|
News
| 9/23/2009 9:55:00 AM Email this article • Print this article |
|
Kirtrina Baxter (Photo by Taryn Thompson) |
|
|
Kirtrina Baxter building community at Ithaca Southside center
Taryn Thompson
Reporter
Kirtrina Baxter is a Philadelphia native who comes to Ithaca and the Southside Community Center with a strong sense of creativity and a host of fresh ideas. A graduate student of Ethnomusicology at Cornell University and an established percussionist, Baxter is the new Program Director at Southside with plans to carry out her passion for community through new projects and programs. The Southside Community Center is a local resource that has been fostering the development of self pride among the African-American citizens of greater Ithaca since its inception in 1934. Here, Baxter offers her thoughts on what's good.
Ithaca Times: What's happening at Southside?
Kirtrina Baxter: We've got dance classes, Taekwondo, Capoeira, African drum and dance, computer classes, [and] everyday after-school homework help. And [SSCC board of directors member] Christine [Barksdale] and I are going to start a Right of Passage series for the young ladies in town. We're excited about that. We're still in the working phase, but there's so much in the working phase. I've been contacted by more interns than we've had in the past, so people from the hill are saying [they] want to be a part. I'm really excited that people are hearing about what's going on here and excited to come out and work with us. Lots of grad students and just people in the community have been stopping me and saying, "Hey, looks like things are going on over there. How can I help?" It has been, for me, one of the biggest benefits.Ê
IT: What are the newer programs?
KB: I'm working with two groups out of Cornell, one group that does education projects, [and] they're going to create a project to do with the after school kids here. And also [the Cornell University organization] Black Students United is going to be creating a program for high schol juniors and seniors to talk with them and help them fill out applications, look for financial aid and write their letters to get into [college]. So they're going to spend maybe a month or two coming out here once a week. It'll be like a workshop to give them the necessary help that they need to get into school. We had another group contact us from Ithaca College, and they have an education component. One of the biggest things I'm trying to make happen really soon is a nutrition program - a hot food program we're hoping to have up within the next month or two. We want to have a hot food program so that we can feed children dinner and so that everyone who's here can come in and have a free meal. One of the reasons is because I don't get to eat. [Laughs] I work till 8 p.m. and I'm like, "We need to have dinner! So let's just make it happen." But a lot of times kids come in and they're hungry. And they're here all day. I'm trying to make that happen really soon. We already have two groups who are wiling to do the program, so now it's just about getting the donations.
IT: What else is going on?
KB: We're going to have a women's drum circle once a month [and] a family night, which is important because we have a lot of programs, but I want something specific for the family. So, we'll have games and cook dinner. [And] we'll also have a book club for young women. What I find is that children of color are not embracing reading because they're not reading things that they can identify with. [In some literature, authors] didn't include us, or if they did, they put us in subservient roles. So, even though they may have some idea of the history of blacks in America, that doesn't give you a good feeling when you read that. And if you're already not strong enough in whom you are, reading that is not a positive experience. So I'm hoping to bring novels [that] peak their interest in reading because it's so important to build their vocabulary [and] to expand their boundaries.
IT: Can you tell me more about the rite of passage?
KB: The Rite of Passage is still in the conception phase. We're planning to create a program for young women, ages 12 to 17 or 18, [that's] really geared toward African-American and Latino children. The significance of a Rite of Passage in most indigenous countries has to do with teaching them basic skills in life. A lot of our kids live in single-parent households or their parents work all day long, so they don't really have a sense of connection to anything. We want to get them more grounded, so we're hoping to teach necessary skills like sewing; we'll teach them cooking and nutrition, and we'll talk about healthy sexuality. Then we'll take a census of what the girls are interested in and map out things according to their interests. And we'll talk about social issues and media issues, you know, how we're portrayed in the media, and how to be a smart media user. So it will be about life skills and hopefully to foster a sense of togetherness so they understand what friendship is and grow to be better people. Rights of Passage are important - one of the things this society in the U.S. has never had but [that] so many other cultures have, and it's important because you go through life and you're just barreling through and no one's really guiding you or there's no sense of community. We want to embrace that cultural thing and give them something to be proud of and teach them about black history.
|  |
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
Suicide has recently come to Ithaca in a very public, and at times controversial, way. This past academic year, after three years with no suicides, Cornell experienced what is known in the scientific community as a "suicide cluster." OK, so maybe you're like me and you thought this whole JetBlue flight attendant story was good for maybe one news cycle.  |
