By April Ryan, BlackPressUSA

As this nation observes the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, the words of President Trump reverberate. “This country will be WOKE no longer, an emboldened Trump offered during his speech to the recent a joint session of Congress night. Since then, Alabama Congresswoman Terri Sewell posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that “Elon Musk and his DOGE bros have ordered GSA to sell off the site of the historic Freedom Riders Museum in Montgomery.” Her post of little words went on to say, “This is outrageous and we will not let it stand! I am demanding an immediate reversal. Our Civil Rights history is not for sale!”

Also, in the news, the Associated Press is reporting they have a file of names and descriptions of more than 26,000 military images flagged for removal because of connections to women, minorities, culture, or DEI. In more attempts to downplay Blackness, a word that is interchanged with woke, Trump supporters have introduced another bill to take down the bright yellow letters of Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., in exchange for the name Liberty Plaza. D.C. Mayor Morial Bowser is allowing the name change to keep millions of federal dollars flowing there. Black Lives Matter Plaza was named in 2020 after a tense exchange between President Trump and George Floyd protesters in front of the White House. 

There are more reports about cuts to equity initiatives that impact HBCU students. Programs that recruited top HBCU students into the military and the pipeline for Department of Defense contracts have been canceled.

Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing back against this second-term Trump administration’s anti-DEI and Anti-woke message. In the wake of the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, several Congressional Black Caucus leaders are reintroducing the Voting Rights Act. South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn and Alabama Congresswoman Terry Sewell are sponsoring H.R. 14, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Six decades ago, Lewis was hit with a billy club by police as he marched for the right to vote for African Americans. The right for Black people to vote became law with the 1965 Voting Rights Act that has since been gutted, leaving the nation to vote without the full protections of the Voting Rights Act. 

Reflecting on the late Congressman Lewis, March 1, 2020, a few months before his death, Lewis said, “We need more than ever in these times many more someones to make good trouble- to make their own dent in the wall of injustice.”

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By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

In 2020, following the global Black Lives Matter protests, Walmart pledged to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging. Its “Belonging” program promised associates they would “feel seen, supported, and connected” and highlighted that diversity would drive engagement and business success. Four years later, Walmart is reversing course, dismantling many of those commitments as the incoming Trump administration advances policies critics argue will deepen racial divisions in America.

Once vocal about promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the retailer announced it would no longer consider race or gender when awarding supplier contracts or collecting demographic data for financing eligibility and grants. Walmart will also review its financial support for “Pride” events and restrict the sale of products such as chest binders for minors, which were previously marketed as part of gender-affirming care.

In a statement, Walmart pointed to its corporate purpose: “Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today. We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers, and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone.”

The changes follow efforts by conservative activists, including commentator Robby Starbuck, who has targeted major corporations for their diversity initiatives. Starbuck said his discussions with Walmart led to these changes and described the retailer’s decision as “the biggest win yet for our movement to end wokeness in corporate America.” Walmart has also discontinued racial equity training, ended participation in the Human Rights Coalition’s Corporate Equality Index, and removed terms like “Latinx” and “DEI” from its corporate lexicon.

The reversals align with the broader push from the incoming Trump administration to dismantle diversity programs nationwide. Trump has promised to eliminate federal DEI programs, dismantle protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, and penalize companies that prioritize diversity in hiring and promotions. His administration plans to enforce stricter oversight of corporate diversity efforts through the Department of Justice, targeting practices that allegedly violate laws barring racial and gender-based discrimination.

A Trump spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said the incoming president has made it clear that ending DEI policies is a top priority and that Americans have voted to favor these changes. Vice President-elect JD Vance has also supported efforts to abolish federal DEI programs and repeal Biden-era protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Proponents of DEI argue that such initiatives help companies hire and retain diverse talent and foster innovation. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and other business leaders have repeatedly emphasized that diversity benefits both the workplace and the bottom line. Despite this, corporations like Bud Light, Target, and Ford have scaled back or abandoned diversity efforts following boycotts and conservative pressure campaigns.

The rollback of diversity efforts comes as data reveals significant racial inequities in corporate leadership. USA Today reported that its investigation found that white men hold seven out of 10 executive officer positions at the nation’s largest companies, with one in seven of those companies having all-white executive teams. The lack of representation underscores the stakes for employees of color and marginalized communities as diversity programs face increasing opposition.

Experts warn that the rollback of corporate diversity efforts, combined with the Trump administration’s aggressive stance, could deepen racial and social divides in the United States. Franklin Turner, a corporate attorney specializing in federal contracts, said that while companies dependent on federal funding may adjust their policies under pressure, most are unlikely to abandon diversity efforts entirely.

