The Historic and Rare Harlem Youth Report #5, Up for Auction

Harlem Youth Report #5 was published in 1964 and distributed only in Harlem. It was a comic book for the Black community, which was part of an effort to study the issues facing the residents of Harlem in the 1960s and to suggest a path forward. The comic book was published by an organization called Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU). This organization was founded by Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark, psychologists, educators, and Civil Rights activists whose work was influential on Brown v Board of Education. The organization’s director for a time was Cyril deGrasse Tyson, a Civil Rights activist and educator in NYC and Newark and father of famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. A fascinating and rare part of 1960s American history, there’s a Harlem Youth Report #5 (Custom Comics Inc., 1964) Condition: FN up for auction in the 2022 May 29-30 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122222 at Heritage Auctions.

Harlem Youth Report #5 has long been considered a mystery by collectors who have managed to catch a glimpse of it, it seems. The Comics With Problems blog managed to obtain a copy and research it a bit a few years ago and have posted scans of the interior pages.

There is no Harlem Youth Report #1-4, so the #5 numbering is a bit of a puzzle. Some have speculated that because HARYOU distributed the comic along with other items as part of an educational plan, it could simply mean that the comic was the fifth version or part of the plan. The organization issued a 644-page report called Youth in the Ghetto: A Study of the Consequences of Powerlessness, and a Blueprint for Change at this time as well, along with a brochure that summarizes that report which notes that “A brief pictorial summary (comic magazine)” was also available for the younger reader. A quick perusal of newspapers of the era indicates that Cyril deGrasse Tyson was a frequent speaker in NYC this year as well, so it appears they were making every effort to reach the largest possible audience with this information. HARYOU even issued an album, Jazz At P.S. 175, a few years later.

The report was remarkably effective. In the year that Harlem Youth Report #5 was issued, HARYOU’s study and its blueprint for change convinced the Lyndon B. Johnson administration to earmark $100 million to back the changes it recommended over the subsequent three years. According to an archivist at the NYC Department of Records and Information Services, “HARYOU argued that an important step in delinquency prevention was to empower black youth by creating more job opportunities, providing job training (including professional careers), and assisting delinquent youths in rehabilitation. In addition to disseminating funds, HARYOU sought to increase black consciousness and pride. The organization focused on five areas: Community Action, Education, Employment, Special Programs, and Arts& Culture.”