meet afiya and arsh

afiya, spotted on 114th and broadway, and pb club member arsh raziuddin

Afiya, spotted on 114th and Broadway in NYC

We noticed Afiya near Columbia University and stopped her to chat about being open to strangers, her love of Sun Ra, and her family’s history of sharing bangles. Read on for a glimpse into the life of this month’s passerby.

where are you headed? 

I’m up here [in Harlem] for the film festival at the Miller Theatre. I came early because I wanted to see Ring Shout, which is about our West African heritage and a dance move – I'll call it a dance move for lack of a better term – that I've heard a lot about, but never seen. I'm also up here for the movie, The Five Demands, which is about the takeover of City College in 1969, and I was a part of that. So I'm on the panel after the film showing. That's really what brought me up here today.

are you a filmmaker?

I’m not. I'm currently an ordained Pentecostal minister. I'm a retired school teacher and guidance counselor. I'm an activist on the Lower East Side. At a good 75 years old, I've done a lot of things in my life. I'm a grandmother, I've got two wonderful grandchildren, and two children, a son and a daughter.