David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law, told reporters that the work would continue. “It may need a rebranding, but there is no universe where even the most hostile presidency is going to be able to completely eliminate an entire field of work because there are too many people out there who care about creating organizations that are respectful, that are inclusive, and where people have equal opportunity,” Glasgow remarked.

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Contributed by

Black Art Speaks

Black Art Speaks, the creative force behind Cincinnati’s renowned Black Lives Matter (BLM) mural, unveiled the “R” letter from the Letter Monuments Project in vibrant Roselawn on May 2, marking the launch of a citywide art initiative that celebrates diversity and community empowerment.

This striking new public artwork at the southwest corner of Reading and Section roads by nationally acclaimed artist and Roselawn Community Council President Annie Ruth stands 10 feet tall as a bold testament to Roselawn’s resilience and a reflection of its progressive identity.  

Inspired by her original artwork for the Black Lives Matter mural, Annie Ruth has re-imagined the portrayal of Black men in her design for the “R” sculpture. Through her art, Ruth shifts the narrative from misunderstood stereotypes to images of dignity and respect, depicting Black men as dignified gentlemen.      

Ruth said, “We want others to see the males in our lives as gentlemen with kind hearts and not as thugs and criminals. ‘I am a Man’ is a prominent theme in the art. The piece highlights the words as a history lesson, emphasizing the importance of reading. The imagery in the design encourages the viewer to see Black men with love, respect and dignity. The father reads a book to his children with a message of ‘Know who you are’ to remind Black youth to recognize their value and self-worth.

“The newly designed R continues the theme of promoting Black men as leaders, fathers, mentors, brothers and sons. The circles within the circles on the youthful Black silhouette is an Adinkra symbol —

Adinkra are visual symbols that represent concepts or proverbs. They originated from Ghana. Saturated with meaning, Adinkra serve as a concise way to convey deep truths in visual form. Their widespread adoption, especially among African Americans and other Africans across the diaspora, has solidified their status as icons of African symbolism and philosophy.’’

(ADINKRAHENE — (pronounced A-dink-ra + hen-e) is the chief of the adinkra symbols) This is a symbol of greatness, charisma and leadership.) 

This transformation embodies the city’s ongoing commitment to justice and equality.

The “R” sculpture is the first of 17 letters that will be strategically placed throughout Cincinnati, with the letter “A” being erected in Avondale next.        

Each letter is inspired by a line from the poem “We Want What You Want” by Alandes Powell, helping to weave the city’s rich narrative throughout its urban landscape. Powell is Executive Director of Black Art Speaks, which was involved in the Black Lives Matter street mural in front of the Cincinnati City Hall and this art project.

“The unveiling of the ‘R’ is a cornerstone event that welcomes all to engage and reflect on the significant contributions of Black artists to Cincinnati’s cultural landscape. It’s a celebration of how art fosters community ties, challenges the status quo, and makes a lasting impact on societal perceptions,” said Ruth.

Speakers at the event were Alandes Powell, Executive Director, Black Art Speaks; Annie Ruth, Lead Artist; Jan-Michele Kearney, Vice Mayor of Cincinnati; Jonathan Adee, Executive Director, Keep America Beautiful.

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By Danielle K. Brown, Michigan State University

Protest movements can look very different depending on where you stand, both literally and figuratively.

For protesters, demonstrations are usually the result of meticulous planning by advocacy groups and leaders aimed at getting a message out to a wider world or to specific institutional targets. To outside onlookers, however, protests can seem disorganized and disruptive, and it can be difficult to see the depth of the effort or their aims.

Take the pro-Palestinian protests that have sprung up at campuses across the United States in recent weeks. To the students taking part they are, in the words of one protester, “uplifting the voices of Gazans, of Palestinians facing genocide.” But to many people outside the universities, the focus has been on confrontations and arrests.

Where does this disconnect come from? Most people don’t participate in on-the-streets protests or experience any of the disruption that they cause. Rather they rely on the media to give a full picture of the protests.

For over a decade, my research has extensively explored trends in how the media shapes narratives around different kinds of demonstrations. Reporting on the campus encampments by large parts of the media fits a general pattern of protest coverage that focuses more on the drama of the disruption rather than the underlying reasons behind it – and that can leave audiences uninformed about the nuances of the protests and the movements behind them.

Covering drama over demands

Protests – from small silent sit-ins and mass marches to the current student-led encampments – share similar components.

