HOUSTON – Sunnyside, the well-known neighborhood on Houston’s southeast side, has been known by that name for more than 100 years.
SEE MORE: KPRC 2′s Our Town series is in the Sunnyside community today🌞 Here’s what we’re covering
The neighborhood was carved out specifically for the African American community, according to a City of Houston “Super Neighborhood” report. The idea of so-called “restricted communities” was born out of racism and segregation.
Originally dubbed “Sunnyside,” because it seemed sunnier than Downtown (perhaps because there were no big buildings to block the sunlight), it grew steadily.
In 1927, “Sunnyside Colored School” became part of the Houston Independent School District.
Today, Sunnyside, according to figures from the City of Houston, is home to about 23,000 Houstonians.
The six square-mile neighborhood remains largely African American, about 75%, according to census figures.
In 2019, the median household income income for Sunnyside residents was $27,954, vs the overall Houston median of $52,338, a sizeable gap.
Difference Makers
Sunnyside has it’s very own Mayor.
It’s an honorary title, but one that has endured for years.
“Even as a teenager, everybody thought I was older than I was, and I was outspoken. And I was always looking for ways to provide resources for the community as a teenager,” Sandra Massie Hines, said.
Massie Hines has demonstated decades of service to her community and was instrumental in the building of a new multi-service center last year.
It’s one of the nicest looking multi-service centers in the city, and it appears to truly provide community services to residents, including health and wellness needs.
Hines next project is the “Sunnyside ‘Original’ March on Crime,” slated for March 25, 2024. Massie Hines hosts the annual event that features members of the law enforcement and is open to the public. The focus is on keeping Sunnyside’s seniors, in particular, from becoming victims of crime.
This year, the event will be held at Sunnyside HMSC at 4410 Reed Road from 10am - 2pm.
“I can give you a lot of things that need to be done out here. Y’all should have been out here a little earlier, there was about 90 seniors. I collaborate with 70 to 90 seniors on any day that I’m here. And, one just left for, came with a with a problem with the gas and water bills,” Massie Hines recounted.
But you don’t have to be the “Mayor of Sunnyside” to make a difference.
Joseph “Rock” Roquemore owns AJ’s barber shop on Reed Road, and he now employs the men whose hair he cut when they were youngsters.
“He held a seat for me,” Warren Reed, a barber, now 34, said.
Roquemore is an engaging person, who seems truly interested in bettering his community.
He annually organizes a back-to-school event, that students and parents not only look forward to, but often rely on.
“A lot of parents, especially around back to school time, you know, there’s rent. And then maybe ten days later, they have to buy school clothes, and it costs an average of $600 per kid to be able to send kids to school. And I know this. A lot of mothers, single mothers out here, a lot of, grandmothers and just families that can’t afford it. I was one of those kids that my mother had to scrape it together,” Roquemore said.
You can learn more about Roquemore’s “Rock-In-Hood” Foundation here.