A free breakfast program in Cleveland, modeled on the Black Panther party’s platform for economic self-sufficiency, is under threat from local officials and building management.
For more, KBOO’s Jenka Soderberg spoke with Suncere Ali Shakur, the founder of the program.
The Hali Stone free breakfast program is located at the Willson Tower public housing project in Cleveland. Shakur has started similar programs in other places around the country, including Asheville North Carolina and Washington DC. He also helped found Common Ground Relief, a volunteer-run mutual aid support program for survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.
We also spoke with Deacon Hodge, who runs the Manna from Heaven soup kitchen, which supplies the breakfast program with food for the children.
KBOO reached out to the management of Willson Tower, and the Local Action Committee, but no one returned calls for comment.
Shakur is asking for community support to keep his free breakfast program going in Cleveland. He can be contacted on Facebook as Suncere Ali Shakur. People can also go to the website for MannaFoodfromHeaven.org and give a donation with a note that it is for the Hali Stone Free breakfast program.
Here is a video about the program:
- KBOO