The Taste of Diversity is more than just a one-day festival on Grant at Lafayette on Saturday, June 27. It is a celebration of our new Buffalonians, of our long history of welcoming refugees and immigrants. In the heart of the Grant-Ferry Commercial District, it showcases the rich diversity of our community and the industrious, driven-to-succeed ethos of these new members of our community. The food is great, the vendors are fun. But the real story – as always – is the people.

 

Meet Louise Sano. Born in Rwanda, Louise left after the genocide and traveled through Namibia before immigrating to Buffalo in 2007. She speaks four languages, and is currently adding Spanish to the list. She became involved in the emerging West Side Bazaar in 2011, but the natural entrepreneur quickly graduated from that successful incubator and opened not one but two shops on Grant.

Global Villages at 216 Grant Street is an impeccably merchandised gift shop featuring fair trade artisanal gifts which Louise selects personally and imports, and she also owns Global Chic at 242 Grant which sells clothing and offers tailoring services. She received no financial assistance from any government organization along the way and is now proud to be a U.S. citizen.

 

Grant-Ferry has historically been a portal of entry to Buffalo. New arrivals first came from Sicily in the early 1900s, followed by Puerto Ricans half a century later. Now the new arrivals tend to be from places like Burma, Ethiopia, Somalia and The Sudan. Tens of thousands of families have started their lives in this neighborhood on the Upper West Side en route to every corner of our community. Many others travel to the neighborhood to shop at Guercio’s, the go-to green grocer for more than five decades.

 

The advent of Sweetness 7 in 2008, Prish Moran’s passionate foray into community activism, restoration and espresso, was a turning point for Grant-Ferry. Joe and Jeanenne Petri opened West Side Stories, a used literary emporium, across the street in 2011, and community spirit and civic energy bloomed and blossomed.

 

The cool factor created by extraordinary ethnic  diversity, high civic energy, good books and excellent coffee (not to mention low rents and bargain real estate) have now made this historic neighborhood a great portal of entry for a whole new kind of immigrant: the creative, down-sizing Millennials looking for a dense, walkable urban lifestyle.

 

Witness the brand new Pop In Buffalo which opened with flair (and collaboration by The Public) on Thursday, June 25. This “community-activated storefront” at 218 Grant Street intends to “connect people to Buffalo and its resurgence in new and unexpected ways.”  Jason Lloyd Clement and Casey William Milbrand are behind this ingenious space which now features a Buffalove mural, a 14-foot wheat paste of the Richardson Olmsted Complex, a green wall, and an interactive sculpture consisting of 25 interconnected bicycle wheels called CityHEART.

 

Curious? The Taste of Diversity from 11:00am-7:00pm on Saturday, June 27, is a celebration of all this and more. A funky, delicious dive into the Buffalo’s cool global scene.