They require a degree of planning, focus on a perceived injustice and seek reforms or solutions. Protests also, by their very nature, engage in varying degrees of disruptive actions that exist in confrontation with something or someone, and utilize strategies that attract the attention of news media and others.

These core elements – grievances, demands, disruption, confrontation and spectacle – are present in nearly all protests.

But to the media, some elements are more newsworthy than others, with confrontation and spectacle often topping the list. As a result, these elements tend to be covered more often than others.

In research focusing on social movements like Black Lives Matter, the 2017 Women’s March and others, I have found that time
and again, coverage tends to headline the parts of the protest that are sensational and disruptive.

And this neglects the political substance of the protests. The grievances, demands and agendas are often left in the shadows. For example, analysis of the 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd conducted by myself and colleague Rachel Mourão found the Associated Press and cable news headlines were more likely to focus on disruption and chaos than police violence or protester demands.

This pattern is referred to as the protest paradigm. While there are many factors that can make this paradigm fluctuate, like the timing of stories and the location of a news organization, movements that seek to disrupt the status quo are the most likely to receive initial coverage that frames protesters as criminal, irrelevant, trivial or illegitimate components of the political system.

When the media takes notice

This pattern can be seen in the initial coverage of protests against the war in Gaza at U.S.-based universities. These protests began in 2023 and only escalated into the campus encampments seen today after months of campaigning.

In the months leading up to the encampments, many students who were engaged in advocacy efforts over the Israeli campaign in Gaza demanded, among other things, that their universities divest from businesses connected to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

Students at Brown University participated in a hunger strike in February. Also in February, a coalition of students across several historically Black colleges crafted a joint call to action across university systems. Students at my university – Michigan State – rallied support through an online petition and then lobbied at board of trustee meetings. When the board of trustees issued a statement refusing divestment of any kind, students continued to march to the steps of the main administration building where they continued to protest, all before planning the encampment protests.

Little of this made it into mainstream news reports compared to late April, when an uptick in coverage corresponded with students organizing encampments at universities and university official began to respond. Those universities that asked police to enforce the dispersion of protesters amplified the intensity of confrontation, and, in turn, amplified the news coverage.

And rather than focusing on the grievance of protesters — that is, concerns about the deaths, injuries and looming famine affecting Palestinians — in reports of the campus encampments it has been the confrontations between protesters and police that have become central to the news media coverage.

As with all trends, there are always deviations and outliers. Not all reported pieces align with the protest paradigm. In the research examining news coverage after the murder of George Floyd, we found that when reports in major news outlets deviate from the protest paradigm, it was often in work produced by journalists who have engaged deeply and frequently with a community.

In the current campus protests, it is student journalism that has emerged as an outlier in this respect. Take, for example, an article from the Indiana Daily Student published during the peak of the unrest, which explains the lesser-known last-minute administrative policy changes that ultimately disrupted protest planning logic and contributed to the arrests and temporary bans of faculty and student protesters.

Who gets quoted, who doesn’t

There are commercial reasons why some newsrooms focus on the spectacle and confrontation – the old journalism adage of “if it bleeds, it leads” still prevails in many newsroom decisions. For the initial weeks of the campus protests, this penchant for sensationalism has shown up in the focus on chaos, clashes and arrests.

But it is a decision that delegitimizes protest aims.

This delegitimization is aided by the sourcing routines journalists often fall back on to tell stories quickly and without legal consequence. In breaking news situations, journalists tend to gravitate toward – and directly quote – sources that hold status, like government and university officials. This is because reporters may already have an established relationship with such officials, who often have dedicated media relations teams. And in the case of campus protests, in particular, reporters have faced difficulty connecting with protest participants directly.

As a result, official narratives may dominate news coverage. So when officials like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott equate protesters to criminals with antisemitic intentions, that typically gets covered – certainly more than any rebuttal from protest participants.

And because readers and viewers are unlikely to be on the ground to gauge Abbott’s characterizations of protesters for themselves, the coverage can shape how a protest movement and the politics around it are understood.

The media shapes the way most people understand them. But as coverage of the protests across universities has shown, often the focus is on the spectacle rather than the substance.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Danielle K. Brown, Michigan State University

Read more:

• What do we want? Unbiased reporting! When do we want it? During protests!
• Riot or resistance? How media frames unrest in Minneapolis will shape public’s view of protest
• Columbia University protests look increasingly like those in 1968 as police storm campuses nationwide

Danielle K. Brown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Maybe it was Usher’s star-studded halftime show that inspired the Kansas City Chiefs and their superstar quarterback Pat Mahomes in the second half to win their third Super Bowl in four years with a thrilling 25-22 OT victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas. Or, perhaps, it was just inevitable that Mahomes, a Black quarterback was inspired by the pregame singing of “Lift Every Voice,” and the bold “End Racism” sign painted at each end zone. Or could it have been a combination of all of the above along with the specter of playing a 49ers team where Colin Kaepernick took a stand for Black Lives Matter that’s cost him a football career?

