Speaker: Terry Alford - Michigan Street Buffalo

The Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor is a nationally and internationally recognized Buffalo neighborhood that serves as the focal point of residents’ and visitors’ experience for learning about Buffalo’s rich African American history through its vibrant neighborhoods, shops, restaurants, unique structures, historical markers, people and institutions, as well as its significant impact on local, national and international history.

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Although the most concentrated portion of the corridor is along Michigan Avenue from Ferry Street on the North, past the Medical Campus, Broadway Street continuing to South Division Street, the entire Heritage Area is much more than just a few blocks along Michigan Avenue (The Michigan Street Corridor - Image Right).  The Heritage Area is a rich composition of locations across Buffalo, and it embodies themes of Freedom, Cultural Expression and Self-Determination, spanning time and transcending a single geography.  

The time periods celebrated by the Michigan Street African American Heritage Area include the Abolitionist movement, the Civil Rights movement, and several cultural and artistic renaissance periods.

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The Heritage Corridor’s festivals, cultural events, and artistic programming draw residents, national and international tourists, scholars and artists, writers, storytellers, poets, dancers, and actors to a thriving, community of historic urban scale.

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As an advocate for the community, the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission endeavors to integrate the African American cultural significance and impact on Buffalo’s history through public engagement, community education that will invigorate, inspire and enliven cultural appreciation, preservation and community development.