Speaker 1: Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
Speaker 1: welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
Speaker 1: mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. I am
Speaker 1: your host, ramses Jah, and yes, I know I've been
Speaker 1: promising q Ward. We'll be back in the studio for
Speaker 1: probably three weeks now, and I can assure you with
Speaker 1: great certainty we are working on getting him back in
Speaker 1: the studio, but for now, have no fear. We are
Speaker 1: joined by a special guest. She goes by the name
Speaker 1: of Charen Sierra King. She's a journalist, public speaker, and
Speaker 1: former radio host, a lifetime member of the NCNW, an
Speaker 1: organization that is very near and dear to our heart
Speaker 1: for those unfamiliar, that as a National Council of Negro Women,
Speaker 1: as well as the NAACP, where she is actively engaged
Speaker 1: in policy advocacy, voter protection efforts, and racial justice initiatives
Speaker 1: at both local and national levels. And also a resident
Speaker 1: of Lincoln Heights, Ohio, the place that is making national
Speaker 1: headlights for the Nazi demonstrations and the community response, which
Speaker 1: is exactly what we want be talking about today. So
Speaker 1: welcome to the show.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me it's an honor and a pleasure.
Speaker 1: Well, we are very much looking forward to the conversation
Speaker 1: that we were going to have. As I mentioned, you know,
Speaker 1: and for those who may not be, you know, familiar
Speaker 1: with this story, this was right around the time of
Speaker 1: the inauguration of the current administration. There was one notable
Speaker 1: Nazi demonstration that took place in Ohio that got tons
Speaker 1: of news coverage, and you know, people were concerned about
Speaker 1: the police response. People were concerned about this community, which
Speaker 1: was a black community, and this intentional display of hate
Speaker 1: with what historically would have been a very vulnerable population.
Speaker 1: Later in the show, we'll see that they're less vulnerable
Speaker 1: than people may know, but still very vulnerable. And we
Speaker 1: are going to get into the weeds of this story.
Speaker 1: So stick around for that and so much more. But
Speaker 1: first we are going to discuss some Ebony excellence and
Speaker 1: today's Ebny excellence we're going to share from the source magazine,
Speaker 1: you know, shout out to Miami. It is a pleasure
Speaker 1: to be on the air in Miami and of course
Speaker 1: at the Beat in Miami and elsewhere in the country.
Speaker 1: But this is Miami Dade's own story. So Miami Dade
Speaker 1: County commissioners have officially approved the renaming of several streets
Speaker 1: in honor of hit songs by Miami artists. The initiative,
Speaker 1: spearheaded by Commissioner Keon Pardiman, aims to celebrate the city's
Speaker 1: deep musical roots while bringing a sense of pride to
Speaker 1: local communities. After facing initial resistance earlier this month, the
Speaker 1: proposal has now passed with a ninety three vote, drawing
Speaker 1: national attention for its unique approach to cultural recognition. Hardiman
Speaker 1: emphasized the significance of music in Miami's neighborhoods and the
Speaker 1: power of this move to inspire change. Quote, we need
Speaker 1: to try something dramatic to really change the neighborhood. People
Speaker 1: in these communities take music very seriously. This according to
Speaker 1: Hardeman himself. As a result, several streets in Liberty City
Speaker 1: will now bear the names of classic Miami anthems, paying
Speaker 1: tribute to artists who have shaped the city's hip hop legacy.
Speaker 1: Among the newly renamed streets are City Girls Street, which
Speaker 1: is Northwest sixty sixty third. Streets are born in Rays
Speaker 1: Street Northwest sixty seventh Street. We the best terraces Northwest
Speaker 1: sixty eight Terraces Trick Love, the Kids Street, ninety six
Speaker 1: Terrace Northwest, ninety six Terras, and many others. Additionally, individual
Speaker 1: artists are being recognized with street names dedicated to treat
Speaker 1: It Still, the Baddest Balgreases, I Deserve It All, and
Speaker 1: Luther Campbell's It's Your Birthday Moves further cements Miami's reputation
Speaker 1: as a city where music and culture are woven into
Speaker 1: its very streets now quite literally. And you know again,
Speaker 1: because this show we target hip hop stations around the country.
Speaker 1: Anytime that we get to combine some ebony excellence with
Speaker 1: some hip hop culture, it is just a feather in
Speaker 1: our cap. Shout out to Miami doing the right thing. Okay,
Speaker 1: back to the lecture at hand, Charenzi, Eric.
Speaker 2: King, Yes, that is me.
