By Delores McCain of the Austin Weekly News
Joie Pierce: “I would like to see a story on Austin Town Hall park and how Austin Town Hall was saved. I would like to see all the people that were involved. It was done back in the 1990s, and I was one of the main people involved in saving the town hall.”
Steven McCullough: “Just day-to-day positive stories about people in Austin. I always hear about the negative – about who did what, who got arrested, who is under investigation. But we don’t hear the kids that are doing positive things, the parents who are pushing their kids. We don’t talk about the good work in our homes and keeping our homes up. There are some beautiful places in Austin that don’t get into the paper a lot. I want AustinTalks to be balanced. Yes, we have to talk about reality, but we also have to talk about the positive things that are happening in our community.”
Cody McSellers-McCray: “Things related to health for African Americans. How the community can be healthier and what resources are available in the community for families and their kids. And things related to youth, in particular the World Sports Chicago has a track and field program for the summer. Each ward has track and field programs that are free to kids, and registration just started. Parents don’t know about this. I was a former track and field athlete myself, and I’m volunteering to be a coach. I was sprinter at Northern Illinois University, and I’m from East St. Louis and we are town known for running.”
Danette King: “I would like to see a page focusing on resources, such as for children, senior citizens and everybody where people will know where to go. A lot of people (don’t know all the) programs that are out there. There are a lot of youth organizations out there. You have to think about every child has different needs, and there are different organizations out there offering this information.”
John Fountain III: “Youth disenfranchisement; also church issues, such as strong ties to our religious organizations and churches. Some prisoner re-entry issues that I know Westside Health Authority deals with. But I think, more on a personal level, talking to some of the people who come out; getting their stories about coming back into the community and some of the challenges that they are going to be facing.”
Norm Iverson: “They should cover a little bit of the history of Austin. It is a long-established community, and I grew up in this community. I learned to swim at the Austin YMCA. I don’t know the history of it, frankly, and the changes and transitions Austin has gone through. I think it would be well understood if you had some of the history.”