Tuesday, May 4, 2021 - 1:23 pm
POTSDAM The second annual Potsdam community-wide Juneteenth Celebration will be held on Saturday, June 19 from 4 to 9 p.m., at the Ives Park Gazebo, behind the Clarkson Inn at 1 Main St.
“The Juneteenth Celebration Organizing Committee (JCOC) is proud to present this family-friendly event to celebrate the culture of African-Americans and provide a space for Black voices to be honored,” said member Sherry Long.
The public is invited to learn about Juneteenth and African-American culture through heritage-rich traditional foods, entertainment, and activities for all ages.
“Juneteenth is Freedom Day for African-Americans, a celebration to mark the day when the last remaining American slaves learned they were finally free from bondage,” Long said.
Mar 15, 2021
This weekend was the first anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s killing by Louisville, Kentucky police. Taylor was a Black 26-year-old who was shot five times when police burst into her apartment. People across the country held vigils in remembrance.
In Potsdam, about twenty people gathered outside the post office. It was a blustery and sunny Saturday afternoon. Jen Baxtron, leader of Black Lives Matter Potsdam, spoke into a megaphone.
She spoke about Breonna Taylor, police injustice, and the ways that systemic racism seeps into all aspects of everyday life.
A group of about twenty people stood around her. Everyone was safely spaced apart and wearing masks. Some masks read “Black Lives Matter.” People held large signs with different statements like, Say Her Name Breonna Taylor . One said, We Are Not Trying To Start A Race War. We re Trying To End One.
File photo of Postdam police. Photo: Julia Ritchey, NCPR
Mar 03, 2021
The Police Advisory Committee for the village of Potsdam has resumed work. The committee canceled a meeting last month after the only Black members said they wanted to resign in December. The re-organized group is now seeking public input about citizens’ interactions with village police officers through a survey.
One of the people who wanted to resign is Professor John Youngblood of SUNY Potsdam. But, he has remained involved with the group and was main author of the survey.
Youngblood praised it during the group’s most recent meeting last week.
Monday, January 11, 2021 - 9:41 am
POTSDAM Terron Evans, Jr., 26, died unexpectedly on Friday morning, January 8, 2021. Terron is the eldest son of local BLM leader, Jennifer Baxtron.
Terron was born on February 24, 1994, in Syracuse, New York, a son to Jen ThomasBidwell (Jennifer Baxtron) and Terron Evans, Sr. He attended Syracuse City Schools in Syracuse, NY and obtained his GED at Thomas Nelson Community College in Newport News, VA.
To know Terron is to love him. His wisdom was that of someone twice his age. His kindness for all people was evident in everything he did, wherever he went. Terron always had a huge smile on his face, and that smile of his was so infectious. Terron made mistakes in life for which he paid dearly, and his mental health and addiction struggles were known by many in his family and throughout the community.