Whatever it was, Patrick Mahomes again proved why he’s worth every penny of his mega $500 million-plus contract and why, on the football field at least, he overshadows all the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift nonsense. Mahomes helped Kansas City overcome a stifling 49ers defense and San Francisco’s potent offense after being stifled in the first half. The Chiefs trailed 10-3 at the half, and it appeared they couldn’t figure out how to break through the 49er’s defense, while the Chiefs’ own defense had all kinds of trouble limiting Brock Purdy and his offense.

While they gathered in the locker room after two quarters, Usher took center stage and not only whipped out all of his classic hits but brought out several A-list superstars to punctuate the Apple Music Halftime Show. With Alicia Keys joining in with her hit, “If I Ain’t Got You,” and the collab “My Boo,” chart-topper H.E.R. rocked the Allegiance Stadium crown with a blistering solo on U Got It Bad. Will.i.am then joined Usher on “OMG,” and Jermaine Dupri, Lil Jon, and Ludacris helped close Usher’s set with “Yeah.”

The Chiefs got the ball to start the second half, but they didn’t solve the 49ers. At least not at the start. However, the Chief’s defense figured out Purdy, and the trick plays punctuating San Francisco’s first-half dominance, and Mahomes worked his magic. After yielding an overtime field goal to the 49ers, the Chiefs had to at least match that to keep the game going under the new NFL OT rules that allow both teams to have the ball on offense. A pivotal 4th down conversion helped propel the Chiefs before Mahomes threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman, and Kansas City became the NFL’s ninth repeat Super Bowl champs. “With all the adversity we’ve been through this season to come through tonight. … I’m proud of the guys,” said Mahomes, who earned his third Super Bowl MVP award. “This is awesome. Legendary.” The 28-year-old Mahomes becomes the fourth starting quarterback to win three Super Bowls — joining Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, and Troy Aikman — and second youngest.

“I am going to celebrate tonight, celebrate at the parade, and then work my way to get back in this game next year,” Mahomes said. “I am going to do whatever I can to be back in this game next year. Three-peat.”

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By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

@StacyBrownMedia

A good parent usually chastises and punishes their child when they’ve egregiously misbehaved. Jaywalkers get tickets, and murderers have received the death penalty. Generally, no one goes unpunished for breaking the law. Not in the United States. Not unless you are of a particular social and financial status, and the crime, for the most part, isn’t much more than white collar.

But that’s not the case with Donald J. Trump. Undoubtedly, Trump is the kid who has never been chastised or punished. And, as a grown-up, and certainly since his false election claim in 2020 and his egging on a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, the twice-impeached and four-times indicted former president hasn’t seen a scintilla of punishment. One could argue that America, or his parents, have rewarded his unprecedented bad behavior.

Just one day before his second sexual assault civil trial was to begin, Trump cruised to a landslide victory in the Iowa caucuses, solidifying his front-runner status for the Republican presidential nomination. As several outlets reported, losing one-term presidents rarely mount subsequent successful primary campaigns, much less pull off landslides that demonstrate utter dominance of their party.

Trump transformed the GOP in 2016. By claiming 50% of the vote in the biggest win in caucus history, putting him on course for his third consecutive nomination, Trump showed that the current GOP is now entirely his party.

President Joe Biden beat Trump in the 2020 general election, 81 million popular votes to 75 million. And while both numbers were stunning, Trump’s was more telling, as it demonstrated that 75 million could vote for a man who single-handedly destroyed American Democracy, who championed white supremacy, caged babies, mocked the disabled, and called cowards American troops whom the enemy captured. Not all Trump followers are racist, but there’s no doubt that you must be a racist to be a Trump follower.

Biden’s victory over Trump came in part because his slogan, his message, “saving the soul of America,” resonated. It was the first time since President Obama’s “Yes We Can” that Dems had a message folks could understand and get behind. Mainly a message that the ultimate swing voters, African Americans, could embrace. During the current campaign, when Biden says there’s a need to “save Democracy,” the message falls flat particularly to African Americans who have come to a reckoning that Democracy today, like the Confederacy of decades ago, doesn’t work for Black people.

