Photo credit: Sharon Owens’ for Mayor Facebook page
“Black women are the backbone of this city. We are the moral, cultural, and communal infrastructure holding it up.
SHAVON S. GREENE
And yet, we are treated as if we’re replaceable, forgettable, and disposable. That stops here.”
In this opinion piece, I explore how misogynoir, the intersection of racism and sexism targeting Black women, shows up in how Syracuse treats its most visible Black women leaders. From Democratic mayoral candidate Sharon Owens to community powerhouse Mary Nelson, and long‐serving Common Council President Helen Hudson, their leadership, visibility, and service are often meet scrutiny, disrespect, and erasure. Their stories force us to confront what Syracuse’s relationship with Black womanhood, power, and presence truly reveals.
The Cost of Being Seen
In Syracuse, when a Black woman rises, people notice. Not always with applause. Sometimes with silence. Sometimes with thinly veiled critique. Most times with discomfort. This city has long benefited from the labor, loyalty, and leadership of Black women, but it has rarely loved us back fully if at all. We are expected to lead, fix, show up, smile, and make it look easy. But the truth? There’s a cost to being seen here. And that cost is often extracted in humiliation, doubt, and public punishment. Black women are the backbone of this city. We are the moral, cultural, and communal infrastructure holding it up. And yet, we are treated as if we’re replaceable, forgettable, and disposable. That stops here.
Sharon Owens. Mary Nelson. Helen Hudson.
If you’ve lived in Syracuse long enough, you know these names, not because of scandal or failure, but because of their relentless work, their faith in this city, and their service to people who rarely get served. Personally, I don’t know these women deeply. But as a local Black woman, business owner, and trained journalist, I’ve watched how this city treats them and I recognize the pattern. My role, as I see it, is to call it by its name.
What is Misogynoir?
Misogynoir, a term coined by scholar Moya Bailey, describes the unique hatred aimed at Black women where racism and sexism intersect. It’s how the world disciplines us for existing too boldly. In Syracuse, misogynoir looks like this: celebrating when Black women struggle, then unfairly criticizing us when we succeed; radio silence when we’re disrespected, and violence when we demand respect and basic humanity; fake smiles masking exclusion from earned opportunities. This isn’t theoretical. Misogynoir kills opportunity, credibility, and spirit. It isolates. It punishes. It makes visibility dangerous. And, many Black women have either lost their lives or had life-altering experiences because of it.
The Sharon Owens Moment
Last January, then–city budget director Tim Rudd compared Democratic mayoral candidate Sharon Owens, a respected Black woman leader, to enslaved women.
According to CNY Central, Rudd said in a recording:
The slave owner uses the mother to break the children and control them. That is already in the ether for Sharon.”
Let’s pause right there.
Rudd and Owens are both running for mayor, a race that would make Owens Syracuse’s first Black mayor if elected. And instead of challenging her on policy, Rudd reached for the oldest racial slur wrapped in academic language.
He wanted that Black woman to remember her place.
A racist would call enslaved women, who were denied bodily autonomy, exploited, and forced to bear children for profit: “slave mothers.” Then he’d weaponize that image to insult a local Black woman leader. Some local media outlets, instead of naming that violence for what it was, initially framed it as “allegedly racist.” Allegedly. As if there’s room for debate.
City spokesperson statement confirming Rudd’s firing:
The statements attributed to him in local media and in his own social media posts, which he does not deny making, are racist, disrespectful, and demeaning. They are inconsistent with the City’s expectations — especially for those in a management role.” (via centralcurrent.org)
Rudd was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 31, 2025, and the city confirmed his termination on Feb. 10, 2025, with removal effective March 18, 2025, according to Spectrum Local News.
Despite this undeniably racist comment, that he later doubled down on, some candidates still spoke favorably about him and played down the severity of his comments.
Even local Black community members still supported Rudd after this statement. (Shame on you.)
Meanwhile, Pat Hogan, another white male candidate, refused to withdraw from the race even after Owens won the Democratic primary. The local party had to publicly urge him to step aside. It’s hard to believe Hogan would have done that to another white male candidate. When Black women earn power, someone always finds a way to challenge their right to hold it and even go out of their way to punish them for it.
We see this over and over — white men (read: people) weaponizing fragility, and frankly, being sore losers. Instead of losing with integrity and learning from it, they rewrite the story to make themselves victims. Literally, rewriting history. And, many of our community members rally behind them for their bigotry. The hate for Black women is more important, to them, than what is right and what is wrong. Black women are not above critique, but we are human beings. There’s a difference between accountability and cruelty, and too often, the Syracuse community confuses the two when it comes to Black women.
Black women are not above critique, but we are human beings. There’s a difference between accountability and cruelty, and too often, the Syracuse community confuses the two when it comes to Black women.
SHAVON S. GREENE
Photo Credit: Facebook.com
Mary Nelson: The Giver Under Suspicion
Mary Nelson has fed, clothed, and uplifted countless children across Syracuse through her youth center and her famous back-to-school giveaways that earned national attention. Her record of service is well documented. The street named after her is proof of her impact. In 2014, Oprah Winfrey called her a “community warrior” and donated $100,000, the largest check Oprah had ever written to a local organization.
