By Blake Riley

Blake has grown up a part of Harlem’s rich culture his whole life. Yet as Harlem gentrifies, their collection of stories is all that’s left to connect to previous generations. Blake sits down with his next door neighbor James, a lifelong Harlemite, in search of the history of their neighborhood games, family tension through New York's 70s and the comparison of James' past to Blake's present.

Blake is a student at New Explorations of Science, Technology + Math(NEST+M) in Manhattan, specifically the Lower East Side. He is a prime member of the Black Student Union, a member of the Varsity Basketball Team. In school, his favorite subjects are English and Social Studies. Outside of NEST+M, he loves watching baseball, and roots for the prestigious New York Yankees.

The Summer Youth Podcast Academy is an intensive beginner podcasting workshop for New York City public school students, hosted by The Bell in partnership with Gimlet Media.