Speaker 1: Do us a favor. I gave a brief introduction when
Speaker 1: we first, you know, started the show, of who you
Speaker 1: are and the business upon which you stand. But you
Speaker 1: know your connection to Lincoln Heights runs quite deep. Yes,
Speaker 1: and you are I know that you have you live
Speaker 1: a very very full life. I know that I've known
Speaker 1: that since we met at the at the convention in Maryland.
Speaker 1: But you are the right person to have this conversation
Speaker 1: as well, So do us a favorite again for our listeners.
Speaker 1: Talk a little bit about yourself and sort of what
Speaker 1: qualifies you to have this conversation. And then I also
Speaker 1: want you to discuss your deep roots in Lincoln Heights.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you again for having me, and I'm thankful
Speaker 2: for those roots. I was born too, a single black woman.
Speaker 2: She chose to have me. She kind of left my
Speaker 2: dad at the altar and she forged her way. I
Speaker 2: am fortunate in the fact that my mother bred into
Speaker 2: me and my brother's advocacy from infancy. We had drills
Speaker 2: in our house because she was very involved in some
Speaker 2: radical goings on. We had drills of how to get
Speaker 2: out the house, where to go. We talked about collaboration,
Speaker 2: we talked about advocacy. It was like food for my soul.
Speaker 2: I was an avid reader as a child, and I
Speaker 2: lived in a community called Avondale just for one year.
Speaker 2: It was called the heart of Jewelry because it is
Speaker 2: where a lot of the Russian and German Jews landed
Speaker 2: and started their own businesses. So I also had an
Speaker 2: exposure to Jewish people of Jewish faith and how they
Speaker 2: were able to escape hate their generations later and how
Speaker 2: they forged together. So I saw it on both sides.
Speaker 2: And I was a quiet child. You would never think
Speaker 2: I would grow up to speak because I was always
Speaker 2: reading and I was always listening to my mother. She
Speaker 2: didn't believe in leaving us at home with babysitters. She
Speaker 2: took us to the meetings. So I think a lot
Speaker 2: of it filtered into my soul by sitting there at
Speaker 2: my coloring book listening to adults. We were not to speak.
Speaker 2: I didn't know I was listening to the revolution, but
Speaker 2: I'm so thankful that I did.
Speaker 1: And that translated to your work with the NCNW because
Speaker 1: up until recently you were holding a formal position with
Speaker 1: the NCNWS to talk about that as well.
Speaker 2: Yes, NCNW we have sections, and I was the second
Speaker 2: vice president of the Cincinnati Section. I was pleased and
Speaker 2: proud because again in my upbringing, I belong and was
Speaker 2: baptized and to mout Morale Missionary Baptist Church one one
Speaker 2: sixty nine Simms Avenue. It was called the Mother Church.
Speaker 2: It was also a place of advocacy and Sister Mamie
Speaker 2: Hall founded the chapter and Cincinnati. She was one of
Speaker 2: the charter members and she was the first president, so
Speaker 2: I got it. I had a three hundred and sixty
Speaker 2: look degree. Look, it wasn't one eighty. It was three
Speaker 2: sixty of women, specifically black women doing the work. So
Speaker 2: I only knew that no matter where I went. And
Speaker 2: then from Avondelle, I went to whitten Terras, which was
Speaker 2: is now called the Bricks. For me, it was a lifeblood.
Speaker 2: It was still multiracial, but I had teachers who taught
Speaker 2: who were concerned. I still refer to them in my
Speaker 2: writings where I write for the sin Sint Harold. My
Speaker 2: third grade teacher, missus Gregory, she was like, she taught
Speaker 2: me lessons through education, so she has listen, read the
Speaker 2: entire paper and then follow the directions. The directions were
Speaker 2: at the end of the paper and it said write
Speaker 2: your name on the right hand corner.
Speaker 1: And then you're done.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I absorbed all of that when I moved.
Speaker 2: We moved. My mother was able to buy her home
Speaker 2: when I was in fourth grade, and it had to
Speaker 2: be outside the city in order to get the most
Speaker 2: house for the most land. And I started school there.
Speaker 2: My mom went to the Prince of the boy and
Speaker 2: said there was only five of us in that school.
Speaker 2: African Americans. She said, my children are not perfect, but
Speaker 2: you're not to spat them until you call me at work.
Speaker 2: So I thought, my mother's giving them permission to swot me.
Speaker 2: She doesn't spank me, but there are lessons and learned
Speaker 2: less and the reasoning, and of course that happened. They
Speaker 2: tried to swap me and I fought them and my
Speaker 2: mother had to call the NWCAP. So early I learned
Speaker 2: the value collaboration, collaboration with organizations they were advocating for me.
