South Side Community & Social Action-Justice Networks

07/09/2026

Conway IGA, a longtime downtown grocery store, is closing. 💔😭

The reported closures of several IGA, KJ-IGA, and other grocery stores across the, 7th Congressional District, and South Carolina especially in communities already considered food deserts are deeply concerning.

Too many families, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and working people are already disproportionately impacted by limited access to fresh, affordable food. Losing neighborhood grocery stores will only make that burden heavier. Many of these stores are within walking distance or are the most accessible option for residents who lack reliable transportation. With public transportation remaining limited in many areas, these closures could leave thousands with even fewer options to meet their basic needs. Access to nutritious food is not a luxury it is a necessity. We cannot continue to allow our communities to become grocery deserts.

There must be a collaborative effort among local leaders, state officials, business and faith leaders, and community organizations to find sustainable solutions that keep grocery stores operating in underserved neighborhoods. Our communities deserve investment, not abandonment.

Conway IGA, a longtime downtown grocery store, is closing. Here’s what we know

07/09/2026

The reported closures of several IGA, KJ'S-IGA, and other grocery stores across the, 7th Congressional District, and South Carolina especially in communities already considered food deserts are deeply concerning.

Too many families, seniors, individuals with disabilities, and working people are already disproportionately impacted by limited access to fresh, affordable food. Losing neighborhood grocery stores will only make that burden heavier. Many of these stores are within walking distance or are the most accessible option for residents who lack reliable transportation. With public transportation remaining limited in many areas, these closures could leave thousands with even fewer options to meet their basic needs. Access to nutritious food is not a luxury it is a necessity. We cannot continue to allow our communities to become grocery deserts.

There must be a collaborative effort among local leaders, state officials, business and faith leaders, and community organizations to find sustainable solutions that keep grocery stores operating in underserved neighborhoods. Our communities deserve investment, not abandonment.

The Latta IGA is closing , according to officials with Lowes Foods.
The company released the following statement as to the closing:

"It is always difficult to make a decision to close a store, and we regret any impact these closings may have on the communities we serve.

Our hosts will be offered positions at other Kj’s Market or IGA stores. If this is geographically impractical, we will provide financial assistance to help with their transition."

It's not being said when the store will close.
Some community members said they're saddened by the closing.

They said the IGA has been a staple in Latta for more than 30 years and they hate to see it close.

06/16/2026

CELEBRATE JUNETEENTH💙❤️🤍 CONWAY, SC!

FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 2026
2PM - 7PM
SMITH JONES PARK
1710 SMITH JONES ST, CONWAY, SC 29527

Free Entertainment
FAMILY FRIENDLY🖤💚❤️💛

06/09/2026

South Carolina’s Democratic and Republican Primaries are here.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Before you head out, make sure you know where to vote and have your photo ID ready.

02/04/2026

Did you know Black Germans were also persecuted during the Holocaust?

Gert Schramm was just 15 years old when the N***s arrested him and imprisoned him in the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Born in Germany in 1928 to a Black American father and a white German mother, Schramm was targeted under N**i racial ideology that labeled Afro-Germans as “non-Aryan” and racially inferior.

Although Afro-Germans were a small community, they were still subjected to discrimination, harassment, and state violence. Black children were pushed out of schools, families lost jobs, and hundreds of Afro-German youth were forcibly sterilized as part of the N**i effort to erase so-called “undesirable” populations.

This included African Americans, Afro-Caribbean individuals, and Africans living in or passing through the country for work or settlement. At the heart of Germany’s Black community were men from Germany’s former colonies, including East Africa, Togo, and Cameroon along with their German wives and their mixed-race children.

Unlike the genocide carried out against Europe’s Jewish population, the N***s did not implement a single, systematic extermination program specifically targeting Black Germans, and because of that, there is no exact historical record of how many Black people were killed in camps. But historians confirm Afro-Germans were imprisoned, abused, murdered under the N**i regime.

And although Black people still face widespread racism across the world today, the number of researchers and historians who have explored the persecution of Black people under the N***s in any meaningful depth remains relatively small.

Schramm survived Buchenwald..and after the war, he refused silence. In his memoir, My Father Was a Negro: Wer hat Angst vorm schwarzen Mann, he documented what it meant to be a Black teenager living under N**i rule, ensuring Afro-German voices would not be erased from Holocaust remembrance.

His story is a reminder: Black history is global. Holocaust history is broader than many are taught. And remembrance must include every life they tried to erase.

✍🏾 Angela Dennis