Café Sankofa is a Black-owned and -led nonprofit that aims to uplift Syracuse’s southside community. It’s a hub for Syracuse’s Southside that provides access to food, wellness resources, and opportunities says it’s at risk of having to close due to financial challenges.
The word “sankofa” originated in Ghana and translates to “go back and get,” which is meant to encourage learning from the past to build a better future — a message café president SeQuoia Kemp lives by.
“I have a duty to go back into my community and take what I’ve learned and pour it into my community so that other people can be uplifted as well,” Kemp said.
From food drives, fitness classes, and full-spectrum doula and reproductive care, Kemp believes Café Sankofa has become an invaluable resource for southside residents.
Executive Director Sequoia Kemp looks out over the cafe. (Spectrum News 1/Natalie Mooney)
“We truly believe that the solutions to, you know, some of the social problems that we face, particularly on the southside, can be solved through collaboration and cooperative economics,” Kemp explained.
The space also serves as a launchpad for small businesses, offering them an overhead space without the overhead costs of a brick-and-mortar location—something that’s helped 12-year-old Damiya Sullivan, who started a support group called Daddy’s Little Girl after her father was shot and killed. Now, in true Sankofa fashion, she’s helping others who are grieving.
“I think he’ll be proud,” Sullivan said, “Because I know, like, people will be scared to even talk about grief or even to talk about trauma that happened to them.”
But this place that’s opened doors for so many is at risk of having to close its own. Kemp says that the tax debt has been debilitating and the nonprofit is struggling to pay it off.
“We did become owners of the building in 2023 and with that, we did inherit some tax debt,” Kemp says. “A lot of our revenue, unfortunately, is going to this tax burden.”
With the I-81 viaduct coming down and Micron bringing new people to the region, Kemp had hopes that the city would forgive the taxes as it reimagines the southside.
“That is what we’re hoping, is that with economic advancement that we those of us who live in this community will not be an afterthought,” Kemp said.
“Southside” mural by Rosario Freeman. (Spectrum News 1/Natalie Mooney)
Since 2023, the city and the café have entered into three tax trust agreements; the first two defaulted.
Still, the city says it remains committed to helping the café find a path forward, but that it must protect the interests of all taxpayers.
In a joint statement to Spectrum News 1, Syracuse’s Common Council President Rita Paniagua and Councilor Patrona Jones-Rowser said, “While the council remains committed to working with Café Sankofa, we cannot simply, by law, forgive taxes that are legally owed to the city.”
Executive Director Sequoia Kemp looks out over the cafe. (Spectrum News 1/Natalie Mooney)
Even without the city’s help, Kemp remains determined.
“I am going to fight for this building and I’m going to make sure that the whole world knows that this is a life-changing space and we need it and it deserves to be here on the southside of Syracuse,” Kemp said.
Café Sankofa’s board of directors says it’s exploring various revenue generating initiatives to meet the obligation and that they are planning multiple fundraisers over the coming months.