Speaker 1: So I think in some of these stories, I'm hearing
Speaker 1: that there's a strong sense of community, not just in
Speaker 1: Lincoln Heights, but you know, in the surrounding areas in Ohio.
Speaker 1: So before we get into this story, talk to us
Speaker 1: about your like familial connections to Lincoln Heights specifically.
Speaker 2: Wow, I use my last name King on everything and
Speaker 2: I will never change it, married or not married, because
Speaker 2: my family name matters. Lincoln Heights is bordered by Woodlawn
Speaker 2: and Lachlan and it's called Zona fifteen because the zip
Speaker 2: code is four FI two one five. And anywhere in
Speaker 2: the world that you go oh and you hear Zone fifteen,
Speaker 2: you know they're probably related to one another, or you
Speaker 2: went to school with one another, or someone you married,
Speaker 2: or someone had a child by So it's the familiar
Speaker 2: congregation of love. We support each other whether we live
Speaker 2: there or don't live there. I still have family members
Speaker 2: who live in Lincoln Heights Lachlan while Lincoln Heights and
Speaker 2: Woodlawn we're three four generations deep. Now yeah, so yeah,
Speaker 2: I am totally connected. It would always be my life
Speaker 2: blood and good. The family that I have is not
Speaker 2: always blood family, but they're my family.
Speaker 1: Now, you mentioned something to me. You mentioned that Lincoln
Speaker 1: Heights was a bit of a refuge for people that
Speaker 1: were migrating out of the South, out of the South,
Speaker 1: and I believe it was your grandparents.
Speaker 2: Yes, my grandparents.
Speaker 1: As it is, they were part of that migration.
Speaker 2: They're part of that migration. The migration started before they
Speaker 2: moved there, but it was a continuation of migration. You
Speaker 2: would come to Cincinnati, you get a job, and then
Speaker 2: you send for your family, You send for your brother,
Speaker 2: you send for your cousin. You got in. My grandfather
Speaker 2: worked for the aviation company Gie. His brother, my uncle's
Speaker 2: worked for Seagrums. And when you got in, you bought
Speaker 2: other people with you gotcha. So the migration was real.
Speaker 2: It doesn't happen as much now because we don't have
Speaker 2: that familiar ties, not just Lincoln Heights, but we as
Speaker 2: a community, we've grown, we've accomplished, and sometimes people don't
Speaker 2: look back.
Speaker 1: Well. I think that this story, in this thing that
Speaker 1: is taking place, is all the more important because now
Speaker 1: that we've established that this town has deep roots, there's
Speaker 1: historical context for this town, and we see sort of
Speaker 1: the why Nazis would target this town for their demonstration.
Speaker 1: It makes sense why there was this national lens placed
Speaker 1: onto Lincoln Heights. It's not just a place where a
Speaker 1: lot of black folks live. It's not the run down
Speaker 1: part of town. It doesn't sound like at least, it's
Speaker 1: a place with strong roots, where there's a strong sense
Speaker 1: of identity, is a strong support among black people, and it,
Speaker 1: dare I say, is a community where black folks can thrive.
Speaker 1: And so we'll get into the story now. So I'll
Speaker 1: share a bit from CNN. Now bear in mind that
Speaker 1: this part of the story is from February ninth. We're
Speaker 1: going to talk about the community's response a little later
Speaker 1: in the show, but right now we're talking about something
Speaker 1: that was from last month. So you know, I want
Speaker 1: you to understand that we know that. Okay, So from
Speaker 1: seeing and local residents confronted and drove off neo Nazi
Speaker 1: demonstrators waving large swastika emblazoned flags along a highway overpass
Speaker 1: on Friday between Lincoln Heights and Evandale, Ohio, home to
Speaker 1: a historically black community that has endured a long history
Speaker 1: of racism. White nationalist groups in Ohio have recently grown
Speaker 1: increasingly brazen in expressing hateful rhetoric and racist ideologies. Last November,
Speaker 1: Hate Club, a newly formed white supremacist organization, paraded through
Speaker 1: a Columbus neighborhood, waving swastika flags and shouting racist slurs.
