The Buffalodown, Volume 39
13 mins read

The Buffalodown, Volume 39

Stories & Events for Social Connection

By Seamus Gallivan

  • Better late than never?
  • Ways to support disaster victims
  • Coalition Files Lawsuit to Halt Tunnel Under Humboldt Parkway
  • Support The Hive this Sunday!
  • Musings on Music – Seeing Stevie Wonder
  • Featured Events – 30+ this week, welcoming submissions!
  • Listening Links – learning and reflecting on the year of war in the Middle East
  • Reading Rundown – local, national, global

 Welcome to the Buffalodown! Formerly called the Reconnecter Roundup, this free weekly email offers stories and events for social connection.

Happy Thursday, y’all! Before I explain this late delivery of the Buffalodown, holding space for everyone harmed by the recent hurricanes, especially in my former home of Pinellas County on Florida’s Gulf Coast and ancestral home of Vero Beach on the Atlantic Coast, where some of my favorite places are in ruins. For anyone interested in helping, recommending two organizations committed to disaster response that I can vouch for first-hand: Reach Out Worldwide for relief and rebuilding, and World Central Kitchen for food and water to communities in crisis.

As for the Buffalodown, I’d resolved that Tuesday is the best day for me to consistently deliver this weekly serving of beloved community; then came an opportunity to see Stevie Wonder in Pittsburgh, read all about it below!

First, in light of local news and since we’ve doubled our count of subscribers since launching on Martin Luther King Day in January, here’s a look both back and ahead at the inspiration behind and purpose of Reconnecter – bringing people together, sharing stories, inspiring action.

Parkway Revival to Reconnect Communities

Reconnecter was initially inspired by the Restore Our Community Coalition (ROCC), which I was part of from 2016-2023, and conceived in 2017 originally as a summer festival; an answer to the question of how I could help bring people together around the open wound in the heart and lungs of Buffalo that is the Kensington Expressway, aka the 33, which tore through Humboldt Parkway and further divided our segregated city for the cause of quicker car commutes, in the process causing countless harmful health outcomes for surrounding residents.

While ROCC’s once-lonely fight for social and environmental justice has finally been embraced by the powers that be, I believe the current plan to dig a tunnel is but a billion-dollar bandaid, far short of said justice, and therefore I support the struggle of the newer East Side Parkways Coalition (ESPC) in digging deeper to solve the root problems and deliver true justice. ESPC made more news this week:

 The Buffalo News report Mark Sommer has been all over this saga; in the first of his two latest, “Group asks court to halt work on Kensington Expressway project,” explains:

“The injunction request was filed by the East Side Parkways Coalition, which formed in August 2023 to advocate for the restoration of the once-grand Humboldt Parkway designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The parkway was destroyed to make way for the highway, decimating neighborhoods in an area with many Black residents.

“‘The coalition is from all backgrounds, all different cultures, all different ethnicities,” said Candace Moppins. ‘This is not just an East Side thing, it’s a City of Buffalo thing.

“‘The only parkway that has been grossly taken away is this one, and we want it back,’ Moppins said. ‘We want it back.’

“The state plan calls for a tunnel that stretches three-fourths of a mile from Dodge Street near Martin Luther King Jr. Park to Sidney Street, as well as a cover that includes trees, other landscape features and crossings to connect neighborhoods divided by the Kensington. The project was initially advanced by Restore Our Community Coalition, which worked with the DOT to develop the plan after being dissuaded by the agency and politicians from seeking the parkway’s full restoration.”

And here’s the latest as of yesterday, “an early victory”: “Judge grants temporary restraining order for Kensington tunnel project.”

“State Supreme Court Justice Emilio Colaiacovo issued a temporary restraining order in effect for the next two weeks until East Side Parkways Coalition and the State State Department of Transportation meet again in court on Oct. 25. At that time, state officials will seek to have the civil case dismissed, while the coalition will request a preliminary injunction.”

The saga continues; stay tuned to the East Side Parkways Coalition for updates and ways to get involved.

Social Connection to Heal our Epidemic of Loneliness

Further inspired by the work of U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on social connection – including a declaration of an epidemic of loneliness and isolation in 2023 – I expanded the vision of Reconnecter to serve this more widespread cause. One way we can help here in Western New York is to create a comprehensive community events calendar, a huge effort that demands deep collaboration and financial support. While I’ve been seeking financial support to do this through Reconnecter, I’ve answered the call to join forces with fellow creatives and many former colleagues from The Buffalo News in launching the nonprofit Buffalo Hive, and encouraged The Hive to task on this task.

We can see this commitment in the Hive’s statement of purpose: “a nonprofit online journalism organization dedicated to covering Western New York arts and culture communities by providing thorough, independent reporting and the most inclusive, comprehensive event calendar possible.”

And we can support The Hive this Sunday at Babeville, for a $35 “fun-raiser” featuring music from Comienzos (folk/jazz/marimba), spoken word performances by Yamilla Tate & Ben Brandise, food from Bocce Club Pizza and more. Help us answer the common question, “Why didn’t I know about that?!”


Support social connection with a Reconnecter membership!

Musings on Music

Seeing Stevie Wonder

On Tuesday, I witnessed Stevie Wonder kicking off a quickly-announced 11-show tour of mostly swing states entitled, “Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” through which he’s calling for “joy over anger, kindness over recrimination, peace over war.”

Stevie sits on my musical mountaintop, an artist of such ever-pouring love and light that he’s universally beloved – seriously, if someone said they didn’t like Stevie Wonder, I’d worry about their heart.

To share space with Stevie is such a gift, and the feeling is apparently mutual, as he glowed and goofed and gushed through some twenty songs over two hours, beginning with a sermon in which he insisted he wasn’t there to preach, and maybe intentionally didn’t choose sides or name names, even as he repeatedly spoke generally of politicians and our duty to be most concerned and indeed involved, to paraphrase his politically-charged hit “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” now 50 years since it topped the charts.

For this tour, he told Billboard Magazine, “I’ve always felt that singing and expressing love throughout our world can make a major difference – it always has and always will. Truthfully, I miss you; I miss performing. So I will be singing my songs, your songs; we will be celebrating songs and music as together we fix our nation’s broken heart.”

After his opening sermon, he performed his new single “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” then partied through a hit parade that was so joyfully present, sometimes whimsically starting and stopping songs, checking in with the crowd in between each to ensure we were all along for the joyride.

While at no point during the show did he say, “vote,” “Kamala” or “Trump,” his commitment is clear.

See the videos below for his description of this new song as more than a “single,” actually a “commitment” – and the urgent societal issue he spoke of directly before powerful politicians as well as the crowd in Pittsburgh.

We often hear songs like this dismissed as utopian; imagine all the people living by their words? I’m with Stevie in believing that we can, and sharing his conviction that music can inspire us to move forward and show up for each other with a universal love – consider the potential power of honoring these songs as commitments?

He closed the show with a message of love and connection that I wish could echo inside of everyone: “I love you. Take care of you. Cuz you got a piece of me inside of you, so take care of me, too.”


Become a paying member to help us present and promote Buffalo music and art!

Events in the Week Ahead

Thanks to all submitting their events! Welcoming event submissions with a flyer and link to seamus@reconnecter.org.

Become a paying member to help us promote community events!


Listening Links

Focused this week on the war in the Middle East – when one is feeling helpless or hopeless, we can at least seek to understand.

The Year Since October 7th – The Daily by the New York Times – “One year ago, Israel suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history. The conflict that followed has become bigger and deadlier by the day, killing tens of thousands of people and expanding from Gaza to Yemen, Lebanon and now Iran.

“Today, we return to two men in Israel and Gaza, to hear how their lives have changed.”

Vox podcasts tackle the Israel-Hamas war – Vox Media – “Vox podcasts have spent the past year covering the conflict in depth, offering our listeners context and clarity about the history of the conflict, a deeper understanding of the players in Israel and Palestine and on the world stage, and the toll of Hamas’s attack and Israel’s retaliation on the people in the region.”

How Biden’s Middle East Policy Fell Apart – The Ezra Klein Show – “…inside the diplomatic bubble of the conflict and the administrations of other Middle Eastern states that have serious stakes in Israel’s war in Gaza.”

Reconnecting to Prevent Social Unrest – WBFO What’s Next – Leaving this link up for a while, as I’m honored to have been invited onto this profound program – this went real deep from the jump, please listen! Here’s how they described it: “Seamus Gallivan’s latest endeavor is Reconnecter, a ‘social connection space’ that aims to bring people together in person and online ‘by illuminating the ties that bind us.’ That means music showcases, variety shows, and media elements — all to help provide a need that he believes can help prevent social unrest. Gallivan sits down with Thomas O’Neil-White to speak about the power of reconnection and his plans for the new project.”


Reading Rundown

With intent to connect, inform, and inspire action, every edition of the Buffalodown closes with links to other sources and stories that deserve more attention. Always welcoming links to read and share at seamus@reconnecter.org.

$10 million plan to tackle Buffalo’s lead crisis – Investigative Post – “State grant will enable the county to hire additional staff to inspect houses for lead contamination.“

As Alzheimer’s grows, communities work to earn ‘dementia-friendly’ status – The Buffalo News – “As things change and the disease progresses, we’re here with them every step of the way.”

Main Street’s new culinary bookstore wants to change your life – Four Bites – “Since Covid, Behzadi said, she’s noticed more young adults looking for a ‘third space,’ not home, not work. Where they can share, learn, seek community, maybe make friends. ”

Fundraiser seeks to address Indigenous homelessness in WNY – WBFO – “The organizer of the Halloween-themed event talked about what the situation is like, how the event aims to help the Native community, and how the mission can expand.”

All eyes are on Pennsylvania this election cycle. Erie County demonstrates why – NPR – “Erie County is the battleground within the battleground: The county — and the state — went twice for Obama, then for Trump in 2016, and for Biden in 2020. Demographically, the county also mirrors the state, consisting of a Democratic city center, conservative rural areas and ideologically mixed suburbs.”

Slight uptick in Americans wanting U.S. to help diplomatically resolve Israel-Hamas war – Pew Research Center – “Half of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party think Israel has gone too far, while only 13% of Republicans and GOP leaners agree.”


Thank YOU for reading this far and being part of it all – extra thanks to everyone supporting this work with a membership at www.reconnecter.org!

Please share with friends to sign up for next Monday’s Reconnecter Roundup, and reach out with any feedback, all ideas welcome – we’re just getting started!