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Welcome
Conference and Trade Fair
Savannah International Trade
and Convention Center
Wednesday, October 1st
October 6th is
the deadline to register to
vote in the November 4th
Election .
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Permit No. 923
“GEORGIA’S BEST WEEKLY”
tETthune
Week of October 1,2008 - October 7,2008 • Vol. 36 No. 33 • www.savannahtribune.com • 912-233-6128 • Fax: 912-233-6140
Presents:
Gallery Owner
Cryselle Stewart
by Karen Bogans
ryselle Stewart was bom in
Georgetown, Guyana.
When she was three years
old, her father decided to move the
family to the United States for more
opportunities. She lived in New
York for a while, and then in
Atlanta, Georgia where she attend
ed high school. When Stewart
graduated, she headed for Savannah
College of Art and Design (SCAD)
where she majored in photography
and tried her hand at painting, just a
few credits shy of obtaining a minor
in painting.
Halfway through SCAD,
Stewart decided to return to New
York to get some exposure and
make a career in photography. She
quickly discovered it would take
more than a will—it was going to
take a plan. After a year and a half,
she returned to SCAD where she
graduated in 2007. That same year,
she opened Dimensions Gallery.
Dimensions focuses on emerging
Cryselle Stewart
artists and works to get them the
exposure they need before they go
out into the world. Stewart has
actual experience that helps the
artists understand some of the pit-
falls they may face. “I knew I need
ed a plan. I worked with Connie
Edwards at the Small Business
Development Corporation ( SBDC)
for 6-7 months on developing my
business plan. In fact, I even
worked with Connie after I had
opened the gallery. She really
helped me put my concepts on
paper and provided me with a
roadmap that I would need to be
successful. I encourage any small
business to utilize this resource. “
When asked about some of the
challenges she faces because she is
a young, African-American,
female, business owner, Stewart
says, “There are times when
patrons come into the gallery
expecting to see someone different,
maybe older, maybe male. When
they find out I am the owner, the
perception is that the gallery is not
See Cryselle Stewart, page 2
Rieiisl Cancel
Awareness
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Civil Rights Trailblazers
Address Urgency of African
American Voter Registration
Mayor to lead
Dump the Pump
Bike Convoy
Mayor Otis Johnson
Mayor Otis Johnson will headline
the next Dump the Pump event on
Friday, Oct. 3, when he leads a group
bicycle commute into downtown
Savannah.
The first ever Dump the Pump
Convoy will depart from the Habersham
Village shopping center and end at the
corner of Bull and Broughton streets,
where the Mayor will dedicate the first
in a series of bicycle racks the City is
installing throughout downtown
Savannah.
With high gas prices and continued
supply uncertainties, more and more
people are turning to alternative forms
See Dump the Pump, page 16
SSU receives $700,000
HUD grant to help
West Savannah
In conjunction with the
2008 White House HBCU
Initiative, The U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) recently
awarded Savannah State
University (SSU) with a
$700,000 HBCU Grant. The
funding is designed to help
revitalize the West Savannah
neighborhood over a three-year
period.
“SSU continues to expand
its role as a partner with the
City of Savannah to regenerate
West Savannah,” said Earl G.
Yarbrough, Ph.D., SSU presi
dent. “Boosting area business,
improving the financial well
being of residents, and con
necting these residents to job
opportunities are the main
goals of the grant.”
“As a component,
empowerment and asset-build
ing activities will be readily
accessible to West Savannah
residents,” said Shirley Geiger,
Ph.D, Political Science, Public
Administration and Urban
Studies. “These and other skill
building activities will be
offered through advancement
centers conveniently located
within walking distance to
other neighborhood services.”
The proposal is the joint
effort of Professors Geiger,
Nailah Brock, Ph.D., Political
Science, Public Administration
and Urban Studies and Ulysses
Brown, Ph.D., College of
Business Administration, in
cooperation with the City of
Savannah’s Department of
Community Development.
The $700,000 grant is part
of a larger $9 million HUD
grant awarded to 13
Historically Black Colleges
and Universities (HBCU)
across the nation. HUD is part
nering with these HBCUs to
help address pressing commu
nity needs, such as providing
housing, economic develop
ment and other programs to
benefit low- to moderate-
income families, across the
U.S.
The HBCU Grant dove
tails with the HUD funding
awarded to Savannah State in
2004 for neighborhood revital
ization in the historic Cuyler-
Brownsville community.
Dr. Dorothy Cotton and Congressman John Lewis Remark on the
Fierce Urgency of Now and African Americans Voter Registering
Chicago, IL -This week two icons of the Civil Rights Movement dis
cussed the extreme importance of
African Americans registering to vote
during this historic election. In a con
ference call with reporters, Dr. Dorothy
Cotton, formerly of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, and
Congressman John Lewis, one of Dr.
Martin Luther King’s trusted lieu
tenants, recounted their unique place in
history and their efforts to secure the
right to vote for African Americans.
Congressman Lewis, who
marched with Dr. King across the
Edmund Pettus Bridge, recounted the Congressman John Lewis
many examples of how African
Americans fought to obtain the right to
vote. “They stood in unmovable lines -
some were beaten, some were shot and
killed for attempting to register to
vote,” said Lewis. Congressman Lewis
went on to note that while many states,
especially in the South, had large pop
ulations of African Americans, most
were not allowed to register to vote.
Both Cotton and Lewis noted the
unyielding spirit and determination of
African Americans during the Civil
Rights Movement and how voter edu
cation became the focus of registration Dr. Dorothy Cotton
drives during that time. Dr. Cotton,
who was the Education Director of the SCLC, described how the
Citizen Education Program (CEP) helped play an early role in educat
ing African Americans about their voting responsibilities. “The five
day CEP workshops, with forty to fifty people, were designed to help
African Americans re-define themselves. They were trained to discov
er the power in their vote,” Dr. Cotton said.
Dr. Cotton went on to underscore the importance of voting this
Election Day citing that every aspect of life is affected by government
See Vote, page 16
ank
tate
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ew branch and a proud tradition of service.
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