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Activist Ron Daniels urges aid for cities at NAACP centennial

By SEAN BARRON

Correspondent

YOUNGSTOWN — For the most part, Ron Daniels is pleased with the progress he’s seen during a recent visit to his native Youngstown, but he’s also disheartened by the effects he feels certain negative forces have had on the city and elsewhere.

“We’re the victims of disinvestment and crises such as crime and violence, and I will address the push for a greater urban Marshall Plan to rescue cities,” the veteran social, political and civil-rights activist said, drawing a parallel to the famous initiative passed in 1948 in which the U.S. provided more than $12 billion in aid to help rebuild Western European economies after World War II.

Daniels, founder and president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century organization, was referring to primary topics he discussed as keynote speaker for Friday evening’s annual Freedom Fund Banquet at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church’s social hall, 343 Via Mount Carmel Drive, downtown.

An estimated 400 activists, elected officials, community leaders and others attended the dinner to celebrate the NAACP Youngstown/Mahoning County branch’s 100 years of community service.

The IBW is a progressive, action-oriented resource center that’s committed to empowering those of African descent and marginalized communities. It also serves as administrator for the National African American Reparations Commission, for which Daniels serves as convener.

The NAACP, the nation’s “largest and longest surviving civil-rights organization,” also is trying to tackle problems such as voter-suppression efforts in Ohio and across the U.S., which disenfranchises mainly blacks and other minorities, Daniels noted.

When Daniels was young, Youngstown had a population of about 170,000, compared with roughly 66,000 today. More than 100,000 people, many the victims of divestment, have left the city, he said.

Against such a backdrop, it’s vital that a greater number of blacks pull together regarding topics such as fair housing, greater economic development and entrepreneurship, he continued.

“Young men and women need to be business owners, not just consumers,” said Daniels, who also discussed his book, “Still on this Journey: The Vision and Mission of Dr. Ron Daniels.”

In addition, the NAACP is leading the way on immigration policies and fighting against what he feels is racism that’s become more overt and has infiltrated the mainstream.

“We’re in an era of one of the ugliest periods we’ve been in, with outright racism being normalized by the current occupant of the White House,” Daniels said. “We have to be the ones to say, ‘That’s not us, and that’s not what our country is about.'”

The guest speaker was the Rev. Robin Woodberry, the Mahoning Valley Association of Church’s executive director, who spoke largely on how she feels the passage of House Bill 70 in 2015 has adversely affected the Youngstown City Schools.

HB 70, known as the Youngstown Plan, has created a situation in which four board members will vie for re-election, yet have “no power to do anything,” she said. In addition, residents will have no say regarding how their tax dollars are spent on the schools, she contended.

Also at the banquet, those who received NAACP community awards included Judge Carla Baldwin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court; Mayor Jamael Tito Brown; Councilman Julius T. Oliver, D-1st Ward; county Commissioner Anthony T. Traficanti; and state Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-Youngstown.

The other five awardees were Martha Bruce, a member of the Sharon, Pa., Beautification Commission; Cossell Burton, local team leader for President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns; Jon Howell, a technology manager for State Farm Insurance; Demaine Kitchen, city council president; and Genera “Genny” F. Mason, manager of the F.D. Mason Memorial Funeral Home in Youngstown.

In addition, four YCS graduates were scholarship winners.