I'd been living in New York for four or five years when I realized I hadn't done much

of the touristy stuff and maybe it was time.

First, I figured I'd start with a tour of what was once the capital of Black America.

Harlem USA.

So I go online and I look around for tours and I find this walking tour with this guy.

My name is Neo Shoemaker and I am the owner and founder of the Harlem Heritage Tourism

and Cultural Center.

Neil is Harlem to his core and he is so Harlem that he actually did our interview while

taking a stroll around his neighborhood.

You can see why he loves doing walking tours so much.

But the tour we did was dope and we saw a ton of well-known and little-known historical

places around Harlem.

The place we ended the tour though is one of Harlem's major cultural sites, the Teresa

Hotel.

Standing in the middle of Harlem right on 125th Street, this white brick 13th story,

300 room hotel, wasn't your average hotel.

I mean, this hotel's guest list is pretty major.

I'm talking people who helped define American culture.

Ella Fitzgerald, I'm talking about Nat King Cole, Joe Lewis, the ground farmer, Lena

Horne, Billie Holiday, a Louis Armstrong Jack Johnson.

And last but not least, Malcolm X, and for Bill Castro.

My name is Bo DeLair and this is Ella Subskira, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

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