Interstate 81 runs through the city of Syracuse
Should it stay or should it go?
This week there are a series of public workshops to assess the future of Route 81, which is a few blocks from our offices.
Posts Tagged ‘Syracuse’
A highway runs through it
Monday, May 2nd, 2011Wild weather follows no rules
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Flash Flooding after storm (Eastside)
Two severe storms hit the region this afternoon, complete with hail, lightning, high winds and causing major flooding.
Flooding–Dewitt, NY
Signs of Spring
Monday, April 11th, 2011
Spring Flowers
Spring Flowers
True to Her Roots
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
Marjory Wilkins (right)
Syracuse lost one of its best known photographers last week.
Marjory Wilkins, who passed away at age 81, used her camera to richly document people, places, and events in our city. One of my favorite of her photos is of former Syracuse Police officer Willie Gilbert.
Mrs. Wilkins is pictured here at a show that celebrated her work a few years ago.
Marjory Wilkins with her brother Raymond Werts
We will certainly miss her activism, insight and talents.
Save the Children
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Salina B. Lazarus, Tonya Lewis Lee and Pastor Daren Jaime at Syracuse University
Salina B. Lazarus, Tonya Lewis Lee and Pastor Daren Jaime at Syracuse UniversityProducer, attorney and author Tonya Lewis Lee says she was surprised to learn several years ago that infant mortality rates among African American women were twice that of whites and Latinos here in the United States. She also found out that even among educated African American women, and those with access to healthcare, the infant mortality rates were disproportionately high.
“Clearly this is not a poverty issue,” she says.
Lewis Lee, the national spokesperson for the Healthy Baby Begins with You Campaign, was in town today at Syracuse University to present the 36-minute documentary she produced titled: Crisis in the Crib: Saving Our Nation’s Babies.
Despite the alarming statistics, Lewis Lee says she is optimistic that with increased education, further advances in genetics, as well as a collective effort from government, the medical community and the private sector working together, things can improve.
“There’s no overnight fix,” she says.
Lewis Lee talked earlier this year to NIFTN’s George Kilpatrick about her book Giant Steps to the Change the World. She said her next project will be to co-produce a film adaptation of the Christopher Paul Curtis book The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 along with actor, comedian Chris Rock.
Bracketology
Monday, March 14th, 2011We watched the Jason Hehir documentary about Michigan’s Fab Five last night and noticed the narration was done by SU grad and actor Taye Diggs.
The Book of August
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011When it comes to an accurate portrait of African American life, site August Wilson’s cycle of plays examining the 20th century is a gift that keeps on giving.
This month Syracuse Stage produced Wilson’s Radio Golf.
Radio, set in 1990s Pittsburgh, revolves around Harmond Wilks (played by Richard Brooks) as he attempts to redevelop a blighted Pittsburgh neighborhood and parlay that venture into a run for mayor. At the climax of the play the audience is left with a sense that change is coming, but not without a struggle, or a fight.
A “Talk Back” forum was held by the stage and the actors talked about the genius of Wilson and how his work always fosters further examination.
Leland Gantt (Radio’s Sterling) said that the actors were on a journey to excavate the truth in Wilson’s work (the last he produced before he passed in 2005).
During a celebration of August Wilson’s work at Syracuse University in 2006, Dramaturg Kyle Bass, said it best: “Wilson gave us back to us.”
Thomas Jefferson Byrd (Radio’s Elder Joseph Barlow), who appeared in Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Syracuse Stage in 2009, described interpreting Wilson’s work on stage like eavesdropping on a conversation or peering thru a peephole at a family discussion. He said Wilson was able to avoid stereotypes by being true to the characters. “You know the truth when you hear it,” he said.
Upstate NY’s Best Export
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011Club Wegmans continues to branch out from Upstate New York.
Sophisticated Lady
Monday, February 14th, 2011
Antoinette Montague, mind jazz vocalist, at the Sheraton Hotel Ballroom
Singer and Newark (aka Brick City)-native Antoinette Montague returned to Syracuse for this year’s Central New York Jazz Arts Foundation Black History Month Cabaret. Montague’s range includes jazz, blues and gospel. She sang several standards and also interpreted “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” but really moved the crowd with “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister).”
The show hit a cresendo when Montague was joined on stage by wealth management professional Vicki Brackens for a duet. Brackens was this year’s Cabaret sponsor.
Antoinette Montague sings with Vicki Brackens (left).
Montague was accompanied by Joe Carello (sax), Rick Montalbano (keys), Larry Luttinger (drums) and Darryl Pugh (bass). She closed the show with “When The Saints Go Marchin In.”
Antoinette Montague
Winter Weather Advisory
Saturday, February 5th, 2011
Ice Dam, Oak Street
Snow storms and lingering cold temperatures commonly bring ice dams to Syracuse and Central New York this time of year.
Ice Dam, James Street