Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Ron Daniels, a longtime civil rights activist, educator, scholar and Youngstown native, speaks to family members, friends, religious leaders and others who attended a benefit gathering Saturday in his honor at New Bethel Baptist Church in Youngstown to celebrate his 84th birthday.

YOUNGSTOWN — If you combine strong chemistry with impeccable timing and the proper fit, you have the nature of the bond between George C. Fraser and Ron Daniels.

To put it another way, a comparison can be drawn between their relationship and that of the late Georgia congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis with his main role model, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“All three were evident when I met Ron Daniels on Day 1,” Fraser, chief executive officer and co-founder of FraserNet Inc., said.

Fraser delivered the keynote address for a special benefit program Saturday at New Bethel Baptist Church, 1507 Hillman St., on the South Side, in honor of Daniels, a Youngstown native and longtime civil rights, social and political activist, educator, scholar and college professor.

The nearly three-hour gathering, “Dr. Ron Daniels at 84: Still on this Journey for Justice,” was organized to celebrate the Youngstown native’s 84th birthday, which was Sunday, allow tributes and recollections from his family members, friends and allies, and raise $84,000 in tax-deductible support for the Institute of the Black World 21st Century organization’s nonpartisan political-literacy efforts and civic-engagement initiative.

Daniels founded and serves as president of the IBW, an African-centered, progressive and action-oriented resource center set up to empower those of African descent, as well as marginalized communities.

“What a body of work this gentleman has produced in his life. … His body of work is over three generations, and that’s what we celebrate today,” Fraser, 80, an entrepreneur, motivational speaker, lecturer and author of six books, said about Daniels.

Fraser, who spent 17 years in management positions with the Ford Motor Co., United Way and Procter & Gamble, said in his remarks Saturday that the U.S. needs to do more to honor, confer with and respect its elders, many of whom represent decades of cultural knowledge and values for younger generations to appreciate and emulate.

“Old lives matter; elders matter,” he said.

Fraser challenged his listeners to love and respect one another more deeply, insist on fairer representation in government and to “stand up, show up and speak up.”

“If we don’t do this for ourselves, no one else will,” he said, adding, “What you are not changing, you are choosing.”

For his part, Fraser, who also founded the Cleveland-based Power Networking Conference, is the recipient of more than 350 awards and citations for his work, community service and writings that include his first book and 1994 bestseller, “Success Runs in Our Race: The Complete Guide to Effective Networking in the African Community.” He also created and published the award-winning “SuccessGuide: (ok one word) The Networking Guide to Black Resources.”

Daniels’ political life is perhaps best remembered for him being the deputy campaign manager of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s 1988 presidential bid, executive director of the National Rainbow Coalition and his work on Jackson’s 1984 run for the White House. In 1992, Daniels ran for president as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate.

In addition, Daniels was a convener of the National African American Reparations Commission, executive director with the Center for Constitutional Rights and, while in Youngstown, Daniels founded Freedom Inc., for which he served as director from 1968 to 1974.

Freedom Inc. served as a local community-based Pan-Africanist and activist organization that focused largely on black empowerment and nonviolent political action and mobilization, as well as a pivotal piece of Daniels’ career in and advocacy for the black freedom struggle.

Daniels, who also became a commentator and essayist, graduated in 1965 from Youngstown University (now Youngstown State University) with a bachelor’s degree in history, then earned a master’s degree in political science from the Rockefeller School of Public Affairs in Albany, New York, and a doctorate of philosophy degree in Africana studies from the University of Cincinnati.

In mid-1995, he led an African American fact-finding and support mission to Haiti, which resulted in the creation of the Haiti Support Project to mobilize political and material support for democracy and development in that country.

As a writer, Daniels’ column, Vantage Point, appears in many black and progressive publications nationwide. He also hosts a weekly public-affairs program on WBAI-FM in New York City.

In 2024, Daniels was one of three people appointed to serve on New York state’s nine-member Community Commission on Reparations Remedies, where he looked beyond redress for individuals, with a focus on creating new and empowering systems for a “human rights economy” and away from what he saw as systems of exploitation for many blacks. A significant part of that work examined how slavery and its history still impacts many black New Yorkers.

“Even after slavery was abolished, its harmful legacies persisted, and persist right up until the present, hampering the full development of black people in this state,” Daniels said at the time. “New York has the opportunity and obligation of leading the nation in repairing these injuries through the enactment of comprehensive reparations.”

In December 2023, shortly before Daniels’ appointment to the commission, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill to create a commission tasked with looking at that state’s history of slavery and its ongoing impact.

The last enslaved people in New York were freed in 1827.

WHAT OTHERS SAID

One of Daniels’ most ardent supporters and admirers is the Rev. Kenneth L. Simon, New Bethel Baptist Church’s head pastor, who recalled that his late father, the Rev. Lonnie K.A. Simon, collaborated closely with Daniels during often turbulent times in the city during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

“It’s so appropriate to honor this man while he’s still living,” an emotional Simon said.

The church also served as a home base for where Daniels voiced the need for, and importance of, several of his initiatives aimed at empowering blacks, the longtime pastor said. Simon added that he hoped attendees would work to be difference makers while incorporating the “three E’s:” education, enlightenment and empowerment.

“Ron has dedicated his life to the struggles of African American people – dedicated his life to being a warrior to our people,” Lynette Miller, Harambee of Youngstown’s founder and a longtime friend of Daniels, said in her tribute.

He also established Freedom Inc. with New Bethel Baptist’s support, she added.

In addition, Daniels has the gift of foresight, facilitation and following up when needed, Rick Adams, former IBW chairman, said in his remarks. He added that Daniels also started the Pan African Unity Dialogue to speak on a variety of issues that affect mainly black people, and that he has been instrumental in ensuring women’s voices are heard.

Daniels’ son, Sundiata A. Toure, recalled having grown up bearing witness to his father’s advocacy on behalf of blacks, especially those who were marginalized, and having his awareness of social issues and challenges raised when Daniels was working on Jackson’s presidential campaigns.

Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons his father imparted on his family was persistence and never giving up in the struggle to fight for others’ rights, Toure said, adding that his father also deeply embraced family values.

“I have had a blessed life, and the Lord isn’t finished with me yet,” Daniels said as he thanked numerous family members, colleagues, friends and others for their longtime and continued support.

Daniels recalled having spoken to Jackson, whom he referred to as “an authentic genius,” on the latter’s final birthday Oct. 8. He sensed that Jackson wanted a visit instead of just a call, so Daniels traveled to Chicago to see his mentor, he said.

Jackson died Feb. 17 in Chicago at age 84. He, along with the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Wyatt Tee Walker and others, was a close confidante of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jackson was standing feet from King on the balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, when he was assassinated at age 39.

Also Saturday, Daniels was the subject of video tributes from Sen. James Sanders Jr., D-New York City; Marc H. Morial, the National Urban League’s president; Jesse Jackson Jr., Jackson’s son; and Dr. Julius W. Garvey, a retired vascular surgeon, activist and professor. He also is a son of Pan African leader Marcus Garvey.