So, what are they saving? A system that fosters outright racism from politicians, the emphatic truth that Black Lives really don’t matter, and more than 75 million, including a few who were born Black (Ben Carson, Clarence Thomas, Candace Owens, Jason Whitlock, etc.) show the worst of African Americans with their allegiance to slavery and their slave master Trump.

It indeed says a whole lot that Trump is the clear front-runner to return to office, where he promises that “on day one,” he’ll be a dictator. He’ll have people – read Black people — shot by police on the spot if they are deemed to have participated in shoplifting or any minor crime. Trump will get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which provides otherwise uninsured Black and poor people with life-saving healthcare coverage. He’ll release the seditious, murderous January 6 inmates whom he calls hostages.

Having already banned just about any book with a Black author or one that reveals true American history, Trump will ensure that publishing houses that produce such work will be shut down. That could also mean the Black Press of America, founded in New York 197 years ago before slavery ended in America.

Trump once proudly proclaimed that he could shoot someone on New York’s Fifth Avenue and get away with it. He also exclaimed on national television that he and other celebrities are allowed to grab a woman, any woman, by their private parts without permission, and it’s okay. Subsequently, a jury found him civilly responsible for sexual assault, and he currently has 91 felony charges pending against him.

And with a favorable U.S. Supreme Court and three of the justices he put there, Trump is on his way to proving the accuracy of his declarations of committing crimes and getting away with them. America has been good lately about canceling sexual predators, even those who were only accused of sexual assault. America has been good of late with jailing some of the January 6 perpetrators. A judge ordered Trump to pay $5 million after being found guilty of sexual assault, another judge is on the verge of ordering Trump to pay more than $250 million for massive business fraud, and evidence recently emerged that Trump probably sold U.S. secrets to foreign entities while in office. Yet, he swept to victory in Iowa and may easily defeat Biden in November. To Trump, there’s no better parent, none more lenient, than America.

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Story and photos by

Frank Bowen, Herald Intern

Local artists and community members touch-up the Black Lives Matter! mural in front City Hall on Friday, June 30, 2023, in Cincinnati. The mural was first painted in June 2020. Artists and community members alike have been gathering together to give the mural a fresh coat of paint ever since it was first introduced to the city.

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September is International Underground Railroad Month

By Diana Porter

International Underground Railroad Month acknowledges the significance of the interracial Underground Railroad for its contribution to the eradication of slavery in the United States and as a cornerstone for the Civil Rights Movement that continues today in the Black Lives Matter movement. 

This year, the exhibit in College Hill is in Dow’s Corner 5903 Hamilton Ave. Also, September 18 was local Underground Railroad history day, with activities at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

College Hill had an active community of abolitionists who were agents on the Underground Railroad. The well-documented “Escape of the 28” from Boone County, Kentucky in 1853 came through College Hill. The twenty-eight freedom seekers found refuge here and were safely transported by Black and White abolitionists on their journey to freedom in Canada. They were greeted in Canada by teacher, nurse, and abolitionist Laura Haviland and Henry Bibb, the editor of the first Black newspaper in Canada, the Voice of the Fugitive.

The College Hill Historical Society and HamiltonAvenueRoadToFreedom.org exhibit honors the courageous stories of those who emancipated themselves from slavery, the stories of the Black and White abolitionists who aided them, and the people who documented, interpreted and shared these stories from the Underground Railroad.  We see that the journey continues today.

The College Hill Historical Society and HamiltonAvenueRoadToFreedom.org have an exhibit in a storefront for September at Hamilton and Cedar Avenues in College Hill.

The Road to Freedom through Cincinnati 1820–1860 

In the early years of the 19th century, Denmark Vesey and Nat Turner and many other enslaved people led open rebellions against the institution of slavery. However, most resistance to slavery took the form of trying to run away. At first it was the younger, stronger men who succeeding by keeping ahead of the slave catchers and their dogs to emancipate themselves. These were unassisted escapes; daring freedom seekers setting off north orienting themselves by walking near a transportation route or following tributaries leading to the Ohio River.

The law was not on the side of those escaping, nor on the side of those helping them. In Ohio and other states created from the 1787 Northwest Territory, owning slaves was prohibited but it was still against the law to aid those escaping their bondage.  Despite these laws, many abolitionists felt called to do more than talk about ending slavery.

As word got back about the best routes north and as free Black communities north of the Ohio River were large enough to hide these runaways, a larger, interracial network of assistance was formed.   