Speaker 1: About a dozen neo Nazis wearing all black clothing and
Speaker 1: red face masks. The marchers in Columbus also wore were
Speaker 1: seen on traffic cameras waving the swastika flags. They also
Speaker 1: pinned red swastika banners on the fence of the overpass
Speaker 1: and a sign reading America for the White Man, according
Speaker 1: to photos shared with CNN, So you know, we talked
Speaker 1: a little bit about, you know, why the Nazis wanted
Speaker 1: to go there, specifically, you know, what was what was
Speaker 1: your reaction when you first saw the story? Was what
Speaker 1: was people's reaction when they first found out.
Speaker 2: My phone was ringing off the hook. I was not
Speaker 2: in Ohio, as you know. I also have a home here.
Speaker 2: My home in Lincoln Heights is my home in Sinci.
Speaker 2: It is not in Lincoln Heights, but my life is
Speaker 2: my church is I was really not surprised, and I
Speaker 2: say that with complete honesty, because where else would you go.
Speaker 2: There is Avondeale, which is where I lived for that
Speaker 2: one year, which is a thriving Avondale community. We just
Speaker 2: got our first black grocery store, but it's too close
Speaker 2: to the police station. It's too close to vital White
Speaker 2: communities use the hospitals there, the hospital that I don't
Speaker 2: want to name their name because I don't want folks.
Speaker 2: But there's a lot of thriving community this surrounds Avondale,
Speaker 2: so it would have bought police from everywhere. Lincoln Heights
Speaker 2: is kind of isolated because we are in a recommissioning
Speaker 2: of properties and we have an African American builder building there.
Speaker 2: But we are governing overseen by the Hamilton County Shrift Department.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying they don't do a good job, but
Speaker 2: they're not us. And so they came to where they
Speaker 2: thought they can have a great exit because the overpass
Speaker 2: leads to Evendelle, which is a middle class, affluent white
Speaker 2: community with their own police force as well. I looked
Speaker 2: up the numbers and if they are strategic, like I
Speaker 2: would be strategic that I would want to know that
Speaker 2: I have some help if things go bad. Because as
Speaker 2: they did this at two point thirty in the afternoon,
Speaker 2: and our children were getting out of school and thank
Speaker 2: goodness that someone was driving over that that overpassed which
Speaker 2: is fairly new by the way, and got immediately on
Speaker 2: social media, and folks who lived in Lincoln Heights still,
Speaker 2: and folks who used to live in Lincoln Heights still,
Speaker 2: and those folks who worship in Lincoln Heights because we
Speaker 2: have a very concentrated community of churches showed up in droves.
Speaker 2: And I'm on the phone. I'm getting phone calls and
Speaker 2: I'm getting texts. I'm like what, and they're sending me
Speaker 2: pictures And because you know, I thought, wow, this is
Speaker 2: really happening, and they were right on point. They first
Speaker 2: scattered at the babies I actually called the mayor because
Speaker 2: we grew up in church together and she was in
Speaker 2: Kentucky a bit of ways and not able to leave
Speaker 2: immediately because she was the only person color and the boss,
Speaker 2: and she didn't leave right away. But there were others
Speaker 2: like Carton Collins, who you know, I said we could
Speaker 2: bring into the conversation. He is a co founder of
Speaker 2: the Heights Moovement along with two other young men, and
Speaker 2: they it just really mobilized right away. They mobilized, they confronted,
Speaker 2: but the Evendel police were there protecting not us the Nazis,
Speaker 2: but the neo Nazi group.
Speaker 1: So so that's what I wanted to talk about because
Speaker 1: that's what a lot of the initial response looked like,
Speaker 1: and like in terms of the online response and some
Speaker 1: articles too.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, there were people that were saying, okay, so
Speaker 1: the Nazis left peacefully.
Speaker 2: Okay, great, they didn't come in peace. They came to agitate, right,
Speaker 2: came agitate, but you know, no arrest were made, no arrest.
Speaker 1: Right, And so so I remember seeing this comment that
Speaker 1: the police were protecting their own and and you know,
Speaker 1: one of the things that we know to historically be
Speaker 1: true is that a lot of times, people that feel
Speaker 1: the way Nazis feel, the people that feel the way
Speaker 1: clue clubs, clan members feel, those people often live double lives.
Speaker 1: They'll be a Nazi on Monday through Friday, and then
Speaker 1: Sunday they'll be you know, at the courthouse, or they'll
Speaker 1: be you know, driving the patrol car. Right, it's the same,
Speaker 1: prim I are you.
Speaker 2: They're a Nazi every day of the week. Yeah, they
Speaker 2: put on the uniform of a police officers peacekeeper. And
Speaker 2: I know this for a fact because where I grew
Speaker 2: up from fourth grade on. And yes, it was very
Speaker 2: disturbing for me to be told at that time, miss Charin.
