They Took Back Shepard
& Read The Ol’ School Way

If you’re of a certain age, you remember the rivalry between Cross, Hillhouse and Lee High schools on the basketball court; Unity in the Community at Goffe Street Park; the Black Expo at the Armory; block parties that lasted well after the street lights came on. The one thing that the events all promoted-well — maybe not the basketball games so much — was sense of African-American community and the need to take care on one another. On Saturday, a woman whose grandchildren live at the corners of Read and Shepard streets wanted to bring that feeling back to that block in Newhallville.

The block party at the intersection of Read and Shepard may be opening a new chapter for a corner that became notorious for cars speeding through the intersection, and gunplay. Eventually, a young man was struck there on a dirt bike, and later died. When the youngster was struck, some bystanders grabbed the driver out of the truck, and severely beat him.

Newhallville always has been full of hard-working families who owned their homes, saw kids graduate high school, some move on to college, some out of the neighborhood. During the ​‘80s, Newhallville was a neighborhood known for having the highest incidence of homeownership in New Haven. The closing of Winchester/Olin and the recession of the ​‘90s set the neighborhood in a spiral.

On Saturday, huge hamburgers and plenty of hot dogs were on the grill, right in the middle of the street. Shirtless 7‑to-9-year-old boys rode their bikes in circles, through the chalk drawings in the street, and made their way into a blue rectangular kiddie pool, filled to the brim with water. Another group of girls and boys stood in line to get their faces painted, while others blew bubbles. A discjockeyo mixed the latest music, as adults and even more kids stood in line to get their food.

Loreen Carpenter [with husband Darone Green] now lives in Derby, but her daughter and grandkids live at that corner. She organized the party.

“Why I did this was because this community needs a message, you understand? I’m the mother of six children, I lived here in New Haven, I care about my people.But the guns and the violence? It’s gotta stop, it’s gotta stop. I figure this day is called ​‘back from war’. And I don’t care where you’re back from; back from drinking and druggin’, back from a bad relationship, back from being in prison, back from a broken spirit, back from anything, you in the right place today,” Carpenter said.

“My sister, today is a day of peace; you know I thought about bringing a day of peace to my community, for the children and the adults. To give a message that we don’t have to kill each other. I just want people to understand we can have a good time, you know? There’s strength in numbers. I wanted to let the children know that instead of putting a gun in their hand, they can put a book or some arts and crafts [instead]. A little bit of food, fellowship from people who really care about what’s goin’ on here. We’re tired of them [the kids] killing each other…killing ourselves. We fought so long to get out of bondage to start killing each other.

“I wanted to give back to my community to let them know we are still a peaceful people. We are a peaceful people. We’re not a violent people. We really need to do some stuff, So I took my idea on the road.”

Carpenter got help putting together the event from local friends and her church, Union Temple. ​“Different church members and friends, we all put our money together, and here it is. And Oh, God. He helped me put this together, because He gave me the idea to do it.”

She said it took a year to plan the event. She hopes to do it again next year.

Will this lead to some activism in the neighborhood? Carpenter cut her eyes and smiled. ​“I don’t know — we’ll see.”

The arts and crafts table was full of literature on how parents can help their children: a CD titled ​“Raising a Reader,” a book about families assisting their children in reading, a flyer about helping children become responsible citizens, even something on puberty and pressure. And there was a raffle for books for the adults, too. Williner Jordan, Cheryl Green and Kimberly Clark-Hart [pictured] all were winners.

As Ricardo Collado [pictured] got his face painted by his mom, Barbara Collado, other kids waited their turn.

Lanaysia Davis and Rojae Sims [pictured] danced to the ​“Cha-Cha Slide.” Just as the adults were ready to join, the DJ was pulling the plug.

“Is the DJ leaving?” one woman said.“Oh I hope not. Do you think we can get him to play another one hat the kids and the adults can dance to?”

Their voices trailed off as they walked toward his table. ​“Maybe we can pay him to stay,” one voice said. And he did.

When the DJ finally began to pack up, Will Jones [pictured] went next door and simply got a ​“boom box” radio, plugged it in, and the party continued. While teen-aged boys stood by quietly and ate, the smaller children ran under the fire hydrant. Police officers gathered on a corner, looking down Read Street, but basically staying out of the way.

Angela [pictured] grew up in Newhallville and has lived on Shepard Street for eight years.She said the block party was a great idea. ​“It’s bonding.Its bonding. You know, the ​‘70s, we did it. We had unity. In the ​‘80s, it came apart. Authority was taken from the parents, and parents have bent over backward ever since for their kids. We have to show the kids how to have fun in different ways, no guns, no violence. Show them how to love. They have to learn how to express it. They don’t know how to show it. I grew up with hugs.”

Loreen Carpenter was following that plan at the arts and crafts table. ​“Hey!” she exclaimed to a young girl. ​“You didn’t come see me, and let me know you were here!” Then she opened her arms wide, and folded the girl inside.