The Endangered Black Bars of New Orleans

L. Kasimu Harris walked into Art’s, one of the oldest still-living African-American bars in Pittsburgh, with the hope of photographing some of its patrons, but he knew it wouldn’t be that simple. For one, he didn’t look like anyone in there. Harris, an artist and writer, donned none of the black-and-gold Steelers gear that is standard dress code around these parts. The burgundy beret on his head suggested that he might have just flown in from Paris or some other artsy-fartsy place. But Harris had already penetrated Pittsburgh’s black bar scene, having shot at the Black Beauty Lounge and Jay’s in the city’s historic Hill District, both of which he approached without advanced notice, and dressed just as boldly.

The half-dozen or so barflies sitting in Art’s this brisk late-February afternoon didn’t initially absorb him into their chuckling circle, but in less than an hour, Harris was huddled with Art’s owner, Caren Miller, who at first addressed his photography requests cautiously. But Harris was able to break the ice. Soon, he was taking in story after story from Miller about her own family’s black bar ownership lineage, which stretched back generations.