Michael Preston has been dedicated to service and assist of the Harlem group all through his skilled life. He has served as a board member with Harlem Week for the higher a part of 30 years, going again to 1992, and is the co-founder of Harlem Rocket, a Black-owned high-speed boat tour of Harlem on the Hudson River that’s set to launch this summer season.
Preston can be vp of buyer expertise & authorities affairs for Paradise Categorical, the mum or dad firm of Harlem Rocket. He has additionally been a customer support supervisor and theater supervisor with the Atlanta Civic Heart.
“There’s something about having the ability to present individuals with an expertise, and that has resonated all through my life,” Preston mentioned about his skilled profession.
Considered one of 5 youngsters, Preston has many cherished recollections of rising up in Harlem and turning into immersed within the tradition. His father was within the navy, so Preston was born in Sacramento, however he and his household moved again to Harlem, the place they had been initially from, when he was 3 years outdated.. He attended St. Thomas the Apostle and Powell Memorial Excessive Faculty.
“Between a hundred and fifteenth Avenue and a hundred and twenty fifth Avenue was our playground,” Preston mentioned.
His father held quite a few jobs and was closely concerned within the arts as a jazz musician, photographer, sculptor, painter, jewelry-maker, and cartoonist, which impressed Preston’s ardour for managing and producing reveals. At a younger age, he would work along with his father as a poet, gathering tickets, or managing the lights.
“My appreciation for the humanities, tradition, portray, music was one thing we skilled daily of our life,” Preston recalled.
In 1979, when Preston was 16, his father died from a coronary heart assault. He attributed this tragedy to hypertension, which motivated his life determination to change to a vegan food regimen.
After graduating from highschool, Preston was set to go to Penn State, however selected to attend HBCU Virginia State College due to being guided by his grandfather, who was an alum. Whereas at Virginia State, he switched to vegetarianism, which he has adopted to today. He additionally finally transferred and earned his bachelor’s diploma from Metropolis Faculty of New York in 2012. He holds each Virginia State and Metropolis Faculty expensive to him, since one is an HBCU and the opposite is in Harlem.
When Preston first got here aboard Harlem Week, he had been managing a legislation agency along with working with Greyhound. Tony Rogers, former govt board member of the Better Harlem Chamber of Commerce, requested him to assist out authorities affairs, managing permits, and many others., throughout what was a troublesome interval for Harlem Week within the early Nineteen Nineties.
He was requested to hitch the board, and has renewed yearly since excluding 2003–2005, when he labored with the Atlanta Civic Heart.
“We give away greater than 110,000 in scholarships, grants, and awards to nonprofits and college students going and returning to school,” Preston mentioned of his work with Harlem Week. “I really like the idea of us supporting our personal—however it is usually about us bringing the artwork, the tradition, and the expertise to first, the residents of Harlem and New York, after which, the guests from all through nationally and internationally,“ Preston mentioned.
Whereas at Metropolis Faculty, Preston related along with his present enterprise companion, Garry Johnson. They created Paradise Categorical in 2012 and extra just lately established Harlem Rocket, which is anticipated to launch on the finish of July.
The boat tour will take passengers on a tour of Harlem on the Hudson River, going north from a hundred and twenty fifth Avenue to the northern prime of Manhattan at Spuyten Duyvil Creek after which coming down as a thrill trip. Tour components embody historical past classes about Harlem websites and Black individuals within the maritime business, similar to Crispus Attucks and Matthew Henson.
Harlem Rocket is partnering with sponsors such because the electronics firm Ray Marine and Universoul Circus.
Extra info will be discovered on the web site Harlem Rocket.com, the place tickets will change into accessible, and on Instagram @HarlemRocket.
The Harlem Rocket is a part of the bigger Harlem Waterfront Initiative, which goals to spur financial improvement in Harlem. Different components of the initiative might be a ferris wheel referred to as the Harlem Wheel and the Harlem Maritime Museum.
Preston cherishes his household, together with 5 grownup youngsters—4 daughters and one son—and 4 grandchildren.
“I’m proud to be of Harlem—dwelling in Harlem; my youngsters born and raised in Harlem; and related to establishments just like the Apollo, the Studio Museum, the Schomburg,” Preston mentioned. “Being part of Harlem Week is all-encompassing.”
