The Westside is the historic home of Pittsfield’s Black community. Long the subject of discriminatory redlining practices, the neighborhood faces outsized challenges around poverty, crime, and lack of investment. The Westside Legends are a group of residents past and present working to improve life in the community through microgrants, scholarships, and other programs.
“It is a group that is giving back to the Westside. For us, growing up in such an area that gave us so much stability, love, and community engagement, it was our turn to start giving back," President Tony Jackson told WAMC. “It was multicultural when we were growing up. Everybody was family orientated, and we would know each other's mother and fathers, and they would be involved and engaged with us growing up and going to our activities and making sure we did things right and correcting us if we did things wrong. And that's what we're trying to bring back to the community, and I think that's what's missing right now in the community, is leadership, basically, getting involved in showing people that they care about each other.”
Westside Legends’ mission ranges from installing murals and holding farmers markets in the neighborhood to larger structural efforts to reverse decades of systemic racism.
“One of the biggest things in our initiative was to start off with people with home ownership," explained Jackson. "There was a lot of people who were renting, and the rents were steadily increasing, and we were like, why are you renting when you can own? So, we started a mortgage program through Greylock Federal Credit Union with very attractive rates and basically breaking down a lot of barriers so people could become homeowners. And then once we got to that point, we realized that the houses in the Westside were old stock and they needed to be uplifted, and so we started our buyback program to basically revitalize the area and bring home ownership and pride back to- You know, it's a different feeling when you own versus when you rent.”
Saturday brings the annual running of the Sweet G Super Soap Box Derby.
“When we were growing up, we had soap box derby races down the hill, Columbus Avenue, and we loved it," said Jackson. "We all would have cars that our father helped us build, and it was such a great event and a lot of fun. And since we got back involved with the community, we decided to bring it back, because things from the past always seemed to resonate with the youth. Getting kids to do soap box derbies and having somebody teach them how to build something- It's just something different than sitting in the house playing video games.”
Jackson wants the Westside children of today to make the kind of summer memories he cherishes from his own youth on the streets of Pittsfield.
“We would take wheels from the shopping carts to make our go-karts," he remembered. "And the fun things that happened during those races that would stick out would be us driving down the hill and the crashes, right? Somebody would crash and their car would break down, and it would just be a fun event. And some of the unique cars that were there, we had cars that, race cars that used bicycle tires. And we would go down, and you could do a spin, a 360 [degree spin], when you get to the bottom of hill. So, it was a lot of fun, with a lot of different creativity for the cart that was really unique.”
The derby, which begins on Robbins Avenue in the heart of the Westside, is set to kick off at noon.
“We a starting arch with all our partners and sponsors names, and then we have a finish line," Jackson told WAMC. "And the course is laid out with three different start areas: one for the small kids, one for the teens, and one for the adults. So, at 11 o'clock they do a pre-check to make sure all the cars are safe. So, all the cars will have to basically have a safety check. The cars will be put there, and then they'll go over the rules. Everyone has to wear a helmet and gloves.”
Trophies will be awarded to the winner of the race, the soap box car of the year, and the best-looking car in the running.
