Off Campus: Multimedia Belt

High lead poisoning rates among children in Syracuse target poor people of color
By McKenna Moore
January 30, 2017 - 5:14pm
Syracuse's rate of lead poisoning among children is four times the national average.

There is a relationship between the city of Syracuse’s high rate of lead poisoning among children and its high concentration of poverty among African-Americans and Latinos, experts say.

In Onondaga County, around six percent of children tested have elevated blood lead (EBL) levels, which is above the approximately three percent of children diagnosed with lead poisoning nationally, according to a study published in the Journal of Pediatrics.

“Let them in”: Syracuse residents gather at airport to protest Trump’s immigration executive order
By Sarah Heikkinen
January 30, 2017 - 12:32am
SU students, activists and families with young children protested President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration Sunday night at the local airport.

At least 1,000 protesters gathered at Terminal A in the Syracuse Hancock International Airport Sunday night to protest the latest executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

They carried signs of all shapes, sizes and colors, presenting the same underlying message: #NoMuslimBan.

The art of the march
By Brianna Kirkham
January 23, 2017 - 1:10am
The Women's March on Washington was a display of protest art; how this medium will be preserved is likely to change over the next four years.

As far as the Internet is concerned, the iconic speeches, celebrity appearances and choric chanting didn’t steal the show at the Women’s March in Washington D.C. on Jan. 21. Instead, it was the posters.

HIV prevention advocates push for change
By Samantha Mendoza
December 28, 2016 - 5:25pm
With the nation’s highest concentration of poverty among blacks, Syracuse is adopting community-oriented tactics to ending the epidemic.

Always demand a certain level of treatment. That’s what Joshua King told himself as he grew up with a single mother in the suburb of De Witt just outside of Syracuse-- “the land of opportunity,” as he calls it.

As a young black man in a city that is 84 percent white, he knew that barriers prevented him from achieving the same level of success as his peers. As a young gay black man, he knew those barriers were even greater.

I-81 tunnel proposal would mean changes for University Hill
By Rob Romano
December 15, 2016 - 3:21pm
CNY leaders and residents remain divided as underground route resurfaces among ideas for interstate viaduct's future.

Van Robinson remembers the first time he drove on Interstate 81 nearly half a century ago, however, not for sentimental reasons.

“It was the most harrowing drive I’ve ever made,” the Syracuse Common Council president said.

Robinson's sentiments were among those shared by about 150 local leaders and residents Wednesday night at Henninger High School for a public meeting to consider a tunnel to replace Interstate 81 in Downtown Syracuse.

Dual-language early educational programs help young Latinos advance in reading
By Brianna Moné
December 5, 2016 - 12:59am
Hispanic youth in the Westside of Syracuse connect with their culture through reading circles and literacy programs.

He chose her. In a room full of rambunctious children running around with English and Spanish books, a young bright-eyed kindergartener with chubby cheeks kept asking her to read stories to him. He would continually hug her, look for books and ask her to read them to him. She didn’t know why, but “Boo Boo” chose her out of all the other volunteers at the reading circle at the La Casita Cultural Center.

Indigenous community seeks justice after nearly 40 years of human rights violations
By Brianna Kirkham
November 17, 2016 - 7:13pm
The indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá community of Brazil has not had access to their ancestral land since the 1970s. The case is being heard before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights this month.

The most populous indigenous community of Brazil has continuously been forced out of their ancestral land. An estimated 30,000 Guarani-Kaiowá people now live in less than one percent of their original territory, according to FIAN International reports.

Election volunteers, first-time voters aim to make a difference in 2016 election
By Jasmine Gomez
November 9, 2016 - 12:56am
Democracy in Action students cover the local and national races across Central New York.

Dawayne Kirkland, a first-time voter who originally supported Bernie Sanders, but voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, said his decision to come to the polls was influenced by music artist, Chance the Rapper.

“I think my generation, we really do care about this kind of stuff,” Kirkland said.  “Maybe not from the mediums that you would expect us to get the information from. I’m not paying attention to CNN, but I am checking my Twitter. He’s a social influencer that had an influence on me to get up and go vote and see if I can make a difference.”

Syracuse refugees vote in their first presidential election
By Samantha Mendoza
November 8, 2016 - 5:44pm
Thousands of refugees have resettled in Onondaga County in the past 15 years. Today, many cast their ballots as naturalized U.S. citizens.

In a thick white peacoat and gold headscarf, Lul Hassan held her young son’s hand as she entered a polling station on Burt Street. A resident of Syracuse, she is far from her native country Somalia, which she left in 2004 at the age of 14. But she is now a citizen of the U.S., and voted in the presidential election this afternoon as a Muslim-American refugee.

“[One of the candidates] say immigrants or terrorists or ISIS, even though I’m not one of them,” Hassan said. “I’m Muslim, but I am a citizen. My vote matters and my voice matters.”

Funk ‘N Waffles hosts benefit concert for Standing Rock as a call-to-action
By Morgan Bulman
November 3, 2016 - 1:14pm
The stage at Funk 'N Waffles Downtown served as both a musical and political platform to raise awareness about the Dakota Access Pipeline Wednesday night.

Sounds of solidarity could be heard all night long from the corner of South Clinton and West Fayette Street in downtown Syracuse. The source? Funk ‘N Waffles. The event? A fundraiser for the Standing Rock Water Protectors in North Dakota.