Speaker 2: I have three names, Auntie, miss Charin, that's normally for
Speaker 2: my community engagement, and coach. So if they're calling me
Speaker 2: miss Charin, I know one is respectful and two is
Speaker 2: because of my community engagement, mis Charenne. They're letting them go.
Speaker 2: I'm like, what do you mean? They're letting them go?
Speaker 2: Who's there? Who's there? What's going on? So? I was
Speaker 2: getting to play by play this entire time, and I
Speaker 2: knew immediately, okay, what can I do? You know? I'm
Speaker 2: you know, how many thousands of miles away, But I
Speaker 2: will give credit to my community, the heightst movement, the
Speaker 2: churches that folks who don't even live in Lincoln Heights
Speaker 2: who may not have come from Lincoln Heights showed up
Speaker 2: and the basis was not here, not today, not ever.
Speaker 1: Now I want to say this. I know that this
Speaker 1: is a direct response to the election of Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: I know it's a direct response to Elon Musk. You know,
Speaker 1: Elon Musk's twitter feed historically speaking, has looked exactly like
Speaker 1: a neo Nazi's Twitter feed.
Speaker 2: It does.
Speaker 1: And then he got on stage and did a Hitler
Speaker 1: salute twice in front of everybody's face. And somehow people
Speaker 1: are just people on that side are surprisingly cool with it.
Speaker 1: Goes to show you exactly what they stand for. But
Speaker 1: there's a question I have for you. If hate groups
Speaker 1: were to target a community, whether through intimidation, recruitment, or misinformation,
Speaker 1: what protective steps should residents take to protect themselves or
Speaker 1: push back against extremism and strengthen their communities' resilience. And
Speaker 1: this we want to teach lessons that can be replicated
Speaker 1: as the vulnerable communities around the country.
Speaker 2: So your thoughts, well, from the beginning my life was
Speaker 2: about being prepared. I need us to teach each other.
Speaker 2: This can happen in any dainty moment to any of
Speaker 2: our communities. That's the first thing. Teach one, teach many,
Speaker 2: and work on preparation. You need to build collaborative partners
Speaker 2: folks who are going the same direction with the same
Speaker 2: things issue. They may not look like you all the time.
Speaker 2: They may be brown, tan, indigenous, but if you're living
Speaker 2: in the same community, then it's going to affect you
Speaker 2: to so. And if you don't want to be a
Speaker 2: part of the solution, than you are the problem and
Speaker 2: you were just left out. We need We had a
Speaker 2: phone bank because we didn't have you know, mobile, I
Speaker 2: grew up with a phone because something was happening. We
Speaker 2: had it within our church and it's just like enslave times,
Speaker 2: whether it was a song or signals. We need to
Speaker 2: develop a way to communicate with each other in a
Speaker 2: quick fashion like social media. Yeah, like social media, and
Speaker 2: that's exactly what happened. But we also need to make
Speaker 2: sure our seniors are protected because I actually do a
Speaker 2: lot of work with our seniors to make sure that
Speaker 2: they are knowing what's going on. We need to make
Speaker 2: sure that we're inclusive to our seniors. We need to
Speaker 2: make sure that everything that we do is intentional, So
Speaker 2: it starts there.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, I know that there are communities around the
Speaker 1: country that where things like this happen. And because we
Speaker 1: get the stories here on the show, and we obviously
Speaker 1: can't cover them. We have an hour show one day
Speaker 1: a week and we get ten stories.
Speaker 2: A day, So.
Speaker 1: Excuse me. It's good to have just kind of some
Speaker 1: general advice for folks that are, you know, up against
Speaker 1: these sort of problems. But one of the things that historically,
Speaker 1: I think to your point, historically has really served the
Speaker 1: interests of black communities in particular, but marginalized communities is
Speaker 1: places of worship. You know, those can be great cultural
Speaker 1: watering holes, places where information can get out, places where strategies,
Speaker 1: strategy meetings can take place, and just really a show
Speaker 1: of force. I think that's really what we saw in
Speaker 1: full display and Lincoln. It's a show of force. Everybody
Speaker 1: coming out and saying no, in a full out, loud
Speaker 1: rebuke of that type of display by a community in
Speaker 1: mass I think that is just the most decisive type
Speaker 1: of maneuver possible.
Speaker 2: And I thank you for making note of that, because
Speaker 2: it takes and even though Lincoln Heights is in a village,
Speaker 2: it does take a village, and some people think that
Speaker 2: might sound right. We cannot do this alone.