The Buzz Around Town
with Editor Kevin McManus
Community leaders Pam Miller and Rev. Cornell Carter have made it their mission to provide a wider understanding of race relations in Medina County, as well as promote diversity, through their coalition called the Medina Diversity Project. The efforts are gaining some traction.
Their series of talks, “Community Conversations on Race,” have yielded some interesting findings on the topic. Miller made her report on the anonymous discussions public this week.
“It became clear that racism exists throughout our community, sometimes subtle, other times overt,” said Miller, a former Medina City Council President. “It was universally agreed that more conversations and interactions of this sort are key to eliminating prejudice, whether it’s in the schools or in the community at large.
The conversations are 90 minutes, led by a facilitator with an emphasis on listening in order to learn. Eighty people have participated in eight different conversations over the last year-plus. Females outnumbered males 52 to 28. There have been 54 white participants and 26 African-Americans and other non-caucasians.
“Those who participated engaged honestly and openly, sharing experiences good and bad, from their perspectives as black people and white people,” Miller said. “African-Americans talked about implicit racism ... whether in the community at large or in the schools.”
Based on the conversations, some non-student African-Americans felt although the community was generally accepting, there is still room for improvement. Many admitted the conversations were one of a few times they’d been in a setting where black and white people actually spoke to one another.
“Whites disclosed incidents in which they’d been aware of racist behavior and may not have spoken up to combat it,” Miller said.
Among common themes Miller reported emerged during the conversations, newer residents of the community were often surprised at the small minority population in Medina County and the lack of visibility of African-Americans. As a result, most people don’t think about racism and diversity.
The learned behavior of racism was also discussed, with Miller saying this must be first countered at home.
“Although elementary-aged students seem to be colorblind, at the high schools, use of the ‘N’ word is prevalent and there are reports of racist bullying,” Miller said. “Schools need to do a better job at addressing racism.”
Socioeconomic contrast in the community was also discussed. While churches in town tend to be segregated, Medina’s west side is also seen “as a place to avoid.”
“Parents of African-American and multi-racial children, particularly boys, are forced to ‘have the conversation’ about how to act if they are ever stopped by police,” Miller said. “Most of the African-American males who participated had been stopped by police at some time in their lives for no reason other than suspicion.”
A theme that launched the Diversity Project, Miller said the lack of diversity in local schools’ teaching staffs, as well as government officials, is evident. Private employers were also included in that topic.
Miller called for more community events that bring people together with the goal of highlighting diversity.
“For many, it was eyeopening to learn what others thought and experienced,” Miller said. “There was support for additional conversations and, for some, a desire to expand the concept of diversity beyond race relations.”
Conversation will continue at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 8; Thursday, May 25; and Tuesday, June 13. All meetings will be held in the community rooms at the Medina Library downtown.
Getting ‘Wild’
It’s being billed as “the biggest rock concert of the summer,” at least in the city of Medina.
Capping off South Court Street’s Rockin’ the Court neighborhood music festival June 10, Medina’s veteran rockers Stylee Wild will be unleashing a blistering three-hour set of old school rock ‘n’ roll on Public Square from 8-11 p.m. The band has been a local staple for more than 30 years.
Stylee Wild’s free performance will close out Medina’s biggest day for local music annually, which will feature dozens of bands and solo artists playing on the porches and front lawns of South Court Street.
The band’s frontman, Mark Skoda, said being selected for the show is an honor.
“To be able to play in front of the hometown, it’s awesome. Hopefully it will be a nice day,” Skoda said. “We’ll definitely bring it for everybody and give them a great show.”
Stylee Wild’s performance is being sponsored by the nonprofit Community Design Committee, which will be accepting donations during the show to go toward the restoration of the second floor of the Medina Town Hall and Engine House Museum on Public Square’s south side.
This will surely be a gig worth catching.
Wits: matched
The Post crew was honored to again be a part of the annual Match Wits charity trivia challenge put on by Project:LEARN of Medina County April 20.
As usual, we thrived out of the gate, but ultimately fell admirably. The buzz saw category for us this year was “Kittens and Cats,” something that threw our eight-person team for a loop.
Winning, again, was defending champs Brunswick Education Association. We’d better go into training for next year, if for no other reason to stop the BEA from three-peating.
Thanks to Project:LEARN for including us in this fun event year after year to help promote the organization’s mission of free tutoring and resources for adults who want to improve their skills in reading, math, English as a second language and GED training.
