Langston Hughes House Status

About Langston Hughes House and The Langston Hughes House not-for-profit corporation.

Langston Hughes House corp (LHHC) was established in 2007 by Emcee, Entrepreneur and Media Producer, Shon Miller with the goal of renovating the historic Langston Hughes House in Harlem as a facility to promote the legacy of Langston Hughes and as a cultural gathering place for musicians, poets artists of the new Harlem Renaissance.

The landmarked Hughes House was leased in 2006. Renovations on the much dilapidated building were executed by a coalition of recording artists, engineers and musicians led Mr. Miller, along with jazz piano icon Marc Cary and singer/songwriter & entrepreneur Jana Herzen, president of Motéma Music, a record label promoting jazz and other creative music since 2003.

Assisting in the renovations were a dedicated crew of community volunteers and workers including R&B producer JT Tarrell who built and wired the three studios into the building, poet Carlos Pena who assisted in renovations and later served as house manager for initial events. Also key on the team is Nuyorican Def-Poet and Hip-Hop, Reggaeton artist and actress, La Bruja, who has MC’d many of the Hughes House events and hosts the popular FREE THOUGHT THURSDAY's open mic poetry night that has been filling Hughes House with creative spirit each 1st and 3rd Thursdays since Hughes House first opened its doors to the public on Feb. 1, 2007, Langston Hughes’s 105th Birthday.

Funding for the renovations to convert the Hughes House parlor into a performance space was provided by a generous grant from the Better World Fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in California. Lighting, Sound, Video, Grand Piano and Musical Equipment Hughes House performance Parlor was loaned free of charge to the facility by Motéma Music, which also sponsored initial Hughes House programming in 2007 which included a Birthday Celebration for Langston Hughes and a variety of poetry, jazz and youth events along with the bi-weekly Free Thought Thursdays. (Video footage of these events is available upon request.)

Unfortunately, in the Summer of 2007 production of events ground to a virtual standstill due to serious electrical problems in the building which made air conditioning impossible, as well as a variety of conditions have went unattended due to negligence by the building’s owner. Matters where further complicated when the Landlord delivered an illegal eviction notice, leading to a court battle, currently in process, in which Hughes House Founder and President Shon Miller has been fighting to save the now renovated facility, so that it can fulfill its intended community purpose, and remain as a home for the fledgling LHHC not-for-profit organization. In the course of the ongoing court battle, (which Mr. Miller has been fighting with limited resources), the landlord it has become clear that a variety of fraudulent representations were made by the landlord to Mr. Miller in the initial leasing process.

If you are a lover of poetry, jazz, African American culture, renaissance culture, or even a New York history buff, we urge you join us in our mission to save Hughes House. Our goal is to rally support in community and raise money to buy the building in order to save this historic and valuable facility for the greater good of the Harlem, New York and World Communities

For more information please visit http://www.langstonhugheshouse.org
Or email savehugheshouse@langstonhugheshouse.org

PRESS CONTACT: Cary Goldberg • GoMEDIA.com • cary@gomedia.com • 434-293-6633