In her debut memoir, award-winning journalist Natasha S. Alford chronicles how she spent her early life in Syracuse navigating the complexities of her Afro-Latina identity and how that has shaped her.

The memoir, American Negra, details her experience growing up as the child of a Puerto Rican mother and an African American father. 

Alford covered an array of topics, involving culture, education, family, history, identity, migration and racism. The book covers her childhood and how it shaped her. Alford is now the vice president of digital content at The Grio, a Black news and lifestyle website, and a CNN political analyst. She’s also studying public policy at Princeton University.

“The book in many ways is a love letter to Syracuse because it’s a testament to what it means for a community to invest in a young person and I wouldn’t be where I am without the collective efforts of the people of Syracuse,” Alford said.

Alford, born and raised in Syracuse, will discuss her book at Parthenon Books at 6 p.m. in downtown Syracuse on Friday, which is also 315 day. 

The Nottingham High School graduate was raised in the Valley and South Side of Syracuse. Her cultural diversity, as an Afro-Latina, was often met with puzzled looks and questions about her race and ethnic identity. 

While working on her novel, Alford leaned on her familial experiences and memories. During periodic visits to her childhood home, she talked at length with her parents, viewed family photographs, and revisited places she cherished while growing up.

“I took a lot of trips home to Syracuse, just to try to recapture a sense of place,” Alford said.

Whenever she’s in town, Alford dutifully makes a stop at Tully’s, Destiny Mall and Bruegger’s Bagels at Nottingham Road. Alford enjoys basking in her nostalgia for the Syracuse she grew up with.

“That’s the beauty of a smaller city, that when you go home there’s certain things that stay the same, you can count on them being there,”Alford said. “For years Syracuse kind of always looked the same and now it’s looking different. So, I’m getting to know a new side of Syacuse as well.”

While Alford enjoys Syracuse, she added historical elements to contextualize her experience in the city. She wanted the city’s history to help explain the systemic inequalities her family endured. 

“Our history shapes our current reality. I think we know that intellectually, but oftentimes we’re not actually understanding the history of the cities that we live in and places that we live in,” Alford said. “It was important for me to not just tell personal stories, but to fill in knowledge gaps for myself and for readers.”

Alford writes about her Puerto Rican and African American relatives fleeing their former homes and migrating to Upstate New York. That very migration of her relatives and others has helped shape the culture of Syracuse, Alford said. 

Before the demolition of the 15th ward, Alford’s father and her grandparents were the second Black family that lived there, Alford said. 

She saw the economic divide between communities, a direct impact of the Interstate 81 viaduct. As a child, she did not fully understand the history of the highway because it was not something discussed in classrooms or explained to children, she said.

“I hope people discover the beauty that is Syracuse and Upstate New York, but I also hope that it is one that includes everyone,” Alford said. “… We have to make sure that whatever economic improvements come to Syracuse that everyone can take part in it  because it undermines your effort if you leave people behind.”

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Yolanda Stewart was raised in the Bronx, New York City. Before choosing a career path in journalism she found a voice in writing plays, short stories, and a myriad of other creative outlets. She is a 2022...