Contact me
As always, I look forward to hearing from you and will gladly accept news tips at kmcmanus@thepostnewspapers.com.
Make it a great week, Medina.
Their series of talks, “Community Conversations on Race,” have yielded some interesting findings on the topic. Miller made her report on the anonymous discussions public this week.
“It became clear that racism exists throughout our community, sometimes subtle, other times overt,” said Miller, a former Medina City Council President. “It was universally agreed that more conversations and interactions of this sort are key to eliminating prejudice, whether it’s in the schools or in the community at large.
The conversations are 90 minutes, led by a facilitator with an emphasis on listening in order to learn. Eighty people have participated in eight different conversations over the last year-plus. Females outnumbered males 52 to 28. There have been 54 white participants and 26 African-Americans and other non-caucasians.
“Those who participated engaged honestly and openly, sharing experiences good and bad, from their perspectives as black people and white people,” Miller said. “African-Americans talked about implicit racism ... whether in the community at large or in the schools.”
Based on the conversations, some non-student African-Americans felt although the community was generally accepting, there is still room for improvement. Many admitted the conversations were one of a few times they’d been in a setting where black and white people actually spoke to one another.
“Whites disclosed incidents in which they’d been aware of racist behavior and may not have spoken up to combat it,” Miller said.
Among common themes Miller reported emerged during the conversations, newer residents of the community were often surprised at the small minority population in Medina County and the lack of visibility of African-Americans. As a result, most people don’t think about racism and diversity.
The learned behavior of racism was also discussed, with Miller saying this must be first countered at home.
“Although elementary-aged students seem to be colorblind, at the high schools, use of the ‘N’ word is prevalent and there are reports of racist bullying,” Miller said. “Schools need to do a better job at addressing racism.”
Socioeconomic contrast in the community was also discussed. While churches in town tend to be segregated, Medina’s west side is also seen “as a place to avoid.”
“Parents of African-American and multi-racial children, particularly boys, are forced to ‘have the conversation’ about how to act if they are ever stopped by police,” Miller said. “Most of the African-American males who participated had been stopped by police at some time in their lives for no reason other than suspicion.”
A theme that launched the Diversity Project, Miller said the lack of diversity in local schools’ teaching staffs, as well as government officials, is evident. Private employers were also included in that topic.
Miller called for more community events that bring people together with the goal of highlighting diversity.
“For many, it was eyeopening to learn what others thought and experienced,” Miller said. “There was support for additional conversations and, for some, a desire to expand the concept of diversity beyond race relations.”
Conversation will continue at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 8; Thursday, May 25; and Tuesday, June 13. All meetings will be held in the community rooms at the Medina Library downtown.
Getting ‘Wild’
It’s being billed as “the biggest rock concert of the summer,” at least in the city of Medina.
Capping off South Court Street’s Rockin’ the Court neighborhood music festival June 10, Medina’s veteran rockers Stylee Wild will be unleashing a blistering three-hour set of old school rock ‘n’ roll on Public Square from 8-11 p.m. The band has been a local staple for more than 30 years.
Stylee Wild’s free performance will close out Medina’s biggest day for local music annually, which will feature dozens of bands and solo artists playing on the porches and front lawns of South Court Street.
The band’s frontman, Mark Skoda, said being selected for the show is an honor.
“To be able to play in front of the hometown, it’s awesome. Hopefully it will be a nice day,” Skoda said. “We’ll definitely bring it for everybody and give them a great show.”
Stylee Wild’s performance is being sponsored by the nonprofit Community Design Committee, which will be accepting donations during the show to go toward the restoration of the second floor of the Medina Town Hall and Engine House Museum on Public Square’s south side.
This will surely be a gig worth catching.
Wits: matched
The Post crew was honored to again be a part of the annual Match Wits charity trivia challenge put on by Project:LEARN of Medina County April 20.
As usual, we thrived out of the gate, but ultimately fell admirably. The buzz saw category for us this year was “Kittens and Cats,” something that threw our eight-person team for a loop.
Winning, again, was defending champs Brunswick Education Association. We’d better go into training for next year, if for no other reason to stop the BEA from three-peating.
Thanks to Project:LEARN for including us in this fun event year after year to help promote the organization’s mission of free tutoring and resources for adults who want to improve their skills in reading, math, English as a second language and GED training.
Contact me
As always, I look forward to hearing from you and will gladly accept news tips at kmcmanus@thepostnewspapers.com.
Make it a great week, Medina.