ John McCluggage, is back for a command performance of “Much Ado About Nothing” on Feb. 12 at Cafe Stritch in downtown San Jose. The crew performed “Much Ado” — which McCluggage calls “a classic battle of the sexes and perhaps the wittiest play in the Shakespearian cannon” — in 2015. But this time it’s also a birthday celebration for Stephanie Wilder.
It’s free and open to the public, with doors opening at 5 p.m. before the 6:30 p.m. “curtain.”
CHEERS »
Heather Danforth-Clayson, a middle school teacher at Helios School in Sunnyvale, received the second-place Rosenthal Prize for Innovation in Math Teaching on Wednesday at the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City. Danforth-Clayson’s lesson “Derangements and Random Rearrangements: An Exploration of Probability,” encouraged students to explore rearrangements of numbers sets by conducting hands-on experiments in probability. The prize includes $5,000, which is a nice number itself.
And Santa Maria Urban Ministry, a non-profit serving San Jose since 1983, has hired nonprofit veteran Kathy Cordova as its new executive director. Cordova, who has served in fundraising positions with schools and nonprofits in the San Jose area, says she loves Santa Maria’s community approach. “Our clients become our friends, and volunteers,” she said. “We offer a warm and welcoming place for the community to gather and support one another.”
Cordova will be introduced to the community at an open house March 10 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 778 S. Almaden Ave.
SANDWICHED IN »
Mendocino Farms founders (and husband-and-wife) Mario Del Poro and Ellen Chen welcomed guests to a preview of their new location at Santana Row, the second in the Bay Area and 18th overall. The lightand-airy eatery, which is set to open to the public Feb. 15, will feature the menu of seasonal, healthy sandwiches and salads that its fans in Southern California love. (The other Santa Clara County location at the Pruneyard in Campbell has been getting raves since it opened a month ago).
But interestingly, it won’t be the only fancy sandwich option for Santana Row shoppers for very long. An Ike’s Love and Sandwiches shop is under construction right next door. Another popular chain, Ike’s is well known for its huge sandwiches, piled with meat and other ingredients. The two places are so different, it’s hard to think that they’ll be siphoning customers from each other.