Hot Fun in the Summertime
It was a steamy summer evening on August 1, but that didn’t slow down Healing By the Water from being another great time. Music for Manny Perez set the table along with our great food and gift vendors along with other community partners added up to another fun filled evening in Freedom Park.
Total Eclipse of the Park
Freedom Park had a front row seat for viewing of the total solar Eclipse on Monday. The phenomenon captivated the entire region and we were able to welcome visitors from around the area and from many out of town and others from out of state. It was a wonderful experience for all involved and Freedom Park proved a great locale to share the experience.
From the pages of the Challenger
Biking Through Black History
When we were promoting Healing By The Water this summer, one of the tactics was to publicize a bike route to get to Broderick Park. WPXI-TV the NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh produced “Biking Through Black History,” a 30 minute Black History Month special highlighting the creation of the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (UGRR). This route was realized through an innovative partnership between Adventure Cycling Association and University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Minority Health. The viewing is worth your time.
Almost to Freedom Park
The Buffalo Common Council takes this matter up tomorrow at 2pm. If you can’t go, a suportive email to the council couldn’t hurt. David Rivera, the niagara district councilperson, had his office draft the motion. Let him know it sounds good. darivera@city-buffalo.com
The 1619 Project
During the evenings of Healing By The Water, you may have spotted some of the Friends of Broderick Park donning t-shirts with the design that read 1619-1865. Those years mark the period of slavery and the 1619 Project was an effort to broaden a fuller understanding, to give a more complete history, something still so sorely needed. To read more about it, visit here.
What began as an extended journalistic effort crossed a number of mediums withThe New York Times premiered a dedicated podcast series in 2020. In 2021, a book anthology of essays and poetry The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story was published, as well as a children’s picture book The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson. In January 2023, Hulu premiered a six-part documentary TV series created by Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine.
A Great 2023 Season
It might be a little quiet now, but for the summer weeks, the amphitheater in Broderick Park was the place to be revive your soul, free your spirit and heal by the water with friends.
We welcomed a wide array of performers who filled the theater. We hosted a great collection of food vendors who regularly went home sold out from great sales. We featured terrific gift vendors and community partners. From MAAFA to Healing by the Water, the sacred ground of Broderick Park brought a steady stream of visitors to share time at the park together.
Thousands of visitors to Broderick Park, many familiar with the offerings and other discovering the beauty of the park and the fellowship of other visitors for the first time.
As we took the final night of the season to honor the past and the ancestors with the Beating of the Drums, we also look to the future together.
It is quieter now as noted, but still a beautiful place to pass some time. Like most parks in the area, formal programming does slow down as we head into autumn. That does not necessarily mean everything is quiet however, as we are already at work on the 2024 schedule of Healing By The Water and another amazing season in the Park.
Be sure to join us!
A New Name for Broderick Park
The Friends of Broderick Park are working with the City of Buffalo to rename the park Freedom Park. That new name would better reflect the park’s history and heritage as it was the point many used to escape slavery and find freedom in Canada. Ancestors risked everything to be free.
To see a little more about the name changing effort, click here. Send your Common Council member a note to support this effort.
