Voices

The South Side Initiative Office would like to thank Professor Joan Bryant for all of her help and support in the success of the Black History Preservation Project (BHPP) and the recently featured documentary “Syracuse’s 15th Ward and Beyond”

By Miguel Balbuena, Community Correspondent Renard Cuthrell walks two miles with three of his little sisters and his little brother to eat at the Southside Church of Christ soup kitchen. He has been leading the little ones there every Saturday for the last three years. “I stay after the meal to help with the clean up,” Cuthrell said. “We mess …

By Kumasi Knight, Community Correspondent A group of neighborhood volunteers and Corcoran High School students pulled weeds, yanked tree branches and cleared fields at Elmwood Park on a windy Saturday morning in an effort to revive the park. “These parks here have terrific potential,” said Patty Weisse, of the Baltimore Woods Nature Center. “With the price of gas going up, …

By Natasha Schuyler Mother’s Day is a time to spend with moms. Customers at DQ’s Diner plan on doing just that. “We’re going to celebrate it at home,” says Cathy who has lived in the South Side for 33 years. “A nice dinner, a reading of the cards and all that good stuff.”

Gardeners help Somalian tradition thrive by sharing South Side space As a boy in Somalia, Haji Adan gardened two 10-pace by 10-pace pieces of land each day. Taking care of a plot of land is the first step in the transition to adulthood in Somali Bantu culture. That tradition stopped for Adan’s family about four years ago when he moved …

Paul Grace finds his place as official historian at his alma mater Twelve-year-old Paul Grace was stamping down the halls of newly opened Corcoran High School with his Boy Scout troop on the way to the swimming pool one Saturday night in the mid-1960s. Before he got to the water, though, the roar of the basketball game raging in the …

When members of the historically black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. heard about the idea to have The Black Family Think Tank, they jumped at the task of putting it together. “This platform is very important to us,” said sorority senior, Cathiana Vital. “Without knowing the foundation of family, how can we prosper? We don’t want history to repeat itself.”

There are peace makers and there are piece makers, and it’s the latter group that meets weekly at Beauchamp Library. Sankofa Piece Makers have been using the library’s auditorium to create quilts and other hand crafts for about 10 years, helping people piece together the stories that highlight life.

On South Salina Street firefighters give us a glimpse into their job that doesn’t let up due to weekends. Captain Thomas Clarke, who has been with the department for 30 years, said their days usually consist of “checking vacant structures to make sure they’re secure, and ensuring that people and kids don’t go into them and start fires.”

Change through Unity I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Khalid Bey, 38, who works for the New York state Senate here in Syracuse. He is the Spokesperson for the organization Go Vote! I’m sure most of you have heard the name Go Vote by now. But for those of you who haven’t, here’s the scoop: Go Vote! …