Cincinnati’s Black population was centered in ‘Bucktown,’ an area on the eastern edge of the city, below the hillsides of Cincinnati’s basin and near the slaughterhouses. Those fleeing north were drawn to this area because they felt safer here. Black churches were their first help. The Allen A. M. E. Temple dates back to 1808 and was burned down three times by proslavery gangs. The Zion Baptist and the Union Baptist Churches regularly hid slaves in their basements. If the slave catchers were moving in quickly, White abolitionists would aid them by transporting them out of the city or giving them disguises or cover by accompanying them so that they might use public transportation and be “hidden in plain sight.” While free Black families were often the first point of contact to those escaping enslavement, their stories were not collected by the historians in the late nineteenth century and are now emerging through new research and scholarship.

An interracial network in Cincinnati, known as the Underground Railroad, continued to grow and be more capable of successfully and quickly assisting larger groups in their flight. Lane Seminary in Walnut Hills had been a transportation hub for many seeking freedom in the 30’s and early 40’s.  Harriet Beecher Stowe gathered the background for her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, from her home near Lane Seminary.   Conductors drove freedom seekers from Walnut Hills to one of the many next houses north of the city.  John Van Zandt, who lived in Glendale, was caught in 1842 assisting nine slaves escaping from Boone County Kentucky on their journey north.  Although well defended before the Supreme Court by Salmon P., Chase, Van Zandt was found guilty in 1847, died a pauper the same year and was buried in Wesleyan Cemetery. The route from Walnut Hills was becoming too well known to remain safe.

Mt. Pleasant (now called Mt. Healthy) was the earliest village established along the Hamilton Road (its first name; after the mid-1830s it became the Cincinnati and Hamilton Turnpike, or Hamilton Pike). By 1810 there were two taverns in Mt. Pleasant, along with shops for necessities, at the midpoint of this well-traveled route between Cincinnati and the Butler County town of Hamilton, Ohio. By the late-1830s Charles Cheney, as president of the Cincinnati and Hamilton Turnpike, was appointing tollgate keepers who were friendly to Underground Railroad transport. The Cheneys, and other Mt. Pleasant residents such as the Lane and Hastings families were receiving frequent nighttime visits in the 1830s and 1840s. With a growing free Black community, there were opportunities for fugitives to blend into the community during the day and receive respite on their way north. Oral tradition from one local descendant of a former slave recounts that fugitive slaves were given safe overnight haven in the homes of the White abolitionists, and in the morning the fugitives would be fed and provisioned for their journeys in the home of her ancestor, to be ferried north in the carriages and wagons of participating White farmers.

The route north through Glendale disappeared with the arrest and trial of VanZandt.  

Once Levi Coffin moved to Cincinnati in 1847, he joined the Vigilance Committee formed to protect free Blacks in the city.  This  brought him into contact with many in the free Black community and connected them to a new route through Cumminsville, College Hill, Mt. Healthy and northwest through his former Quaker community of Newport, Indiana (now Fountain City).  This route to Canada was safer, used Black and White conductors in Indiana and Michigan, and could accommodate the larger groups that came to Cincinnati after the Fugitive Slave Act.  The Quaker community in Oberlin, Ohio, defined another route north, and led to the port of Sandusky.

When large groups escaped together, newspapers called them “slave stampedes.” On April 2, 1853, there was such an escape, named by Levi Coffin as “The Company of Twenty-Eight Fugitives” whose route was what is now Hamilton Avenue with an overnight stay in College Hill.  This was the largest and best documented flight to freedom across the Ohio River at Cincinnati, but was just one of many escapes on this important Underground Railroad route in the 1850s.

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Elizabeth’s legacy isn’t necessarily complicated, but filled with enough ambiguity and action and inaction, that it might be easy to understand why people of color might view her different that the adoring throng mourning outside of Buckingham Palace.
The longest-reigning British monarch’s history on race will forever exist as part of her legacy.

By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Immediately following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, notable media personality Jemele Hill urged her peers to put the monarch’s passing in perspective.

“Journalists are tasked with putting legacies into full context, so it is entirely appropriate to examine the queen and her role in the devastating impact of continued colonialism,” Hill tweeted.

Elizabeth’s legacy isn’t necessarily complicated, but filled with enough ambiguity and action and inaction, that it might be easy to understand why people of color might view her different that the adoring throng mourning outside of Buckingham Palace.

The longest-reigning British monarch’s history on race will forever exist as part of her legacy.

“Reminder that Queen Elizabeth is not a remnant of colonial times. She was an active participant in colonialism. She actively tried to stop independence movements and keep newly independent colonies from leaving the Commonwealth. The evil she did was enough,” Twitter user @YaaAsantewaaBa wrote.

