Endea Owens Community Cookout

MARCUS GARVEY PARK ALLIANCE and ENDEA OWENS invite all members of the community to the ENDEA OWENS COMMUNITY COOKOUT, a celebration of ONENESS, with a live music performance curated and led by Endea Owens; soul food provided by Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too; plus a special Kids Reading Circle of “Trombone Shorty: A Picture Book Autobiography,” all for FREE.

12:00 PM – KIDS READING CIRCLE
A musical reading of “Trombone Shorty: A Picture Book Biography,” featuring Endea Owens with special guests

1:30 PM – COOKOUT, LIVE MUSIC & DJ
Music led and curated by Endea Owens. Food by Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too.

The event is produced in partnership with the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival (CPJF), and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.  Scheduled for August 17 (the day of Marcus Garvey’s birth), the event kicks off a week-long run of CPJF community events followed the festival main events on Aug 22 – 24. Sponsored by the Joyce and George Wein Foundation, this is a FREE event open to all, and intended to serve those most in need.

The program will include This is the 5th year of The Community Cookout, which Endea founded during COVID to create inclusive spaces that are accessible to anyone no matter their race, gender, or background, in order to make New York a better place through music, activism, and FREE meals.

Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too is a celebrated local Harlem establishment, which is owned and operated by a former fashion model turned restauranteur, Norma Darden, and which has hosted the likes of Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Angela Bassett.

The Reading Circle will be a musical reading of Trombone Shorty’s children’s book, featuring  Endea Owens reading aloud and accompanied by a trombonist (TBA), who will also do an instrument show-and-tell/mini-workshop for kids.  At the close of the reading, participants will be given free copies of the book, which were generously donated by the Trombone Shorty Foundation.