Marcano’s column should serve as a challenge to anyone “checking the box” of Black History Month, to go beyond name-dropping Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or casually recognizing the other familiar names and accomplishments.
“No one individual, regardless of race, bears blame for the country’s systematic discrimination of the past.” Marcano continued. “But we’re all responsible for what happens now. That starts with connecting the dots, understanding how the past impacts today, and why Black people still face a tough road to equality.”
We often hear about the problems confronting our Black communities and our reporting on these problems is the critical first step in identifying and overcoming them. As we wrote earlier this year, for every topic our reporters cover, there are numerous people in the community whose perspective and expertise can enrich the conversation. Building on the strong reporting from our staff, it is the role of Ideas & Voices to lead discussion and debate about how the Dayton region gets better.
Throughout February, Ideas & Voices will be “connecting the dots” by profiling Black individuals and organizations doing the work to better our communities. Black History Month presents an opportunity to, as Marcano said, understand how the past impacts today and, critically, to turn that understanding into action. These contributors are community leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, volunteers and more. They are problem-solvers, solution-seekers and change agents.
We are excited to share with you these contributed columns throughout the rest of the month as we continue to explore issues important to our Black communities. We are also making it a point to, as much as possible, feature photography from local Black photographers to accompany these columns, including work from Shon Curtis, Imani Mari and Sean Korey.
Of course, this commitment doesn’t begin and end in February. Ideas & Voices aims to mirror the diversity of our communities throughout the year. Many of the issues discussed this month are deeply entrenched and these columns should serve as a launching point for further conversation — and action — well beyond Black History Month.
We hope you enjoy this month’s project and invite you to follow along with the rest of our Black History Month coverage at daytondailynews.com/black-history.
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JARED GRANDY Black leadership requires more than representation "As a Black American who is often underrepresented, it is heartening to see people in leadership that look like me, but I want to explore our leaders beyond their surface and examine if they have the hearts and minds that can build on our history to improve our future." |
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MARY EVANS It’s my mission to give my community a voice Mary Evans talks about creating a newspaper in her prison institution, what inspired her to create her WYSO series "ReEntry Stories" and co-founding The Journalism Lab. |
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DION GREEN, ANTHONY HEAD, NAASIAHA SIMON, TE'JAL JARRAE “It’s time to address the ‘That’s just the way it is’ mentality” Hear highlights from our Community Conversation. |
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TIFFANY COUNTRYMAN Creating a space for teens to create Through her company MinistryIsMe Ministries, Tiffany Countryman has been working to create an inclusive space for teenagers to create, imagine and grow. |
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SHARI COOPER Helping others to say, “But I did!” Shari Cooper writes about the "Triple Jeopardy factor": being Black, being a woman, and having a disability. |
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TOM ROBERTS Ohio’s death penalty disproportionately affects Black men Tom Roberts, president of the Ohio Conference of the NAACP and a former state senator, writes about the racial biases inherent in Ohio's death penalty. |
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RHEA ADKINS Veganism deeper than the foods we eat, it’s about the life we live Rhea Adkins writes about what inspired her journey to veganism and how the change transformed much more than her diet. |
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DEXTER BAILEY The importance of teaching Black history Dexter Bailey writes: "If the next generation doesn’t learn songs like the Black National Anthem and other key pieces of Black history, they may well be doomed to live by the narrative created for them by others." |
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MICHEL'LE CURINGTON Closing the learning gap through tutoring Michel'le Curington remembers feeling afraid to ask questions and needing extra help with her classes. She started tutoring to help children with their studies and confidence. |
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ZURI ALI, TALIAFERRO SEBASTIAN, BYRON SMITH The healing power of art Hear from three local artists discuss issues important to them, from the importance of exposing art to kids, to a debate about AI-generated art. |
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DARIUS BECKHAM Help build the community you want, here Darius Beckham, Senior Policy Aide to Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims, writes about growing up in Dayton and what inspired him to not only stay here himself, but to help inspire other young professionals to stay. |
