Syracuse Alliance Church welcomes all with open and loving arms
Just three months before Hayward and Nonie DeBose were due to have a baby in 1980, they were looking for a church to serve as a foundation for raising a family. At the recommendation of Nonie’s OB-GYN, an Egyptian man, the two visited the Syracuse Alliance Church at 3112 Midland Ave.
As an interracial couple — Hayward is black and Nonie is white — the DeBoses wanted to raise their son in a multicultural setting. Not only did that mean staying in the city instead of moving to the suburbs, but also
finding a church that welcomed anyone, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Dunbar Center puts major plan into action to keep its doors open
When you walk into the office of the Dunbar Association’s new executive director, Julius Edwards, you will see a man grinning from ear to ear. As someone who understands the impact Dunbar can have on a community, he has an open-door policy. With the doors wide open, people flutter in to shake his hand, set up business meetings and just say hello.
Clary Middle School puts boys and girls in different classrooms
Clary Middle School is halfway through its first academic year of gender separation in the classroom, and one constituency enthusiastically endorses it. Others are still adjusting. Clearly loving it: parents. Not quite so much: some students.
Anthony Harris El focuses on national pride, a sense of peace
Anthony Harris El raises his hands at the lectern, his eyes tightly shut in concentration as he leads his study group in prayer.
The Moorish flag billows over the airway, side by side with the flags of Islam and the United States. A hushed silence hovers over the group as the meeting ends and Harris El closes his readings.
Strength and beauty, the descriptors come to the forefront of one’s mind in the presence of the designers and models that made up the BODI BI CORII fashion show.
The event was hosted by the Beauchamp Branch of the Onondaga County Public Library Feb. 18 and presented by the designers that make up Hope’s Garden. Quieesha Burns and Precious Allen put their work on public view showing that Syracuse can produce design worthy of competition on a bigger scale.
Local residents met to discuss voter’s rights and lack of involvement at the A.M.E Zion Church on Monday. The sessions will continue as monthly workshops as part of a joint effort of the NAACP and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
“You have to participate if you expect to get anything out of government,” said South Side resident Khalid Bey. “The greater power lies in the individual who understands the process and so participates.”
As the newly elected 4th District representative for the Syracuse Common Council, Bey is one man who can say he practices what he preaches.
Newly Opened South Literacy Zone assists in adult education and GEDs
It has been more than 30 years since Arlene Brodbeck sat in a classroom. But at age 52, Brodbeck decided it was time to get her GED diploma — for her own education and so she could help her 25 grandchildren with homework.
It was the South Literacy Zone that brought Brodbeck back to school. With a fresh literacy initiative grant from the New York State Department of Education, the Literacy Zone — which opened in September 2011 — was able to focus on an adult education program specific to the South Side.
A Community Test Kitchen Helped Echols Gourmet Desserts Get Started
In the fast-paced era of frozen meals, Echols Gourmet Desserts offers a taste of the good old days, when most food was made from scratch.
Charlene Echols-Barnes founded the wholesale dessert company 15 years ago in Syracuse. She decided to pursue a family dream of opening up a bakery after getting caught up in corporate downsizing at Niagara Mohawk — now National Grid — where she worked for about 17 years.
