Hiroji Kubota “Doesn't this young Harlem dweller look full of curiosity and a kind of happiness? I came to know him in 1967 through an assignment for The New York Times. He lived on Morningside Ave. in Upper Man
(...) hattan. I sensed his apartment was rent-free, a welfare one, as he lived only with his brother and mother. From a couple of blocks away, you could see the magnificent ‘Ivory Tower’, Columbia University, on top of the hill. Mitchell Hall was 14 years of age at the time, and attended Public School 148 for socially maladjusted students. I continue to wonder how we can categorize others ‘socially mal-adjusted’? Yes, Stuart acted slightly naughty in school, whether or not deliberately. But I knew he was a very sensitive, intelligent young man. He would often invite his buddies to his apartment. He liked to take walks alone, too. I learned so much about an Afro-American way of life from you, Mitchell. I miss you. I am now 77 and you must be 63. Time has flown by. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
– Hiroji Kubota © Hiroji Kubota | Magnum Photos
