GRACE CHURCH

"I come here for choir rehersal on wednesday nights"

"Stronghold for social justice in Syracuse for over 100 years so beautiful place to be"

"Great place to worship. Very diverse and welcoming."

"My baby attended the childrens cooking class here and although they need a lot of salt for those side walks and parking lot I love this church. They feed kids during the summer, they've hosted numerous of sororities functions, and you always feel welcomed ."

"Thursday morning, I made the earliest bus, but by the narrowest margin ever. I waved the bus driver down from the end of my driveway and she saw me and stopped. And five cars stopped so I could cross the road and board the bus, which was nice. When I boarded, she laughed and said, "It's okay. I awoke fourteen minutes before my punch in time at the bus garage". And I won't need to board the bus that comes at Six Thirty in the morning and I get a half hour for coffee at the Marriott. I am excited for the possibilities of the next two hours. The possibilities of last night made it hard to choose an event. A new exhibit opened at the Great Law of Peace Center on Onondaga Lake. Dr. Kent Blansett, the author of a book, "A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and the Red Power Movement", came to speak. Elf the Musical opened for a preview at Syracuse Stage, a pay what you will event. I think I saw the movie three or four times when we were seeing films every Saturday, so I took a pass. In an old Episcopal Church called Grace Episcopal, the Syracuse Community Chorus planned the annual Peacekeepers Speech, delivered by Joe Heath, a Native American who practiced law from the Sixties until now. The Community Chorus has the mission of serving as an activist choir, so when the choristers are not marching in protest or helping migrants move into their first house in America, they're rehearsing for a concert. About twenty four women strong with five men in the back row, I was rather impressed by the choir's rich sound, even just singing a few songs informally. I sang along, which was fun, cutting through my usual grumpiness. I wouldn't have gotten to sing along had I gone to Elf. A woman from the Syracuse Peace Workers center sold the center's annual calendars, just one part of the peace community that had gathered in the sanctuary. The uprising at Attica Prison has always been a tragic story that I had known all too little about despite books on the conflict. Outside of Buffalo by a half hour, the uprising made news for days as the prisoners took on their guards and then the National Guard. Heath had just enrolled at law school in Buffalo and he joined up with the team that gathered to represent the Attica Brothers. You can be sure that not everyone called the prisoners "The Attica Brothers". Nelson Rockefeller held the post of New York State governor at the time of the uprising, and he authorized the use of force that has been characterized as exceedingly brutal. Our speaker recounted the crack down at Attica prison, with wounded prisoners bleeding out from treatable wounds because no medical care was allowed to help the injured prisoners. All the prisoners involved were charged with a laundry list of felonies. Almost all charges were forgotten when Nelson Rockefeller was asked to be Gerald Ford's Vice President. Despite leniency and clemency granted to the prisoners to cover up the brutality at Attica, the case of the Attica Brothers didn't reach settlement until 2000. Old churches have old stained glass, and I arrived early to enjoy the old sanctuary. Only six panels were remarkable, in particular one depicting an Indian brave with a bow in his hand and no arrow that my eyes could find. A panel below that image depicted a peace pipe. The stained glass artist must have been proud of his work because he etched his name in the glass of an apple at the brave's feet. I didn't take a picture as the night outside had made the stained glass dark. What puzzled me was his name, Saint Oakerhater. I wasn't in a Catholic Church, so how could this man be a saint? I'll have to look it up when I get to the office but I have learned that David Pendleton Oakerhater served as a lay Episcopal minister to the Native Americans. I might have found another overlooked character whose story deserves to be told."