Out & About
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
As polo ponies exercised in Bridgehampton on Saturday afternoon, the dancers of Ronald Brown’s Evidence Dance Company jumped, twisted, and galloped. But the small stage under a tent seemed far away from the company’s home base in Brooklyn.
The company’s third annual Hamptons fund-raising event, “On Our Toes,” has fast become part of the small circuit of black society events on the East End. It was indeed one of the few events I’ve attended in the Hamptons this summer where the crowd was predominantly black. Organizers are aware of their social benchmarks. “I’d like to see this event grow to the stature of the Hampton Classic,” a chairwoman of the gala, Joyce Mullins-Jackson, said. Her co-chairwoman was Loida Nicolas Lewis.
In mood, spirit, and style, the party seemed very much like one in the city. The coup for the organizers was getting such a large affluent crowd — more than 400 guests — to the Hamptons.
“I think it’s tremendous. Ten years ago, this event could not have existed,” Buff Parham, a frequent Hamptons visitor, said. It’s not just about the black community having its own party. “It’s probably a significant step toward helping the Hamptons truly reflect the diversity of the residents,” Mr. Parham said, noting the significant number of blacks who have populated the area since it was first settled.
Some energetic leaders can take the credit: the chairman of the Evidence Dance Company’s board, Reginald Van Lee; the editor of Essence, Susan Taylor, and the indefatigable fund-raiser, Gayle Perkins Atkins. There are also changes taking place in the community: There was much applause during the introduction of the first black trustee of the town of Southampton, Bonnie Canon, who also directed the gospel choir that performed the piece “Your Steps Are Ordered.”
The black community has long been a part of Long Island’s history. Slaves and free blacks helped build the area’s agricultural and maritime economies. In 1698, 83 blacks lived in Bridgehampton. Some freed blacks became large landowners, including the Cuffins in Water Mill and Isabella Moore in Shelter Island. Slaves, however, worked under bleak conditions, as evident in a pageant in 1910 celebrating the 250th anniversary of Bridgehampton: One of the floats featured a replica of a whipping post.
An influx of blacks came here from the South during World War II, recruited for work as farm laborers. In the past 60 years, affluent blacks have flocked to Sag Harbor Hills and also to Azur Rest, Lighthouse Lane, and Ninevah Beach. These communities have supported and advocated for the Bridgehampton Day Care Center, which provides summer and afterschool programs for many of the less advantaged members of the community who live here year-round.
Of course, when the sun set, the tent went down, and the dancers headed back into the city, already thinking about their winter gala, chief among them Lowery Stokes Sims, who will serve as chairwoman. The polo ponies were back in their stables. And meanwhile, a whole other crowd was gearing up for the Hampton Classic horse show, which started yesterday.
