East Broad St. at Southern Pine Company, Savannah

This week on GPB Savannah, we’re hearing some of the sounds of East Broad Street downtown. We’ve been working with anthropology classes at the Savannah College of Art and Design to collect stories from the area. Listen to part 1: Sounds of East Broad here.

SCAD students Lexi Stevenson and Flora Kang spoke with students at an after-school program at East Broad Street School. They asked a third grader named Diamond what the street’s like. "You have a lot of teenagers that aren’t in school," Diamond said. "A lot of them are either pregnant or locked up. Many of them either went to school and dropped out and don’t have the right education, can’t find a job."

Diamond told the students she sometimes feels unsafe on East Broad Street. The SCAD students asked what she thought was the prettiest thing or part about this street. "That’s a hard question…" replied the third grader. "Like, if someone got shot or hurt, they get rescued, or something like that. If someone committed a crime, the police come and get them."

Then they asked what she wished was different about East Broad Street. "That most people who dropped out of school, or who are teenagers and who sit in the streets, and who - who’s a teenager and pregnant, that they can turn their life around," she said. "While they’re still a teenager."

That’s a third grader at East Broad Street School speaking with SCAD anthropology students.

* * *

Students Jaleisa Gilbert & Johannes Palsson visited Faith on the Move Ministries. A stone on the brick building is inscribed with the words, “Bethel A.M.E Church, 1879.” Today, it’s home to pastor Eric Jackson’s close-knit congregation:

"Everybody in here... (is) extended family, know what I’m saying?" said Jackson.

Another pair of students, Shannon Omlor and Chelsea Sirois, visited a predominantly African American Catholic congregation, Saint Benedict the Moor. They spoke with church member Sharon Carson.

"We had one family..." said Carson. "Something different here."

Those are some voices from Savannah’s East Broad Street. We’re partnering with two of Dr. Susan Falls' anthropology classes at SCAD to bring you this series this week on GPB Savannah.