María Magdalena Campos-Pons reveals a ‘Procession of Angels’ in Harlem

María Magdalena Campos-Pons brought her world-renowned artistic vision to Harlem on September 7, to mark the 20th anniversary of Madison Square Park Conservancy’s public art program.

Campos-Pons invited the public to join her; the founders of Harlem Art Park; and a string of poets, musicians, and fashion stylists in a “Procession of Angels for Radical Love,” a performance piece designed to uphold the promises of what life could and ought to be.

Campos-Pons told the AmNews that when she was asked to participate in this Madison Square Park Conservancy program, she knew she wanted to do a procession: “I grew up witnessing processions — the procession of the celebration of the Orishas in the city of La Vega, in the town of La Vega, in the city of Manguito –– during my early youth, and also witnessing as well processions of Catholic interactions.”

Photos by Karen Juanita Carrillo

The “Procession of Angels” is a recognition of the roles Black, Puerto Rican, and Cuban American communities have played in New York City. The first half of the event was timed to take place on the feast day of Yemayá (who is revered as the “mother of all living things”) and to overlap with the feast day of Osshun (goddess of love, fertility, and abundance) on the following day, September 8. It featured Afro Cuban batá drumming by musicians from Belongó, models dressed as white-gowned “angels,” and native New Yorkers who Campos-Pons had asked to participate by arriving dressed in blue (to honor Yemayá), yellow (for Osshun), or white clothing. As part of the performance piece, all the angels were meant to walk cohesively along the sidewalks of East Harlem.

The performance included poetry readings by National Humanities Medal award-winner Richard Blanco, readings in front of the Dos Alas (Two Wings) mural on E. 105th Street by documentarian Marina Ortiz, and a recitation at the entrance to El Museo del Barrio by 10-year-old Kayden Hern, who served as poet laureate at Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023 inauguration.

A line of close to 100 people took part in the procession as it made its way down Third Avenue. Baptized with intermittent bursts of sprinkling rain as they walked, the angels carried signs that read “Radical Love,” “Unity,” “Gratitude,” “Love.” Some onlookers asked participants about the reason for the procession, while others tried to walk straight through it and somehow disrupt its harmony. Then there were people who, when they noticed the procession, held up two-finger peace signs or applauded as the demonstrators strode past.

This performance will be followed on September 20 with a second Campos-Pons procession that will start at the lower end of Central Park, in front of the W. 59th Street and 7th Avenue monument to Cuban revolutionary hero and poet José Martí. Martí spent organizing years in New York City, where he networked with other Cubans and Puerto Ricans who were seeking ways for their islands to gain independence from Spain.

The September 20 procession will focus on traumatic periods in New York City’s history that the artist believes must be confronted and acknowledged. It will travel from the Martí monument to the 55th Street site of the NAACP’s 1917 Silent Protest Parade, to the 43rd Street site of the Colored Orphan Asylum, which was burned down by white protestors during the U.S. Civil War. The day will end with readings and performances at Madison Square Park.

Campos-Pons noted that her “Procession of Angels for Unity and Radical Love” piece incorporates her personal ancestors, as well as several Cuban Americans who produced cultural work in New York City. People like visual artists Ana Mendieta and Félix González-Torres, poet/novelist Reinaldo Arena, salsa queen Celia Cruz, curator/culture promoter Juan Delgado Calzadilla, and Martí are each angels for Campos-Pons.

“All these people have been inspirational figures, cultural guides, [the] epitome [of the] representation of cultural grace and rigor,” she said. “I think that every one of them, in metaphorical ways … has been very present: Every one of them have been angels accompanying me in my journey, walking with me because they are in my heart, in my soul. And I want this project that we did today and will continue on the 20th to be a moment for people to think about the angels that accompany them, the people [who] inspire them, the people [who] allow them to become better makers of themselves, a human in interaction with others.”

To participate in María Magdalena Campos-Pons’s September 20 “Procession of Angels for Unity and Radical Love,” register at https://madisonsquarepark.org/art/exhibitions/procession-of-angels/.

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