Actions
Call to Action
If you have no critics – You’ll likely have no success.
I learned early in life that if you want something, you had better make some noise.
MALCOLM X
The beloved Staten Island tavern where everyone left with respect – until arson destroyed it in 1983
Updated: July. 12, 2026, 4:15 p.m. | Published: July. 11, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously...
Generations reunite on Staten Island for 58-year tradition of family, faith and celebration
Updated: Mar. 12, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Mar. 11, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously...
Centuries-old Staten Island community takes spotlight in Columbia oral history project
Sandy Ground descendants traveled to Columbia University to share stories of a Staten Island community that has endured since 1828, surviving...
She was forced to leave the Staten Island ‘village” she loved. Now her daughter is fighting to preserve its history
Updated: Mar. 12, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Mar. 11, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously...
“THEY TREAT ME LIKE FAMILY”: A historic Staten Island church offers more than faith—it offers belonging
Published: Apr. 30, 2026, 5:30 a.m By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com EDITOR'S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic...
She grew up in a Staten Island community built on freedom — and at 102, she’s still telling the story
Updated: Apr. 03, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Apr. 03, 2026, 5:30 a.m By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com EDITOR'S NOTE This story is...
A homecoming to history: Pastor returns to Staten Island historic church
Updated: Apr. 03, 2026, 11:19 a.m. | Published: Apr. 03, 2026, 5:30 a.m By Dr. Gracelyn Santos | gsantos@siadvance.com EDITOR'S NOTE This story is...
‘I Wake Up … and I Say, Thank You, God’: Cousins return to America’s Oldest Free Black Settlement’
https://www.silive.com/news/2026/03/i-wake-up-and-i-say-thank-you-god-cousins-return-to-americas-oldest-free-black-settlement.htmlEDITOR'S NOTE This...
Hidden in plain sight: Could this historic free Black community be Staten Island’s next Richmond Town?
Updated: Mar. 05, 2026, 9:53 a.m. | Published: Mar. 05, 2026, 5:50 a.m. Sandy Ground is the nation’s oldest free Black settlement continuously...
‘It’s home’: Family says Staten Island church’s deeper value can’t be found in history books
EDITOR'S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but endangered,...
‘We’re not going to let it go’: New leaders emerge in fight to save historic free Black Staten Island community
EDITOR'S NOTE This story is part of an ongoing journalistic initiative to rally the community and the country around a critical, but endangered,...
Sharing ‘untold stories’ of a Staten Island historic community is this professor’s mission
Seated in the first row from left to right, Rev. Charles Washington, Jerome Moody, and Glenda Mosley-Laboard, second row from left to right, Lucille...
Staten Island church’s rich history celebrated with 57-year-old ‘Friends and Family’ tradition
By Mike Matteo | mmatteo@siadvance.com STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — On Sunday, the Rossville AME Zion Church celebrated its 57th annual Family and Friends...
She knows her soul food…and she knows about doing good | Shaw-nae Dixon
By Pamela Silvestri | silvestri@siadvance.com Published: Mar. 09, 2025, 8:00 a.m....
Meet the 2025 Staten Island Advance Women of Achievement 2
By Brian J. Laline | laline@siadvance.com Published: Mar. 09, 2025, 8:00 a.m....