And what did Syracuse.com do a year later?
They published an article titled,
“What happened to $100,000 Oprah Winfrey donated for Syracuse Basketball Court?”
The story acknowledged Nelson’s ongoing work, but it framed her with suspicion. Nelson explained that she was saving the money for a youth homeless center — a clarification buried halfway down the piece. The message was clear: a Black woman’s credibility is always up for debate.
The article was full of dog whistles. Nelson stated she did not use any of the donation Oprah gave her. The writer claimed, “For every rumor, Nelson has an answer.” Yet, never named the rumors. The writer shares that it has been confirmed that the new van Nelson had for her youth center was donated by a local organization. She then turned around and weaponized the new, donated van to still cast doubt on Nelson’s mission.
The writer’s focus: “The site where Nelson promised to build a basketball court is still a vacant lot. Nelson had not filed the required tax paperwork to disclose her fundraising for five years. The center has a shiny new van. And now, she has drawn even more attention to herself by taking on fellow Democrat Khalid Bey in a primary for Syracuse Common Council.”
A writer who hasn’t checked her racial bias would turn a “basketball court” into a scandal even after quoting Nelson explaining exactly why and what she planned to do with the money — as if a Black woman doing a decade of community work suddenly became suspicious once a Black billionaire noticed her. “Drawn more attention to herself”? No, the local media could not help but acknowledge her work, and then punished her for it. Her having the audacity to use her influence to run for a public position was described as her drawing more attention to herself. Let’s pause. What does that even mean? And, the “shiny new van” is not a second van, but the same van the writer already confirmed as a donation. Misogynoir thrives in these subtle digs because part of what helps it thrive is also denying Black women’s truth; the small turns of phrase that twist genuine support into doubt.
Nelson, also shared how hard it has been raising more money, which is something that disproportionally affects Black women. Nelson has been doing this same, consistent work for almost a decade prior to the Oprah donation on in-kind donations and her own money. Black women often only break even or put ourselves in the red to help our communities. Black women are still the largest growing group of entrepreneurs and still the most educated group of people in the United States. This is one of the many things the writer could have done a deeper dive on.
That article wasn’t seeking truth; it was seeking spectacle. Would anyone question how long a white woman, called a “community warrior” by Oprah, took to build a basketball court? Or even talk about it at all when the white woman already stated she was having a hard time raising funds for the basketball court and stated what she planned to use it on instead? This is what misogynoir looks like when it’s dressed in “accountability journalism.” It’s not transparency; it’s surveillance. It’s not an innocent inquiry; it’s an insult.
The media has long been weaponized against Black women: to discredit, distort, and dehumanize us until the public believes we deserve whatever comes next. From the headlines to the comment sections, the message remains the same: our pain is entertainment and comfort for many. Misogynoir doesn’t just shape perception; it shapes outcomes. Misogynoir affects the quality of our lives, and sometimes, it kills us. And, even the most subtle version of it contributes to that fact.
Photo Credit: Facebook.com
Helen Hudson: Targeted for Her Humanity
Helen Hudson has served Syracuse for decades. As Common Council President, she’s known for steady leadership and genuine concern for her community.
In 2019, she criticized a viral video of police use of force as “very disturbing” and said the behavior “will not continue to be tolerated.” ( via cnycentral.com)
In a Facebook post on August 20, 2020, Hudson accused a city official, Jeff Piedmont, of using a FOIL request as a tool of personal intimidation against her family:
Jeff Piedmont is a piece of shit. Everyone in Syracuse knows my son is struggling with addiction and mental health and I have never made it a secret. But for Jeff Piedmont to foil a video of my son to get at me. You coming for me you piece of shit COME FOR ME!”
This shows how visibility and personal vulnerability become a liability for Black women leaders in this city. Hudson’s experience highlights a broader truth: Syracuse relies on Black women to hold the city together, yet punishes their visibility and humanity.
And Yet, We Rise
Syracuse’s relationship with Black women is complicated, but it is, sadly, mostly exploitative. We are celebrated when convenient and discarded when challenging. We’re leaned on for our strength, wisdom, organizing, and healing, but denied grace, power, or rest.
And yet, we rise anyway.
Our rise is not a romantized miracle. It is deliberate, unshakable, and undeniable — a declaration that this city cannot thrive without the Black women it refuses to fully see.
FORTHERECORD, written by SHAVON S. GREENE, is an essay column and living cultural archive that examines the experiences, challenges, and public perceptions of Black women (in Syracuse and beyond). Greene (@xoShav0n ), a local journalist with 20 years of digital storytelling experience, holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Journalism from the prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She is also the founder of Auntie’s Book Bar, a local independent bookstore.
Our rise is not a romantized miracle. It is deliberate, unshakable, and undeniable — a declaration that this city cannot thrive without the Black women it refuses to fully see.
SHAVON. S. GREENE
In collaboration with local independent bookstore AUNTIE’S BOOK BAR, the FORTHERECORD column
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