Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited

Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited, more commonly called HARYOU, was an American social activism organization founded by psychologists Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark in 1962. Its director was Cyril deGrasse Tyson, father of astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and founding member of the 100 Black Men of America. The group worked to increase opportunities in education and employment for young blacks in Harlem. It also was designed to teach residents of Harlem how to work with governmental agencies to meet their demands.[1]

History

Formed in 1962, HARYOU achieved national prominence quickly. In 1964 the Johnson administration provided $110 million to back educational changes recommended by Clark. These plans included recruiting educational experts to reorganize Harlem schools, providing preschool programs and after-school remedial education, and employment programs for dropouts.[2] these plans were based in part on the clark's earlier work relating to children's self-identification and their work with the Northside Center for Child Development which they founded in 1946 to provide street level family services and continue their academic work

After the Harlem riots in the summer of 1964, Clark published a report detailing causes of the unrest and recommending solutions. They, together with several other organizations, received federal funding for Project Uplift, intended to prevent riots from happening again. No. the front piece of the HARYOU report YOUTH in the Ghetto states 'YOUTH IN THE GHETTO, A Study of the Consequences of Powerlessness and a Blueprint for Change by Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. 1964' and the introduction further states: ' The President's Committee made a grant of $230,000 to HARYOU, as of July 1, 1962, for an eighteen-month planning operation. This grant was further supplemented by $100,000 from the City of New York. With these funds, HARYOU was able to conduct the planning operation which terminated on December 31, 1963.' So the Harlem riots of July 1964 had nothing to do with the HARYOU report. (the full report is here: https://archive.org/stream/youthinghettostu00hary/youthinghettostu00hary_djvu.txt) recently surveillance files of the NYPD have been released indicating the intelligence dept had been spying on Haryou since the organization's beginning, keeping files on high school students because of their political beliefs ( documentation here: www.archives.nyc/blog/2018/6/1/harlem-youth-opportunities-unlimited). The Harlem riots were started when an off duty, out of uniform cop, shopping coincidentally in Harlem killed a 15 year old boy who allegedly brandished a knife with an altercation with an adult who sprayed him with a waterhose. ( ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_riot_of_1964).

In 1964, New York Times reporter Junius Griffen reported that an unnamed researcher from Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU) said that "About 400 youths are now members of a Harlem gang whose indoctrination and training come from dissident members of the Black Muslim sect." The researcher reported that the youth were trained in karate. Some were reportedly taught to steal. ( [3]).

Clark merged with Associated Community Teams (ACT), under the aegis of Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.. The combined entity took the name CLARK-ACT. Clark didn't merge with ACT. Clark didn't like Powell and Powell didn't like Clark. It was done by politicians for political reasons and as a result Clark was squeezed out of the organization he helped create and had a dislike for politics that lasted the rest of his life (ref here harvardpress.typepad.com/hup_publicity/2014/07/the-unknown-kenneth-b-clark). the organization was then called haryou-act, not clark-act. (ref: https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/25/archives/haryouact-sets-118-million-budget.html). Adam Clayton Powell was soon removed from congress on corruption charges and quickly voted out after being reinstated on a technicality. there is no immediate web reference for ACT outside of its connection to haryou. The Haryou archives are located at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, part of the New York City Public Library. Northside Center for Child Development, the organization created by clark and his wife mamie in 1946 continues to serve the community for which it was created.

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References
  1. Harlem U.S.A., ed. John Henrik Clarke, "Introduction to 1971 edition"
  2. "Kenneth Clark, Who Fought Segregation, Dies", The New York Times, May 2, 2005
  3. "Anti-White Harlem Gang Reported to Number 400", https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/05/06/106965615.html?pageNumber=1



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