Jitu Weusi

Description

Jitu Weusi is born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. From a large family, he began selling newspapers with his cousins, Charles & Leroy Morris, at their newsstand, at the intersection of Franklin & Fulton. As he was working, he was introduced to a few jazz and jazz musicians through the outdoor speakers of Sam the Record Man, a record store just across the street from the newsstand. As a teenager, he would spend time at Brankers, a jazz bar on 155th and 7th, to the wee hours of the morning.He worked as a waiter at Village Gate, where he was introduced to Nina Simone and Thelonius Monk. His cousins frequented the Putnam Central Club, and The Kingston Lounge, the Continental and the Blue Coronet. He attended Long Island University, and became a teacher in September 1962. In the mid-sixties, he became involved in political activities, and in 1968, he and other founded the African American Student Association. It was there that he was encouraged by his students to form their own cultural center. The East was centered around non-western ideologies, and was primarily an all black institutions. A formal extension of the East - the Uhuru Sasa School, was subsidized by profits made by musicians. They hired a cook. Ms. Lottie Brown, who contributed to The East’s reputation and budget. From 1970-77 the East thrived, and eventually Weusi & the East went on to form the International African Art Festival, and he was instrumental in the formation of the...

From Collection

Lost Jazz Shrines

Record Contributed By

Weeksville Heritage Center