While her role in colonialism and its devastating impact on Black people continue to gnaw at many, the latest generation had an up-close view into the Queen’s relationship with her mixed-race daughter-in-law Meghan Markle.

“A low point was when [Prince] Harry was asked by a family member ‘how dark Archie’s skin might be,” Markle told Oprah Winfrey in a 2021 interview.

Archie is Markle and Harry’s son.

Markle revealed that she began having suicidal thoughts while pregnant with Archie in early 2019. 

“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore,” Markle told Winfrey. “And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.” 

Harry expressed frustration over the lack of family support when British media members and others launched racially motivated insults at Markle.

“For us, for this union and the specifics around her race, there was an opportunity – many opportunities – for my family to show some public support,” Harry stated during the same interview.

“And I guess one of the most telling parts and the saddest parts, I guess, was over 70 female members of Parliament, both Conservative and Labor, came out and called out the colonial undertones of articles and headlines written about Meghan. Yet no one from my family ever said anything. That hurts.”

Earlier, many in Great Britain and around the globe called on the Queen to deal with the fallout over complaints that Buckingham Palace had no official response to the murder of George Floyd and the global Black Lives Matter Movement.

However, the palace offered only tepid responses.

Before and during Elizabeth’s reign, journalists claimed the royal family looked the other way – and even enabled – racism.

“These incidents aren’t just historical — royal family members have been ignoring accusations of racism since as recently as June 2020, when the Queen failed to respond to accusations that the royal honors medal is ‘highly offensive’ and resembles the killing of Floyd,” Royal Insiders Mikhaila Friel and Rachel Hosie wrote in 2021.

“It’s hard to imagine the Queen showing support for BLM — and anti-racism in general — when in her 69 years on the throne, she has failed to address the racism that undeniably exists in the institution of the royal family,” the duo concluded.

Further, a 2021 exposé in The Guardian revealed documents that shed light on Elizabeth’s continued exemption from race and sex discrimination laws.

Investigative journalists David Pegg and Rob Evans said they discovered papers at the National Archives as part of an ongoing investigation into the royal family’s use of an arcane parliamentary procedure, known as Queen’s consent, to influence the content of British laws secretly.

“They reveal how the Queen’s chief financial officer once informed civil servants that “it was not, in fact, the practice to appoint colored immigrants or foreigners” to clerical roles in the royal household, although they were permitted to work as domestic servants.

Pegg and Evans wrote that the Queen had remained exempted from equality laws for more than four decades. 

“The exemption has made it impossible for women or people from ethnic minorities working for her household to complain to the courts if they believe they have been discriminated against,” the journalists found.

They said Buckingham Palace didn’t dispute their findings.

Instead, officials offered without explanation that there’s a separate process for hearing discrimination complaints.

In 2020, when Antigua and Barbuda marked 40 years of independence from Britain, calls grew louder for slavery reparations.

Frustration with the Queen and colonialism also grew palpable. 

“I think most Antiguans would want to replace the Queen now,” historian Ivor Ford told BBC News during the celebration.

“Young people can’t relate to the Royal Family; they don’t understand their purpose. Even older people like me would love to see us become a republic. The head of state should be someone who is elected like in America,” Ford concluded.

Antiguan businesswoman Makeda Mikael recalled how as a child, she attended ceremonies that celebrated the Queen against her will.

“We didn’t know as much about our history then as we do now,” Mikael related.

“In school, I wasn’t taught African or Caribbean history. So I knew everything about British and European history and nothing about ours.”

She told the BBC she and others would continue to demand reparations.

“England has enjoyed the benefit of our slave labor right up to today, and they need to be honest, admit it, and find a way to reconcile,” Mikael insisted.

“Most people couldn’t care less if [Elizabeth] is head of state or not. The Queen is not a significant part of anybody’s agenda.”

With a reported net worth of nearly $12 billion, Elizabeth has never publicly spoken about reparations. 

“Along with a number of colonies in North America, the Caribbean formed the heart of England’s first overseas empire,” explained David Lambert, professor of Caribbean History at the University of Warwick.

Lambert also authored White Creole Culture, Politics and Identity During the Age of Abolition, and Mastering the Niger: James MacQueen’s African Geography and the Struggle over Atlantic Slavery.

In a white paper for the British Library, Lambert explained that from the early 17th century, people from other European powers, including France and England, settled in the Caribbean. 

“The English settled St Kitts in 1624, Barbados, Montserrat, and Antigua in 1627, and Nevis in 1628,” Lambert wrote. 