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RODNEY VEAL My love letter to what Bing Davis means to all of us Rodney Veal writes about the legacy of Dayton artist Bing Davis: "In a world where a Black body can feel targeted and dismissed, Bing guides us by example, illuminating our path with grace, wit, and prodigious talent." |
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JOHNJE JASPER Community health workers critical in addressing medically underserved areas Johnjé Jasper addresses medically underserved areas through a new community health worker program at Kettering College. |
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CAMILLE HALL Black professionals need spaces to connect and collaborate Camille Hall is the director of the Young Black Professionals and Businesses of Springfield. In today's Ideas & Voices, she writes about the importance of Black professional networking in helping to address the racial wealth gap. |
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GENEA G. WHITE Teacher stress and the ongoing challenges from the pandemic Dr. Geneá G. White is a veteran educator who currently works for Northridge Local Schools. In today's Ideas & Voices, she writes about a program designed to address the types of challenges that contribute to teachers’ stress. |
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JAZMON STEWART Addressing food, environmental injustice through community education Jazmon Stewart is the CEO of iThrive and a Youth Gardening Educator for Scholars of H.O.P.E. She's on a mission to mitigate food and environmental injustices that affect BIPOC communities. |
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SHON CURTIS, SEAN KOREY, IMANI MARI ‘We are dedicated to being honest and holding up this mirror for the world’ Listen to a discussion with three tremendously talented photographers that touches on their creative influences, their approach to their art, and the challenges they face as photographers, business-people, and residents of Dayton. |
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JARHAL DUNCAN You are capable of thriving regardless of circumstances Dr. Jarhal Duncan's experience in family therapy, refugee therapy, youth correctional systems, international social work, school therapy and urban art therapy all inform his practice as a mental health professional. |
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FAHEEM CURTIS-KHIDR Take what can be imagined into living, thriving communal structures Faheem Curtis-Khidr talks about the upcoming Imagining Community Symposium, "a regional beacon drawing in the best, brightest and most innovative academics, thought leaders and community organizers from around the country." |
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SADE DIKE I want to educate, expose and empower the Black diaspora "The trans-Atlantic slave trade is not where African American stories began, and where it took us cannot be where our stories end." |
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MAYOR JEFFREY J. MIMS, JR. Dayton is driving transformative change throughout our neighborhoods Dayton Mayor Jeffrey J. Mims, Jr. contributed a column that touches on many of the themes discussed in today's State of the City address. |
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PAIGE SCOTT & TIFFANY EDWARDS-KENION If fashion industry won’t provide plus-size women with options, we will Paige Scott and Tiffany Edwards-Kenion, the co-owners of Beautique 143, write about their frustrations with the lack of plus-size fashion options - and what they're doing to fix that. |
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JASON LEE Reclaim, restore and reignite our culture Jason Lee, owner of MOVES GLOBAL, writes about the importance of Black-owned media production companies: "We now control the narrative with a mission to reclaim, restore and reignite our culture." |
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AMAHA SELLASSIE Building our Black future together Amaha Sellassie, Co-Executive Director of CO-OP Dayton, talks about the organization's mission, the co-ops it is currently supporting and the importance of cultivating intentional, deep relationships with Black and working class communities. |
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RACHEL WARD Mitigating generational poverty by building pathways to self-sufficiency Rachel Ward, Director of Operations & Strategic Initiatives for the Omega CDC, shares the initiatives underway that are designed to mitigate generation poverty for the 6,700 children and 3,400 families living in Northwest Dayton. |
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YOUNG LADIES ASPIRING GREATNESS Changing the narrative for Black teen girls "We must continuously pour into our young people so in return they will pour back into us, the community. They are our future leaders." |
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DANA GRAHAM Support arts collectives that enhance the Black creative experience "Community is at the foundation of what I am called to do, which is why I created Scripted in Black, a multi-disciplinary creative collective." |
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NAASIAHA SIMON I want Daytonians to know they are loved, appreciated, celebrated and seen "My mental health journey pushed me to advocate for mental health awareness and eventually sparked the idea that is now the Gem City Selfie Museum." |