Glenville’s East Boulevard district has been entrenched in history since the 1950’s and the early 1960’s. Reverand Isaiah Poke Jr. was pastor at St. Mark’s Church, Cleveland’s only all-African American Presbyterian Congregation. The head of the Cleveland NAACP, he was instrumental in the creation of the United Freedom Movement, a coalition of approximately 60 African American civic, religious, cultural and other groups opposing racism. His involvements brought him to the attention of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the NAACP; and James L. Farmer Jr., national chairperson of the Congress of Racial Equality.
Today, thanks in part to state and federal historic credits and the work of the Famicos Foundation, his historic church is being repurposed as St. Mark’s Community Center.
Famicos Foundation’s vision is a re-energized church building committed to the arts, education and the workforce where receptions spill over from the nearby Cleveland Cultural Gardens and alliances are created with neighboring University Circle institutions.
“We would love to have institutions help move this project forward, and we want this facility to represent the African American experience of that arts and culture district,” says Khalid Hawthorne, real estate development director of Famicos Foundation.
Past, Present and Future
On a four-acre parcel at the intersection of MLK Boulevard and St. Clair Avenue lies the African American Cultural Gardens with a monument representative of the African American Experience’s past, present and future.
With land acquired on October 23, 1977, Phase One of the monument, designed by Cleveland architect W. Daniel Bickerstaff, was completed in 2016 and depicts the Door of No Return and the Corridor of No Return, each commemorating the transatlantic slave trade. Today, a $4 million fundraising effort is underway for the creation of a 60-inch platform depicting the emergence of this community.
“This monument represents the people of this country — their pride and resilience. It features descending waters indicating the journey and emerging waters representing our future,” explains Lavita Ewing, Association of African American Cultural Gardens board member and development chairperson.
“The North Star represents our ancestors coming to this new land. They followed that star, in search of opportunity. Water plays an important role in our culture. Here, students and the general public will learn how each phase of life contributes to our future.”
The Chef Returns Home
Cleveland Heights native Jeremy McBryde (aka the “Flava Finess’a”) left town over 15 years ago for Los Angeles, ultimately opening Comfort LA and Flava Neighborhood. These successful restaurants were recognized by Forbes, the LA Times, LA Weekly, Thrillist, Yelp Beyonce’s list, Kevin Hart, LeBron James and more. McBryde made his mark on Food
Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” and judged some of its competitions.
“I was a west coast transplant in need of creation of a space that felt like family,” McBryde says. He was stocked with family recipes that felt like home. Maw Maw’s candied yams, Granny’s banana pudding and Cousin Kina’s mac-and-cheese all were reminiscent of his Cleveland roots. Famicos provided the enticement for his return.
Today, McBryde’s Comfort CLE is “a family reunion every time you come here,” he says. Communal seating places guests with people they know and soon-to-be-friends.
Comfort CLE, based on its LA counterpart and Flava Neighbor (a restaurant development house open on days when Comfort CLE is nonoperational) were started with Partner and Chef Renard Shanklin.