“Around the same time, France established colonies in Martinique and Guadeloupe. In this way, the Caribbean came under the control of many competing European countries, joining Spain, which had established its first colonies in the region more than a hundred years before.”

Further, Lambert noted that the system of slavery saw its dismantling in the early 19th century, and the enslaved received freedom in the British Caribbean in the 1830s. 

A system called “Apprenticeship was put in place from 1834 to 1838 across most of the Caribbean,” Lambert offered further.

“This was intended to provide a transition to freedom for the formerly enslaved people and the planters who relied on their labor. Even after Apprenticeship was ended, things remained very unequal.”

Born Apr. 21, 1926, the eventual Queen’s given name was Elizabeth Alexandra Mary.

Her father, Prince Albert, was the youngest son of King George V, and Albert’s place in the family presumably gave Elizabeth little chance to ascend to the throne.

However, in a stunning move, Albert’s brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry an American woman, which allowed for Albert’s ascension as King George VI – thus making Elizabeth heir to the throne.

On Nov. 20, 1947, Elizabeth married her distant cousin, Lt. Philip Mountbatten of the Royal Navy.

The former Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, Philip then took the titles of duke of Edinburgh, earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich.

The couple’s first child, Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, was born on Nov. 14, 1948, at Buckingham Palace. 

On Feb. 6, 1952, King George VI died after a months-long illness, and Elizabeth became Queen – though her coronation took place more than a year later at Westminster Abbey.

Elizabeth also gave birth to Princess Anne in 1950, Prince Andrew in 1960, and Prince Edward in 1964.

With Elizabeth’s death, Charles became the first King since his grandfather’s death more than 70 years ago.  

“Michelle and I were lucky enough to come to know Her Majesty, and she meant a great deal to us,” former President Barack Obama said in a statement. 

“Back when we were just beginning to navigate life as President and First Lady, she welcomed us to the world stage with open arms and extraordinary generosity. Time and again, we were struck by her warmth, how she put people at ease and brought her considerable humor and charm to moments of great pomp and circumstance.”

President Joe Biden said Elizabeth had a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons, including many who have never known their country without her. 

“An enduring admiration for Queen Elizabeth II united people across the Commonwealth. The seven decades of her history-making reign bore witness to an age of unprecedented human advancement and the forward march of human dignity,” Biden stated.

“In the years ahead, we look forward to continuing a close friendship with The King and The Queen Consort. Today, the thoughts and prayers of people across the United States are with the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in their grief. 

“We send our deepest condolences to the Royal Family, who are not only mourning their Queen, but their dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her legacy will loom large in the pages of British history and the story of our world.”

The post Queen Elizabeth’s Legacy Through the Lens of Colonialism and Black Lives appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .

Contributed

Photos from book release event have been provided

When Alandes Powell, executive director of Black Art Speaks (BAS), wrote the poem, “We Want What You Want,” she didn’t realize that her words would become the impetus for Cincinnati’s Black Lives Matter! Mural. The mural located on Plum Street in Downtown Cincinnati is in front of City Hall. Each letter visually stands for a line in the poem.

BAS, a non-profit organization helping artists expand their voices through the power of art and the artists who created the mural, are releasing a coffee table book titled, “The Making of Cincinnati’s Black Lives Matter! Mural.” The book offers readers behind-the-scenes information and supplies thought-provoking and stimulating imagery compiled by Stephen Smith, the book’s graphic designer. In less than 20 hours over the course of three days, 17 Black lead-artists and a host of volunteers were united by a vision of seeing the words of a poem brought to life.

Authors Alandes Powell and Danielle Lewis Jones agree, “The book is a piece of art and history as it documents the feelings and emotions of each artist as they worked quickly to deliver a piece that echoes a need for change.”

Chanda Monroe-Williams, editor and project manager of “The Making of Cincinnati’s Black Lives Matter! Mural’’ book, said, “We are pleased to present an insightful work of art that memorializes a movement, elevates Black Artists and sustains a nonprofit.”  

An official book launch and signing event was hosted recently by premium sponsors — Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF), Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and ArtsWave —at the foundation’s Haile Community Hub on E. Pete Rose Way. Titled as “The Making of Cincinnati’s Black Lives Matter! Mural,” the event featured dancers, a spoken word artist, an artists’ showcase and a panel discussion about the mural and the book. All proceeds from the book sales go to Black Art Speaks, which will continue to help the artist organization do projects in the community. People can learn more and purchase the book at www.blackartspeaks.com.

The post Black Art Speak publishes book: The making of Cincinnati’s Black Lives Matter! Mural appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .